[WallaceRoger]

I've been trying to find a decent portable record player for my girlfriend as a Christmas gift. She lives in a small studio apartment and doesn't have a lot of space for hi-fi equipment, so I was researching the suitcase style all-in-one units you can find online (Crosley, Ion, CMC, etc.) I'm finding a lot of people online commenting that these are basically all cheapo junk that will damage your records over time due to lack of tone arm counterweight, etc. So, I decided against buying her one of those. We (especially I) often buy pricier, rarer records, and I wouldn't want them ruined.

It made me wonder why someone hasn't made a decent quality portable record player with adjustable counterweight, quality magnetic stylus (standard or P-mount). I thought that maybe I could buy a reasonably ok turntable, add a phono preamp to it and build a small case to hold it which would allow her to store it away when not in use. I actually have the phono preamp already, purchased many years ago for an old LP to digital file conversion project.

What do you guys think of this? What would be a decently-priced, not extremely heavy turntable with a tone-arm lock that I could pick up to modify into a standalone with preamp and bluetooth? I should add that we both love music, but we're not highly-selective audiophiles, so I'm not in the market for something like a Thorens TD-160. On the other hand, I'd like it to be shorter overall than the Garrard 42M I use at home.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Ron Ramirez]

I really like the 1980s vintage Technics direct drive turntables, but they are probably too heavy to lug around as a "portable".

Now, for a while before I acquired the SL-D3 I now have, I owned a vintage Realistic direct drive turntable that might be just what you would want for the project you propose. I'll have to look up the model number as I do not remember. It was lightweight yet almost as nice as my SL-D3.

[WallaceRoger]

Thanks Ron, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I was looking at various BSR McDonald stuff on ebay, but didn't jump on anything just yet.

[Ron Ramirez]

It was a LAB-440.

[WallaceRoger]

Thanks Ron!

[WallaceRoger]

This turned out really well. I wound up using a LAB 400 instead of a 440 as the switches were better placed for operation. The 400 is actually quite a nice turntable, I considered keeping it for myself instead. I installed it in an old 1960s Samsonite hardshell suitcase. The turntable fits nicely into the bottom half and the top half can be enclosed by fabric on elastic, so I installed the phono preamp there. I didn't want wall warts visible, so I took them apart and installed everything there as well, enclosed in masonite. The bluetooth transmitter runs down and hides inside one of the side pockets of the lower half of the suitcase, and it can be unplugged if someone wants to plug the turntable into a regular amplifier with a 1/4" plug adaptor. The suitcase closes and latches just fine, so can be put away when not in use.

Kind of an overkill solution, but a fun and easy project that works as well as I had hoped.