the speakers I mentioned earlier will see you right
cartridge is the little box on the end of the arm on the deck
the stylus sits in a plastic holder that plugs into it via a metal tube
its basically working like a dynamo the other end of the rod that the stylus is mounted on, has a magnet in it, and the cartridge has coils of wire in it, when the magnet waggles about, it turns the movement of the stylus into a signal in the coils
to be honest a radiogram or music centre is not going to get the best out of your records...
anyway I have had one of these for years, works well, looks like a proper 70s Japanese amp because it is. nobody over here knows what they are but were quite popular in the US Nikko became TRIO and also did work for Kenwood. Nikko also make alternators for hitachi diggers and trucks not in the same factory I might add
the TRM 650 is good as well
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nikko-TRM-50 ... SwoFVaUg0a
Mordaunt short or mission speakers anything from £40-200 mission 773 are good, mission 773E are better. Mordaunt short festival and pageant speakers are 70s stuff pretty good made in the UK. their 904 is a floor stander which is a 90s speaker made in the far east pretty good
Turntables
a pioneer PL12D is a 70s deck that was perfectly good, they don't command much cash because everyone is looking at British German and swiss decks on ebay
a goldring lenco GL75 GL77 GL78 or a lenco 88 good decks but market has gone mad
A thorens TD150 TD160 TD165 all good used to be a £75 deck now 200-300 500 or more
Garrard 401 used to be a £200 deck is now a £800 deck or more. garrards loss leader, BBC had them coming out of their ears through the 60s and 70s it was the radio DJ deck due to its tank like construction, cast iron cased motor and ability to get up to speed within 1/2 a turn of the turntable Garrard made a loss on every one and went bust in the early 80s
but their later decks are still pretty good
you wouldn't go far wrong with this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Garrard-Turn ... SwW9RaXjBU
However
i'd be taking advantage of this poor fella's plight
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bang-and-Olu ... SwqlRaXkt1
if I had to buy a music centre i'd buy one of the beocentre range. they were top of the range when it came to space age looking kit, that sounded pretty good and that didn't make your front room look like a recording studio or laboratory
just check it actually has a turntable. this one does, but later ones had CD only, the numbering system made no sense across the model range and don't buy one with any bits of the main amp broken. pig to fix.
the fact that the stylus is broken on this one will put many off but I can guarantee its not a problem, stylus on this kind of kit is designed to be replaced and can be fixed for 15-40 quid
Then again if you want an all in one and have say 500 quid to spend
The Pro-Ject Juke Box E will kick a reasonable amount of ass
has the amp built in and you can send music to it from your phone or laptop via Bluetooth
you can also plug in your CD player
and pro-ject have been cranking out modern light weight record decks for 15 years or more that always get plenty of praise, a damn sight better than any of the rubbish being sold in your local HMV. none of the decks in HMV are worth more than 20 quid, cheap plastic rubbish in most cases
you just need to buy speakers
anyway here is the blerb
“All-in-one Plug & Play” turntable system with Bluetooth, line input & easiest possible set-up!
Juke Box E is record player, phono stage, Bluetooth receiver, line pre-amplifier and power amplifier in one, requiring only a pair of speakers to make a complete system. If you thought that a starter turntable system is complicated to set up, Juke Box E proves the contrary. This good sounding belt-drive deck offers the fastest possible installation process because it comes pre-adjusted out of the box and offers superb sound quality.
Tracking force and anti-skating of the turntable section are carefully pre-set. An acrylic dust cover is included. The “All-in-one turntable system” is available in high-gloss black, red or white colour.
SRP € 449,00
comes with a free dust cover...!
Henley designs is the UK importer and they should be able to drop one off on your doorstep in a couple of days.. you get a guarantee and you know its going to work
doesn't look all that. but it will sound impressive even scratched records will sound impressive. the better the deck and the better the stylus the more music it digs out and the louder it is compared with the surface noise.
you will find yourself going "who knew there was a piano playing over there to the right of the singer and when did the fella with the maracas turn up" etc etc especially on tracks you grew to love in the 70s and 80s when you only heard them via AM transistor radio
Dave
