what to look for when buying a turntable

[wstrickland1]

Find a used VPI, like a Scoutmaster. I say that because I did and felt like I hit a home run. In fact I was so pleased that a couple of years later I bought a new Prime Scout

[kevinmi]

2 hours ago, mopardave said:

The EAT is belt drive and a carbon fiber finish on body and tone arm.

If you are going to look at that caliber of a set-up, which I recommend, check out similar priced tables from Thorens, VPI, Oracle, ETC. Read as many reviews as possible. Mike Fremer from Stereophile and Analog Planet has quite a few videos on you tube about turntables.
 

[mopardave]

9 minutes ago, kevinmi said:

If you are going to look at that caliber of a set-up, which I recommend, check out similar priced tables from Thorens, VPI, Oracle, ETC. Read as many reviews as possible. Mike Fremer from Stereophile and Analog Planet has quite a few videos on you tube about turntables.
 

Cool!  Thanks

[mopardave]

I keep coming back to the EAT B TT.   Great reviews and a bad *** looking table.

[TubeHiFiNut]

8 hours ago, mopardave said:

The EAT is belt drive and a carbon fiber finish on body and tone arm.

The EAT looks interesting. I'll have to learn more about it.

[mustang_flht]

I have a new TEAC TN 550 optimized with some options: mat cover acrylic, granite support, presser puck Millenium, African black wood headshell Yamamoto HS1A  ... and with an AT VM740ML. The result very very good and not too expensive: 1000 € here for turntable + cartridge and accessories. The TEAC TN-550 is very good with this Jelco Arm, it's great because you can change the VTA.

In the past I had beautiful turntables: Linn Sondek LP12 with Dynacector Ruby, French Turntable 80kg with unipivot arm Lurné and cell AT33E, ...

 

 

 

 

😜

[avguytx]

Those Teac's are some good looking tables for the money.

[mustang_flht]

Here the Gold Note turntables have very good reputation. They are beautiful and the range starts with the 425 until the splendid Mediteraneo. I find their arms splendid. They make the turntable for Bryston.

 

👍

[eq_shadimar]

Ok so I will put my flame proof pants on for this post.  I have two turntables.  One hooked up to my Fisher 500B (5 Cornwall system) and the other hooked up to my Onkyo 676 (5 Hersey system).  Both turntables were purchased from eBay for about $30 each.  I did purchase new cartridges for each at around $100 per turntable.  Myself and others think they sound fine.  I am sure there are gains to be had from all the fancy things expensive turntables do but frankly I have better things to spend a couple of grand on.  So anyway I just wanted to throw a counterpoint out there especially if you are not sure if you want to get back into vinyl or not.

 

Laters,

Jeff

[glens]

Exactly how I would do it if I were to do it.  The only reason would be for nostalgia-time on the 30 or so LPs from my youth, wherever they may be at the moment...

[mustang_flht]

In the $ 1000 (799$) in the USA you have the excellent Audio Technica AT LP7 with belt drive 👍

 

 

 

 

Here in Europe we have the Magnat MTT 990 direct drive, I do not know if it is sold at home, but it is also a good candidate for the budget 😍

 

[mopardave]

Nice looking TT's.  Didn't even think about the Teac TT. Looks to be a very nice TT as well.  I don't hear much said about the Audio Technica, but a interesting TT for sure.  Will keep these on my list.  Thanks

[Budman]

i recently went down this same path and bought my first nice table since 1975. settled in on a Rega P3 and just like everything else i buy i usually need 2 of everything. might step up and get the P6 on my second one.         highly recommend Audio Advise if you buy new. excellent service

[mopardave]

18 minutes ago, Budman said:

i recently went down this same path and bought my first nice table since 1975. settled in on a Rega P3 and just like everything else i buy i usually need 2 of everything. might step up and get the P6 on my second one.         highly recommend Audio Advise if you buy new. excellent service

I'll make note of that. Thanks

[Marvel]

1 hour ago, Budman said:

highly recommend Audio Advise if you buy new. excellent service 

 

https://www.audioadvisor.com/mobile/departments.asp?dept=71

 

[NOSValves]

On 4/25/2019 at 8:37 AM, mopardave said:

went for a visit to Kevin's Monday to meet and check out his system.  Very nice set up and system sounds fantastic.  He played some of my disc material and then his vinyl .  The vinyl sounded much better.   I'm now thinking about getting back into vinyl.    When shopping for a turntable what specs should I be looking at?  Looking for used as I certainly can't afford a $7500 table, what are the brands to look at that are audiophile quality?   Technics, oracle, Rega.   What brands should I look at?   Audio Technica LP-120 any good?  Just looking and getting familiar with turntables for now. My price range used would under $1000.   Thanks

 

 

I've got a rather large Doors collection I'd be willing to sell you!

[mustang_flht]

And do not forget the news turntables Technics SL-1200 MK 7 (899$) and the SL-1500C (999$)  😜

 

https://www.gear4music.com/news/article/NAMM-2019-Technics-Re-Launches-the-SL-1200-DJ-Turntable/7NA/2019-01-16

 

https://theaudiophileman.com/sl-1500c-turntable-from-technics/

[Pete H]

Not hijacking the thread by any means, I just thought I would throw this out there.  I'm in the process of thinning out the herd to finance a new purchase and one of the items that I've considered is my SL1200 MK2 with a Shure M97xE.  Both purchased new, took it out of the box, installed the cartridge, dialed in the arm, plugged it in to my Sansui and spun a record and proceeded to put it on the shelf until I had the layout in my main rig for it to go.  That never happened and after a few years, I realized that I'm just not going back down the vinyl road, so I would entertain selling it to meet my wife's demands regarding my next purchase.  After reading this and getting ready to research fair market on it, I figured I would post.  While it may not be new since it played a record, short of that, it's freaking close.  LOL and yes, that's dust on the cover, it's been on the shelf.

 

 

[HDBRbuilder]

And don't forget some of the other early Technics direst drive turntables, either!  Many are very affordable and in excellent condition.  I am still happily using an SL-1300 model that I purchased new in 1975.  It is just as viable as an affordable alternative for a much higher-priced "high-end" turntable today as it was back when I purchased it!  It has a "fully automatic" feature that is nice to have....its wow & flutter is at-0.025% and its rumble is virtually unmeasurable.  Mine is the original version, but the MKII model has the quartz-lock speed monitor added.  As for the cue lever, it is as good as any other of its day, but it came with a viscous damped drop....and that is the only problem that ever raises its ugly head on these units...sometimes, especially on the earliest made ones, the o-ring seal on the viscous damping module blows and you have to resort to what most turntables ALREADY REQUIRE, and that is to gently lower the tone-arm using the cueing lever itself.

 

One of the nice things about the Technics D-D models of that era is that their entire output wiring harness from the gold-plated cartridge leads thru the output leads is low-capacitance to suite the CD-4 cartridges of that time!

 

If you buy used, it is to your advantage to ensure that the original box with packing is with the turntable...ESPECIALLY if having it shipped to you! 

 

Just a suggestion, though!  This unit can generally be had in excellent condition for well under $400.00 less shipping cost...which includes its original packing and box!

[mopardave]

5 hours ago, NOSValves said:

 

 

I've got a rather large Doors collection I'd be willing to sell you!

LOL!  I think I know where you got that from.