Thank you for that suggestion Fatcat. Initially it didn’t sink in the potential significance of this point but I remembered to check it pre purchase.
The situation is as follows: I was prepared for the '72 to be full of dust, well I’ve had it 30 years and it’s very well travelled. Nope, it looked clean ‘as new’ inside, amazing!
As well as the feet there is a dome-headed hex-bolt at the rear of the casing. That was as stiff as hell, I considered the wisdom of using a bit of very brief force trying to remove it. …Allen key held by large pliers, one jolt and it moved. There is a toothed locking washer with this bolt that had a touch of rust on it.
There are 7 PCBs inside:
2 * NA324/7
2 * NA 729/1
1 * NA 325/7
2 * NA 321/5
Nothing in the phono slots or boards marked 322/323.
Hence I will start with (I know how this goes!) a Denon-300F*. Budget was less an issue this time, more that there seemed little point just starting out going high-end with mostly standard 60s/70s pressing quality vinyl (perhaps 100 in total). That said I have a couple of collectibles incl a 1st ‘Near mint’ pressing + sleeve of such as Anarchy in the UK which is why an RPM switch and no ‘dismantling’ [Rega P1+] is defence against a beery nostalgic night with friends getting scratchy.
I very much appreciate all the replies received, cheers folks!
*Or, [last minute prevarication] JonathanG’s suggestion of Audio Technica AT-LP120XUSB. The price is similar, the USB might be a useful additional feature. I’ll do a side-bu-side on the two…
Hi there, if I may come in on the back of Jonathon’s suggestion of the AT- 120. A few years ago my father owned the AT-LP5 and this was a fantastic budget player. The point is that it was so versatile as a different quality cartridge could be swapped in within seconds. An instant upgrade without having to change TT or break a budget. I am sure the AT 120 will be super value for money, and as Jonathon said is quite a looker ( Technics vibes).
I will end by featuring a couple of photos showing how well the deck can be upgraded
@Jon-Willsteed if you don’t want to spend big buck, look up the Roksan Attessa TT. It’s £400 in some places. It came out at £1000 and had fantastic reviews at that price. It also has a built-in phono. For £400 you can’t really go wrong.
I appreciate the suggestions, the options and choices are pretty boggling! However I ordered the Denon yesterday and it’s ETA tomorrow.
I had wanted to check here about the best way to connect it to my '72, which unused 5-pin DIN input. I have a high-quality custom-made 2*RCA > 5-pin DIN cable that was previously used for connecting the '72 to a TV. Looking at the specs of the Denon it appears silent on what the ‘output cable’ type is. I’d assumed I would be able to use my above custom one.
So I’m taken aback to read the following recent reader comment on this product on the Richer Sounds website (it appears amazon sourced this purchase from them). – ‘As a gift to myself got this denon DP300F Looks great sounds great.but the only thing wrong it comes with wired in rca so you can’t upgrade the rca cables…not the end of the world but would have been to nice to upgrade from the ones that are on’.
Wired-in RCA… so no DIN (you’ll notice I’m no techie). Presumably I plug the RCA to the Phono inputs, since there are no phono boards installed? And I agree with this reviewer^ having the option to upgrade the cable would have been nice.
For the 72 you will need phono boards even if they are straight through. Either that or you could put a wire link between the appropriate connection where the phono boards go. The forum doesn’t allow me to show you how to do that as it is a non naim internal modification. Ebay should find you some appropriate phono boards.
I’m getting confused here Going back to the first reply I received when I was considering Linn/Rega and hoping to keep things simple…
It’s quite possible I interpreted this^ wrongly. But I was thinking as the Denon includes a ‘phono stage’ [aka phono board] then I could plug it into any unused line input on the '72, ie one that fitted the connector plug of course.
From what you say Bruss, whatever spec of turntable I [eventually] buy and keep I’m going to need phono boards to put in the pre-amp. Is that correct?
Some turntables have a phono stage on board, some don’t. You will need to check if yours does. If it has a phono stage and rca outputs you need to plug it in to somewhere on the 72. The 72 can use either a din connection or the phono connections. Unfortunately the phono connection s are not connected to anything internally unless you ad a phono board to make that connection. You use an mc phono board for an mc cartridge without a phono stage on the TT ( or elsewhere).
You use an MM phono board for an mm cartridge without a phono stage on board the TT.
You use a ‘dummy’ phono board with a pass through connection for an external TT with its own phono stage.
I thought it might be useful to add an image of what internal boards my '72 has in situ. I took a dozen or so pics of the individual boards and from different angles. If further clarification would help I can likely post an image to answer it…
Thanks Bruss for the step-by-step explanation there. I’ll go and read that FAQ shortly.
Meanwhile I thought I’d post the spec given for the Denon TT that’s ETA tomorrow, ex the Denon website:
'The DP-300F has a sturdy base, adjustable balance, and anti-skating controls, meaning you’ll never miss your favorite part. It also features a switchable phono pre-amp for hookup flexibility. It’s a belt-driven, fully automatic Denon turntable that will help you descend into your cherished collection of vinyl.
Ultra-premium sound
Speed selector
Built-in phono pre-amp
Fully automatic operation
Belt-driven
MM cartridge
So you get the choice:
Use the denon phono preamp → 72 line input
Switch it off → 72 internal MM phono stage board
There has to be a phono stage somewhere!
Apologies if I am teaching grandmothers to suck eggs, but perhaps it would help the understanding for the OP if somebody check with @Jon-Willsteed , and if he is not aware, explained the RIAA equalisation curve and its relevance here?
Which is ironic as I’ve had it about 28 years now! And it’s had years in some pretty smoggy environments out in Asia etc. The internal condition surprised me too, expected it to be notably grubby.
[FWIW - I don’t recall ever having had cause to take the case off it before].
I have the ‘deck’ and connectors now, just been a bit busy to try setting it up and test. I’m also a bit perturbed about the potential need for an additional internal board, but we will see!
I’ll be back when I have hooked it up as is and seen what happens. Thanks for all the tips so far.
Going back to the first reply I received when I was considering Linn/Rega and hoping to keep things simple…
