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enrique
12-29-2004, 05:04 PM
I was looking for a cheap tt and picked up one of these at a pawn shop.I know its supposedly a dj tt,but it was cheap and it worked.My question is does anyone have any experience or knowledge on this tt.Also can i connect it to my receiver which has no phono w/o a preamp.The tt is analog and digital.The manual says can be connected to either a line or phono input.Digitally use a high grade studio rca cable to connect the tt's digital output jack to any device with s/p/dif digital input,whatever that means.It can also be connected to a computer to burn cd's.Would appreciate the help.Or did i just royally mess up getting this TT.It will be for casual listening.thanks

Ray H
12-29-2004, 07:31 PM
I honestly don't know what the heck you got yourself into... Generally, though, the only pickups that have sufficient output to drive the line stage of a pre-amp are "crystal" - ceramic or piezo crystal cartridges.* Unless your TT has a built-in phono stage, any type of magnetic cartridge (MM or MC) are off limits as it stands. Might wanna access Stanton's site and see whether the company offers more info for your "new" ST8-100.

*I don't know whether your TT's tonearm adheres to conventional 1/2" mounting or the so-called P-mount. If 1/2", one of the online cartridge/needle houses should be able to supply a replacement cartridge in either magnetic or crystal configuration. Crystal cartridges are essentially quite inexpensive and sound like it. P-mount cartidges mount directly to the arm (no head shell) and are held in place by a single screw passing horizontally through the arm tube into a locking nut on the other side. No VTA, azimuth, etc - it's either right or it's wrong.

enrique
12-29-2004, 08:54 PM
I beleive after reading more that when it says that i can connect via line or phono input that it does have a builtin preamp.

Kaboom
02-01-2005, 11:19 AM
depending on how much you end up liking vinyl (GOD BLESS VINYL!!!!!) you will want to dump those ****ty-ass DJ TTs and get something real. Talking from experience here. They are great to get into it, but they have SERIOUS limitations including usually very basic tonearms and permanent motor rumble.
HOWEVER what you acquired is pretty high end, so initially you should have no problems. If it has slipmats, you might wanna try replacing that with a thick rubber mat, to absorb some of the motor rumble.
Also, i almost guarantee that it came with a DJ cartridge tracking at between 3 and 5 grams, and since the STR stanton series are engineered for scratching (hence the straight arm instead of the usual DJing S shaped one) its probably towards the 5. DUMP THAT CARTRIDGE NOW. and i mean NOW. you are basically dragging a piece of diamond exerting several tonnes of pressure on a soft piece of plastic. listen to a record 20 times, and it will be so worn it will sound like CRAP. go to your fave SERIOUS audio shop, and get a cartridge that is not thought for DJing. At the same price points, they will have far superior sound quality, and much lower tracking weight, so they wont be ripping your beloved vinyl.
if you feel like spending a healthy amount of dough, i suggest you go with goldring. Something civilized like a 1012... i SWEAR by goldring. stay away from moving coil for the moment.
you might also wanna get a propper phono stage and bypass the presumably crappy one built in. ProJect makes what tehy call the "phono box" and goes for around 99$, i think....
in any case, all of the "sound upgrades" are optional for the moment, specially if you dont have high end amps and speakers and cables and stuff since u wouldnt really be able to appreciate them (now, if you have some of them Sonus Faber speakers and a Musical Fidelity amp, we are talking sth different....) but REALLY REALLY please do get a propper phono cartridge and dump the DJ one it brought.
VINYL RULES!!!!
oh and also... Eres espaņol?

royphil345
02-01-2005, 01:41 PM
Think this is one of those tables with the short tonearm. Putting even a good elliptical cartridge on there might not even be the best thing for records. That's why I didn't post on this one. Don't know what to tell him. A conical cartridge with lighter tracking weight might be the best thing for the records. Sound will of course suffer though.

Kaboom
02-01-2005, 02:34 PM
actually the effective arm length of the stanton is 194mm. which is just under 20 cm, and that's 2 cm shorter the TT i have in mind, the ProJect1 Xpression. i might be able to think out the relevance of those 2cm by thinking out the arcs in my head (I LOVE IB PHYSICS) but i'm far too tired now, and i'll leave it up to the experts to discuss whether an elliptical head cartridge can be mounted there.
what i do know tho is that apparently its aligned the same way.
oh incidentally, the cartridges are standard 1/2inch mount with detachable headshell (actually the only think i like about DJ tt's together with the strobe)

royphil345
02-01-2005, 02:50 PM
actually the effective arm length of the stanton is 194mm. which is just under 20 cm, and that's 2 cm shorter the TT i have in mind, the ProJect1 Xpression.

Actually, it's just under 195mm whick makes it about 2 1/2 cm shorter. Heard that it might not be the best thing to put an elliptical stylus on one of the short-arm DJ tables. And this certainly seems like one of those.