hi guys
ive posted this on another forum so ill post here as well as i seriously need to make a decision soon so appricate everyones advice etc.
im on the look out for a turntable thats gonna keep me intrested soundwise for at least afew years i hope.
ive been looking at pro-ject turntables,the rpm range as mainly they look intresting visually compared to other stuff and also they seem afair price.
now i know thats no way to buy a turntable,not if you put sound quality first which obviously i do,so im out to strike a balance.
the trouble is i havent heard a turntable in at least 10 yrs so havent got aclue where the best bang for buck lies,and as theres no dealers to speak of here im not going to get achance to hear any
the first thing i need to clear up and hopefully without the die-hards turning this into a belt vrs dd thread is for around lets say £700 target price what would give me a real decent sound out of the two for that figure?
ive read about the technics etc,ive also read reviews regarding belt drives such as projects all stating how wonderful they sound,but as ive pointed out ive heard neither so i dont know whats gonna suit me regarding the two types virtues...is there a generalisation regarding there charecters.
i really want a fit and forget solution,plus i only have a cambridge 640p phonostage so theres proberly no point going to crazy is there?
obviously i would tweak whatever i got but i dont and wont live and breath it regarding modding,upgrading it etc and dont want to exceed that £700 budget that i havent got yet
the technics sounds intresting but to buy new is around £450 then how much would you have to spend till it was in the same performance regarding a £700 belt drive such as a pro-ject 6.1 sb or something.
like i say ive read the threads etc and certainly dont want to enter into a debate over which is best,im just after peeps advice who have experience of them all without preference and give me some idea which will give me the best sound and bang for buck at my target price!!!
please help,its all driving me to drink
all the best
smithie
ive posted this on another forum so ill post here as well as i seriously need to make a decision soon so appricate everyones advice etc.
im on the look out for a turntable thats gonna keep me intrested soundwise for at least afew years i hope.
ive been looking at pro-ject turntables,the rpm range as mainly they look intresting visually compared to other stuff and also they seem afair price.
now i know thats no way to buy a turntable,not if you put sound quality first which obviously i do,so im out to strike a balance.
the trouble is i havent heard a turntable in at least 10 yrs so havent got aclue where the best bang for buck lies,and as theres no dealers to speak of here im not going to get achance to hear any
the first thing i need to clear up and hopefully without the die-hards turning this into a belt vrs dd thread is for around lets say £700 target price what would give me a real decent sound out of the two for that figure?
ive read about the technics etc,ive also read reviews regarding belt drives such as projects all stating how wonderful they sound,but as ive pointed out ive heard neither so i dont know whats gonna suit me regarding the two types virtues...is there a generalisation regarding there charecters.
i really want a fit and forget solution,plus i only have a cambridge 640p phonostage so theres proberly no point going to crazy is there?
obviously i would tweak whatever i got but i dont and wont live and breath it regarding modding,upgrading it etc and dont want to exceed that £700 budget that i havent got yet
the technics sounds intresting but to buy new is around £450 then how much would you have to spend till it was in the same performance regarding a £700 belt drive such as a pro-ject 6.1 sb or something.
like i say ive read the threads etc and certainly dont want to enter into a debate over which is best,im just after peeps advice who have experience of them all without preference and give me some idea which will give me the best sound and bang for buck at my target price!!!
please help,its all driving me to drink
all the best
smithie
I'd x2 this, although for used turntables, you'd really want to either look into local options or find someone with experience in shipping turntables. There's a lot of ways the freight monkeys can destroy one, even properly packed
That said, I bought the VPI HW-19jr I had on Audiogon; I thought the transaction went very well, and I got a good amount of 'table for what I spent
Hi all,
I will share my thoughts as i went through a similar journey. £700 will get eaten up quickly if you buy new, or go a long way with used gear. I still use the CA640P and think its a great unit. Initially i used an old Rega tt with VMS20 MM cart, was ok but miles away from my Jolida JD100 cd player, so i fitted a Grado prestige gold cart. This was a nice upgrade but not upto CD. So i bought a Thorens TD321 with a Linn Basik plus arm, a really good sound for the money and now up with the cd player. Then i bought an AT33PTG mc cartridge, This was a huge leap up in quality. Cost about £400, but is by far the biggest upgrade to my system. Since then i have built a DIY high end ish deck with a SME111 arm. together this is a different league to CD.
If i was doing it again....It all starts with the cartridge.
AT33PTG £400 that leaves £300 for a used TT and good arm, maybe a Thorens £150 or a SL1200 £200 and £150 for a SME arm.
Works for me!
Ian
I will share my thoughts as i went through a similar journey. £700 will get eaten up quickly if you buy new, or go a long way with used gear. I still use the CA640P and think its a great unit. Initially i used an old Rega tt with VMS20 MM cart, was ok but miles away from my Jolida JD100 cd player, so i fitted a Grado prestige gold cart. This was a nice upgrade but not upto CD. So i bought a Thorens TD321 with a Linn Basik plus arm, a really good sound for the money and now up with the cd player. Then i bought an AT33PTG mc cartridge, This was a huge leap up in quality. Cost about £400, but is by far the biggest upgrade to my system. Since then i have built a DIY high end ish deck with a SME111 arm. together this is a different league to CD.
