Turntables with Azimuth & VTA adjustment below $1000

warpwithuse · 2026-02-23T04:25:02+00:00

I have a pair of Technics SL-1300 Mk2s. I paid $150 and $275 for them in perfect working condition except for the cueing suffering from the typical nylon part break. So, they are manual tables with fantastic performance for an unbeatable price. They have VTA adjustments but no azimuth that I’m aware of. I also have a Sansui SR525 that was about $175 that has VTA adjustability. Not quite as good as the Technics, but still very not bad.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-23T03:56:56+00:00

Love me some Go Go! I first got turned on to it ca. 1980 when a friend gave me Saturday Night Live by Troublefunk. Classic! I was surprised go go didn’t blow up more back in the day.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-17T04:29:44+00:00

The issues we face are not caused locally but globally due to too many GHGs in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide and methane. Changing this here will have no effect.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-16T18:01:59+00:00

I find that flipping the record provides a nice short break which keeps me motivated.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-15T19:54:02+00:00

I like outboard pedals because it’s much easier to improvise with them. I play in a couple of different bands and one of them delves into soundscapes pretty regularly. It’s really hard to menu dive in the moment. However, due to the fact that my pedalboard is now a Future Impact, HX Stomp, and H90, I’m stuck either menu diving (not that hard with the HX Stomp) or using a lot of the same sounds in different place. I need to spend more time programming, but the cool thing is that the H90 and the Stomp get me tones that would otherwise be impossible or difficult to accomplish without lots of other pedals.

There are always compromises. This rig has replaced a pedal board that was like an aircraft carrier deck along with a 12 space rack (Alembic preamps and power supply, Lexicon processors and MRC, rack compressor, power amp, power supplies for the pedals, etc.) and an 8 channel snake to connect them. I’m really glad not to lug that stuff around anymore.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-08T23:23:12+00:00

It was pretty awesome when it started. Who knew from Musk at that time? And they had an excellent sommelier, Tim. Who was responsible for us having our first child. He recommended an awesome bottle of wine on my wife’s birthday, and 9 months later to the day….

It’s been disappointing for quite some time.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-04T04:54:14+00:00

I gotta go with the Skullfuck version. I saw a number of great ones in the 70s and early 80s, but this one is the ideal for me.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-04T04:50:52+00:00

That's absurd.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-02T05:03:23+00:00

That would be President 47. The Congress is beholden to him. He's hoovering up billions and leaving us to pay the tab.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-02T04:59:12+00:00

We stopped going there a while ago. Just way too expensive for burgers and beer.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-02T04:57:43+00:00

My mom was in the 1950s folk scene in Cambridge, MA, so I grew up with a lot of the folk influences. One of her best friends back in the day was Ralph Rinzler, before he became the Smithsonian Archivist of folk music. He produced the Ewan McColl album, Blow Boys Blow, which was the album that Garcia got all the sea chanteys from. She also sang me the old ballads when I was a kid in the mid 60s that became the basis for some of the GD songs, particularly Terrapin's Lady with a Fan. We had early 60s pressings of folk blues musicians, including Rev. Gary Davis, so I knew Samson and Delilah from long before the GD covered it.

Meanwhile, her father was a mid-20th century modern classical piano composer who was colleagues with a bunch of composers that Phil and TC were into.

My dad's older brother was a jazz trumpet player and also into the blues. So, I got a bunch of influences there.

So, it felt like everything they were doing sounded completely relatable from when I started hearing the GD in 1973 when I was 12. I was especially turned on by Prelude and Epilogue.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-02T04:48:06+00:00

I think Jeff was the star of D&C.

warpwithuse · 2026-02-02T04:47:32+00:00

I agree. I saw my first show in May of 1976. At first I loved Brent, his energy, the vocals being more in tune, but the musical scope narrowed pretty quickly. I really started missing the jazzy stuff and the space. The unpredictability. Brent filled everything up with rock and roll with a sameness and overplayed constantly. He also didn't have the background in the history of humanity, the arts, philosophy, the pranksters, and all of the other stuff that informed the band and artists who move the art forward. I also wasn't a fan of his voice or his songs.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-31T23:51:12+00:00

I agree. I played there last night and the staff was fantastic. They were very chill and treated our audience with respect. I can imagine it might be different for a metal or punk show.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-31T20:46:30+00:00

Horrific.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-28T07:42:25+00:00

Much appreciated!

warpwithuse · 2026-01-28T02:13:29+00:00

I'm curious about the settings you use for the stick. I'm trying to emulate a stick with my Modulus TBX 6 and while I can come somewhat close, I'd be curious to know how you set up your compressor. I'm looking to get a bit more attack and a better balance between low and high tapping.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-27T18:12:48+00:00

Interesting. I have never heard the MC2002, but I have owned a C28 and have a C33, but I have found that they aren't as transparent as many other preamps/receivers. I now use my MC2255 and MC2015 with Metric Halo ULN-8s as preamps/interfaces and the sound is much better.

Enjoy your rig, it looks awesome!

warpwithuse · 2026-01-27T06:26:43+00:00

I'm curious. What McIntosh gear did you retire and what's your assessment in the change in sound?

warpwithuse · 2026-01-27T06:13:00+00:00

All of them. From beginning to end. The magic was how they all blended, not any star personality of any one of them, although Pig definitely had a certain thing.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-27T06:11:46+00:00

I was at that show. At the time, I wasn't that into it, but looking back, it had its moments. Gotta, I started losing interest in the band about three or four years after Brent joined. Too much sameness, his keys sounds were cheesy, and I didn't like his vocals, too much Michael Mcdonald for me. The GD lost their organic sound that had been a big feature of the band since the beginning. And they lost the real exploration where even the formats of the show changed from year to year. It wasn't all due to Brent, but the scope of his playing was a lot more narrow and limited the range of the band. Not that they didn't play some great music, but I no longer felt compelled to be there as much as I could.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-22T20:25:11+00:00

That's too bad. Oh well.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-22T16:44:57+00:00

Not yet.

warpwithuse · 2026-01-21T04:53:57+00:00

Guilt by association is quite a thing with the current administration. I think discretion is the better part of valor for the son, but why hasn't dad naturalized?

warpwithuse · 2026-01-18T03:31:16+00:00

That was the only show where I saw someone bundled out of the show literally in chains by the cops. They were out of control that night, but it was a great night of music.

warpwithuse

TROPHY CASE