Denon DP-300F Fully Automatic Analog Turntable

Great Deal Denon DP-300F Fully Automatic Analog Turntable
	Rating : 4.5/5.0 Price : $329.99 Offer Price : Too low to display Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days Best Deal @ Amazon Order Now !
Denon DP-300F Fully Automatic Analog Turntable Features Designed with a heavier base construction to decrease vibration for superior performance Tone arm action starts and stops automatically using gentle lifting and lowering motions to protect your vinyl Moving-magnet (MM) cartridge headshell is removable Turntable sheet is 5mm thick; uses hologram vibration analysis to improve its ability to hold a record DC servo motor and belt drive system with rotation speeds of 33 1/3 or 45 rpm Denon DP-300F Fully Automatic Analog Turntable Overviews Turntables & MC Cartridges Related Products Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge Shure SFG-2 Stylus Tracking Force Gauge AudioQuest Anti-Static record cleaner brush D4+ Record Cleaning Kit Denon DL160 High Output Moving Coil Cartridge Customer Review Best Customer Review : Summary - upgraded the needle to the affordable Shure M97xE audiophile cartridge. Sounds much better now. Hardest part of the setup for me was balancing the tone arm. Installation - Since the turntable's headshell is removable from the tone arm, it wasn't as hard installing the Shure audiophile cartridge (paid only at amazon.com)contrary to what some had said it was. However, for a nice tight grip, I had to insert the screw from below so that it was easier for me to use a small wrench to hold the nut above while I tightened the screw head (small screw driver provided).Although the receiver's manual had specific measurements on how far & what angle the needle should be from the head, at some point I just ignored it and made the best judgement I could. Problems encountered - after installing the cartride on the headshell and tightening the whole assembly onto the tone arm, I balanced the tone arm. The manual says to make sure the tone arm is parallel/level to the record surface. I did. I pushed "start", the tone arm moved over the record but didn't play. After trying various things including reading up on 'trouble shooting' in the manual/online and almost giving up, I decided to adjust the weight some more. The tone arm was now heavy enough to drop down, and I heard some sound but it was skipping all over the record. Thinking rationally, I imagined that a stylus is supposed to sit in and follow the grooves, so it must be skipping because it's not dropping down deep enough onto the record. I adjusted the counter weight some more and then the needle didn't skip any more. Phew! Next I adjusted the counter weight to the opposite direction just to ensure the needle isn't digging too deeply into the record grooves so that it doesn't get ruined. Amazing sound. Second problem: I noticed that with the brush down (the Shure cartridge has a brush attached that is supposed to clean the record surface before the needle passes over the grooves), I had to adjust the counterweight again because the needle was skipping again. Once I did, the needle didn't skip anymore but I noticed that for me with the brush down, the sound isn't as clean, rich and full as it was without the needle so I decided to keep it up and not use it. This was smart because I played a brand new record after playing old records and noticed that the dirt picked up by the cartridge brush was getting deposited (by static electricity?)onto my new vinyl. I lifted up the brush. I don't think I'll be using the brush any more or at least only on an old dirty record. The only problem I have left to figure out is that when I push start, the tone arm moves and starts playing at the last song in the record instead of the first one. I'll figure this out soon, afterall, it's only been a couple of hours since I installed this turntable. I'm new to this; never owned a turntable before. To be honest,I never understood what the manual was talking about when it says use 2g or 1.75g for this cartridge and adjust the antiskating knob to thesame number. I just winged it! Hope I do not damage my cartridge...oh well, it's a learning experience. Sound - the sound is amazing. It does sound better than a CD. I turned the volume very high that my glass window and kitchen glasses were shaking and rattling but the turntable kept playing! No skipping whatsoever. I don't know what the other reviewers were talking about. Now, when I tap or knock on the dust cover, the catridge picks it up and you'd hear it. But why on earth would you wanna do that for? Moreover, my large floor speakers stands on the right next to the turntable which is placed onto a shelf but none of the vibrations interferred with the sound. No hum is heard at all. On a brand new record, it's completely silent in between songs; the popping sounds are not heard. This turntable rules! You really gotta buy it to believe it...unless you're one of those die hard audiophiles who won't believe in a Denon but in a Debut III or Rega P1 (both of which I ruled out because these do not have built-in amplifiers so your receiver must have a phono input or you'll need to purchase a good quality external amplifier after shedding at least 0 on these babies!). Customer Review 1 : Customer Review 2 : Overpriced toy - J. R. Kerbow - USA An overpriced toy. The table itself runs without discernable wobble, but the antiskate doesn't seem to work properly (I set my stylus pressure at under 2 but had to set the antiskate at maximum to keep the arm from sliding immediately over the blank space on the test record). Don't set the volume too high--at a certain point a feedback begins that would probably blow your speakers if you let it go. It's all plastic and light so plan to be very still while listening or the needle will go jumping all over the place.