Sometimes you "Find" enjoyable gear right where you left it.

Today I brought my turn table back into my home system.
The turn table is a Music Hall MMF-7.
I hooked it up to my home entertainment Yamaha RXZ1 receiver.
I chose an LP that I received from a friend on this forum years ago...Thanks Kyhl.

Albert King with Stevie Ray Vaughan (45rpm) Analogue Productions APB 7501-45, number 417
AcousTech Mastering by Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman.

I had removed the TT from the in house system due to young kids, curious fingers, and flying toys.
The TT has been in my garage system for years. Even though it was hooked to some nice McIntosh gear I basically did not use it out there.

Just the other day my kid asked if we could listen to some of that "Old Man Rock and Roll" on the records.
She likes to tease me about my music...that she likes too...and is always asking to hear.
I figured it is now time to bring the TT back into the house.

This LP is so quiet and nice sounding, even on my meager set up. I am glad to have it back where I will use it more frequently.

Now, how do you keep the teenagers from busting your TT, while still letting them use the TT from time to time?

 

Great story.

As to your question, I would recommend teaching the teenagers how to handle LPs, the anatomy of a stylus (and how/why they are easily damaged), and only use reasonably priced but quality moving magnet carts and styli in case they get abused.

 

In addition to educating them about LP's and TT's explain how much the various components cost and if they were to damage anything it's coming out of their pocket.

 

Thanks guys.
My daughter is pretty good with the audio gear. I have been VERY open with her concerning use, abuse, and everything in between.
She is, however, still a kid. A kid who does try but does not invest much attention into that which she is not immediately interested...so stuff gets damaged.
All very normal by my estimation.

The TT however, is more delicate than the other audio gear. There is a big difference between an aesthetic blemish in a speaker cabinet, on the face of the tuner, or even a dent in the top of the DVD player, and a dropped needle, a cranked out of alignment tone arm or stylus, or just plain hard use from novice hands.
Luckily I have none of that because my kid has been REALLY great with the gear over the years, but you get my point.

She is, however, at the age of parties, boyfriends, and people being over when I am gone.
I am trying to find a good balance between letting her use and enjoy the gear, while NOT damaging it at the same time.
I want her to use and enjoy the gear without sweating too much while doing so.

To be honest my question probably leans more towards her guests doing harm than my kid doing harm.

I guess her growing up is another learning experience for me too. I just hope when the inevitable busted gear happens I am able to find a good way to deal with the outcome.

I'm going to teach her the proper way to use the TT, along with some of the details associated with a TT, and let the rest happen.
Who knows, maybe I'll get by without any issues, other than my kid having fun music at her parties.

 

How about getting her her own TT? If you have the room, it could live next to yours. There are plenty of inexpensive options out there that might work. As for your turntable, remove the stylus (if MM) and just lock it up with your files, firearms, alcohol, or whatever else you need a key for. Parties shouldn’t be an issue...except the media itself may get trashed.

No matter how often I show my wife how to manage my fully manual TT, she if frightened of bending the cantilever. She inherited some LPs from her uncle, so she will receive the fully automatic Dual 721 that I have. She doesn’t mind using that at all.

 

Buy a decent used Full or Semi-Auto table.
Let them use that one.

 

Yes, you need a sacrificial turntable, one that if damaged won't tempt you to throw your kids out of the house.

 

Put a security camera above the table and link it to your smartphone with a warning ILL BE WATCHING
Kidding. “You guys jam but only you can operate the table”

 

I never put my turntable in storage because of my kid. I did switch from a non-enclosed (Ariston) to my enclosed Pro-ject which has an acetate cover. This keeps flying objects from destroying the cart/tonearm. I have repeatedly announced, however, during play time in the family room (where the Hi-Fi lies), that any damage to gear will result in replacement cost. That replacement cost would come out of the college plan set up for the kid.... He normally simmers down and takes the mayhem to the next room.

 

My Son is 29 and has never touched my gear, even as he matured and I explained everything he would not go near it. These days he has a Technics SL10 turntable and Yamaha gear.

 

Thanks for the great replies.
I have always let my kid explore and use the audio equipment, with careful supervision when very young that has changed to guided instruction today.
Most of the gear is fairly durable...but the TT is not.
I do not have the space for a secondary TT.

To be honest I bet the parties use some sort of phone generated blue tooth speaker for party music rather than cranking up and dealing with all my old tech stuff.

I'm am done worrying about this TT. I'll talk with my kid, teacher the right way to use it, explain why it is so fragile as compared to the other gear, and deal with what may come.
I always try to find the positive in situations.
If my kid poop cans my MMF-7 it will give me pretty good grounds for an upgrade. An upgrade the wife probably will not balk at due to the party damage.

I like my MMF-7 though, for it carries other memories beyond the audio capabilities of the machine itself.

 

Funny. Guess what? I put my TT back into the regular system just the other day.
My wife and kid go to visit her parents for the weekend.
When they return my wife brings in two big boxes of LP's from her parents house. Her parents are moving some things out, sort of.

Who would have guessed as soon as I hook my TT back up I would get 50 or so albums to work my way through.

Of course coming from my In-Laws the LP's have a HUGE pile of do's and don't associated with them...They are like that unfortunately.
"Here, you can have this, but"....

Anyway, I find this quite funny because my TT has been out of the house for a long, long time. Two days after hooking it back up I get a big Pile-O-Records to play with.

There are a few I did not know about and a couple are even still sealed, Such as the Men at Work (Two Hearts) album.
The stuff ranges from the late 1950's up to about 1990 at the newest.

I guess fate may be at work here.

 

If you value this TT, then I'd just put it back in the garage for a while again. Otherwise I can almost guarantee that there will be tears at some point.

Instead buy a cheap, but decent older TT, that you will not care at all when they destroy the stylus or the tonearm. My dad learned the hard way when we were kids not to trust us with a delicate phono setup. He eventually installed a Thorens TD-121 with a cheap but robust tonearm which was nearly bullet-proof to keep the turntable from continually getting broken by our friends.