If i was doing it again....It all starts with the cartridge.
AT33PTG £400 that leaves £300 for a used TT and good arm, maybe a Thorens £150 or a SL1200 £200 and £150 for a SME arm.
Works for me!
Ian
Do you have any construction info on that table? Motor you used, etc? The result looks great
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The above link should take you to something very special!! [ Send me a personal message if you have difficulty.] I have absolutely nothing to do with the TT or seller other than that I think it is a fabulous bargain!
Have a look at the last post - it is now at £475.00 - but most of the people on that site 'roll their own', so it is sticking!!! This will eat any turntable at four times the price!! Spares are easy to get and you can even get a brand new bearing built to the highest standards from a specialised machinist!!
This woud leave you a decent budget for a cartridge and would easily cover a Denon 103 MC!
The above link should take you to something very special!! [ Send me a personal message if you have difficulty.] I have absolutely nothing to do with the TT or seller other than that I think it is a fabulous bargain!
Have a look at the last post - it is now at £475.00 - but most of the people on that site 'roll their own', so it is sticking!!! This will eat any turntable at four times the price!! Spares are easy to get and you can even get a brand new bearing built to the highest standards from a specialised machinist!!
This woud leave you a decent budget for a cartridge and would easily cover a Denon 103 MC!
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I have to X2 this. I got an SL-1200Mk2 from KAB Acoustics and a Denon DL110 at a very good price. Total was less than $600 USD. The combo makes an utterly captivating sound. So good, in fact, that I just bought a Denon DL160 to try out when I have the time. (DL160 improves on the DL110 with a conical cantilever and better quality diamond tip.)
The Technics arm is surprisingly good if used with a compatible cartridge. The Denon DL110 and DL160 have the correct weight/compliance to work with this arm. Grado carts don't look like they would work as well (too high compliance), and the Denon DL103 would also not work optimally (too heavy and low compliance).
Both DL110 and DL160 are high-output moving coils with low output Z, so sound noticeably better with input load of about 1.5k ohms than with the standard 47k ohms.
--
the DL103, too heavy?
Marc Phillips (The Vinyl Anachronist), a well known and published vinyl guy, has/had been working on an SL1200 to good effect. He used a Zu Audio DL-103 cartridge. A bit of a reach, but apparently very good sounding and it works excellent on the 1200 w/stock arm (reportedly). As the Technics decks are built like tanks (as in bone crushing, artillery-firing, real battlefield tanks), you may even be able to find one via a local newspaper or classifieds section, such as craigslist.
But Marc digresses and suggests the Rega P2 and P3 still sound better. (but I think they may be more expensive than the Technics/ZuAudio combination).
As suggested used gear is definitely a possibility and more readily available in the UK than in North America.
Regarding the Pro-ject tables, they have been very favorably reviewed. here's a link with a fairly comprehensive list of Project Turntable reviews.
It seems there is a real standout available for the money you have to spend though: The Rega3/24 and Elys 2 combination. £500 together. Add the outboard power supply at £150, and for £650, less taxes you end up with class leading, turn-key performer. As there is no suspension on the table, it is dirt simple. You may even be able to buy it all at a slightly lower purchase price as a "combination". The Power supply will give you superior performance and speed stability.
Now Rega tables are not stylish in any way, except for those that like a cut down "Zen" aesthetic. Rega doesn't continue to win awards for nothing you know. This is a "take it out of the box, play it and forget about it" solution. Only other thing might be a Rega P3 used with an RB300 or a RB250 tonearm with a power supply.
Here's a quick review/statement fro What hifi? magazine and their 2009 awards. At that price , for a new table, I'm not sure that you can do better
Marc Phillips (The Vinyl Anachronist), a well known and published vinyl guy, has/had been working on an SL1200 to good effect. He used a Zu Audio DL-103 cartridge. A bit of a reach, but apparently very good sounding and it works excellent on the 1200 w/stock arm (reportedly). As the Technics decks are built like tanks (as in bone crushing, artillery-firing, real battlefield tanks), you may even be able to find one via a local newspaper or classifieds section, such as craigslist.
But Marc digresses and suggests the Rega P2 and P3 still sound better. (but I think they may be more expensive than the Technics/ZuAudio combination).
As suggested used gear is definitely a possibility and more readily available in the UK than in North America.
Regarding the Pro-ject tables, they have been very favorably reviewed. here's a link with a fairly comprehensive list of Project Turntable reviews.
It seems there is a real standout available for the money you have to spend though: The Rega3/24 and Elys 2 combination. £500 together. Add the outboard power supply at £150, and for £650, less taxes you end up with class leading, turn-key performer. As there is no suspension on the table, it is dirt simple. You may even be able to buy it all at a slightly lower purchase price as a "combination". The Power supply will give you superior performance and speed stability.
Now Rega tables are not stylish in any way, except for those that like a cut down "Zen" aesthetic. Rega doesn't continue to win awards for nothing you know. This is a "take it out of the box, play it and forget about it" solution. Only other thing might be a Rega P3 used with an RB300 or a RB250 tonearm with a power supply.
Here's a quick review/statement fro What hifi? magazine and their 2009 awards. At that price , for a new table, I'm not sure that you can do better
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