Am I in the wrong business?

[flyboy71]

I was looking for a turntable..........

So yesterday me and my friend drove a distance to a vintage electronics store which looked intriguing and had good reviews. I get out of my car and am told to wait as only one person is allowed in at a time. This should have been obvious since the front door was plastered with mask and covid propaganda. So after waiting for the customer to leave the shop owner pulled a rag out of his pocket to hold the door open for me, quite politely, then told me to put on those cheap disposable gloves. I should have just turned around and left there. Whatever, I drove an hour I was gonna look around. Literally everything was in bags or was marked do not touch. Ok, so why the gloves? I went over to the turntables he had and was told that the ones turned around were either customer repairs or he hadn't yet restored them which left about 3 to choose from. Not wanting to shell out $800+ I continued to look around....look, since I cant touch. I overheard my friend looking at a rough looking 70s vintage $900 Sony reel-to-reel deck inquiring about having some reels converted to digital. The price he quoted was a $40 setup fee and $25 per reel. I'm not in the used audio business but if I can make $25 to hit play and record then I need to quit my day job.

....I didnt get my turntable.

[JR.]

I haven't played a record in at least ten years...

JR

[flyboy71]

Probably 30 years for me. I think the last vinyl I spun was "American Country Countdown" at the station before they moved to new studios and went to CDs.

[mediatechnology]

I always feel transported back in time when I pull out a record and play it and am still amazed, knowing what I know now, how good some vinyl can sound.
And then I have some that sounds like crap...

I would miss my turntable.
You might want to look for a new one online.

[flyboy71]

There must be a shortage of turntables out there. After visiting that store in my full body PPE I stopped at a nearby Best Buy and they were sold out of any turntables. I'm not talking about the Crosley toys, those are a dime a dozen, I mean actual decent component turntables. I popped on B&H and most of the reasonable priced models are on backorder, same with Guitar Center. Somethings up with the rotating platter machines these days.

[mediatechnology]

Check LP Gear: https://www.lpgear.com/category/TURN.html

[billshurv]

Vinyl and replay equipment prices have gone silly in last 4 years. Stuff I was picking up for $100 is now $400. I should have started collecting earlier, but at least now have all I need for the rest of my vinyl playing days

If you have time and some woodworking skills this sort of approach https://calvins-audio-page.jimdofree.co ... chnics-en/ could end up very satisfying. Technics 'green motor' turntables were made in the millions so you will be able to find a donor at the right price.

[JR.]

My very first record player in the early 60s was a Lafayette radio kit that consisted of a motor/platter and a separate tone arm that I had to mount to my own piece of plywood.

JR