Turntable Upgrade?

[Bluzefan]

First of all, my humble setup, Technics SL 1700, Ortofon Red, Marantz 2230, and Klipsch RF 3 II speakers..
I enjoy mainly classic rock, jazz and some easy listening... I do not have a audiophile tuned ear...I just know what I enjoy hearing...
My question...Will I notice a difference between my 1700 setup and lets say a Rega 3 Planar, or a Music Hall 5.3 or a 7.3 or another similarly priced table?
Would I be just as well off just upgrading my stylus?
Opinions and reasons, please..
Thanks everyone for their input ...

 

[MacNoob]

If those were my options I'd be putting a different Ortofon stylus on there. (have SL-1700 too)

 

[bobins08]

Using the same Red cartridge, you might think that spending $1000 to $1500 on a new/modern Rega or Music Hall would give you a sonic upgrade over the sl 1700 but I’m not so sure about that.

You can definitely get an improvement by upgrading the stylus to the Blue, or upgrade the entire cartridge and you don’t have to spend that much money to do either.

 

[Bluzefan]

If those were my options I'd be putting a different Ortofon stylus on there. (have SL-1700 too)

thanks for your thoughts...blue? bronze? What do you have on yours?

 

[Balifly]

First of all, my humble setup, Technics SL 1700, Ortofon Red, Marantz 2230, and Klipsch RF 3 II speakers..
I enjoy mainly classic rock, jazz and some easy listening... I do not have a audiophile tuned ear...I just know what I enjoy hearing...
My question...Will I notice a difference between my 1700 setup and lets say a Rega 3 Planar, or a Music Hall 5.3 or a 7.3 or another similarly priced table?
Would I be just as well off just upgrading my stylus?
Opinions and reasons, please..
Thanks everyone for their input ...

Yes, there will be a noticeable difference between the Technics SL-1700 and the Rega 3 Planar, or a Music Hall 5.3 or a 7.3 or another similarly priced table.

You may find the sound reproduction of a lomc cartridge to be very enjoyable.

Try the Denon DL-301 MKII on the Technics SL-1700 tone arm or Rega 3 Planar, Music Hall 5.3 or a 7.3 tone arm.
If your receiver/integrated amp or separate have build in lomc phono feature,you may want to explore that avenue.

 

[DavidTT]

I would simply swap a 2m blue stylus into that red body and call it a year. Enjoy!

 

[Blue Shadow]

With the 1700, the choice of a great not just a good cartridge might make the table the upgrade you want. Skip the blue move UP. Maybe even beyond the Bronze, depending on the rest of the rig and what you want out of it. The Bronze if you like the sound of the Red will give you one of the best MM cartridges available today and many like it. Some that know moving coil prefer them but without a step up, mc head amp or phono preamp that handles MC the 2230 won't handle the LOMCs. A HOMC could be an option, though. I would think the 7.3 with the Bronze would outperform the SL/Red All Day Long but that is mostly cartridge.

 

[SiliconTi]

Try the Denon DL-301

+1 on this. It is a great cart for the money.

 

[Chrisxo55441]

Keep the table it can handle cartridges quite a few steps up from the red. upgrade the cartridge the 2M bronze is good choice and one of my favorites if you want to stick with ortofon. An AT 440mlb would go well with it to

 

[maxhifi]

Blue is way better than red, the nude stylus picks up all sorts of detail.

 

[crn3371]

Either way, you’re going to benefit from upgrading your stylus, or cartridge. I’d start there first, see how the upgrade sounds on your 1700, if that doesn’t do enough for you then you’ll at least have a decent cartridge for your new turntable. If it were me, I’d bypass the Blue and go to the Bronze.

 

[TomInTacoma]

crn3371 said it best. It's the logical path to take for now. If, after upgrading the stylus or cartridge, you still have the itch - you'll be halfway toward a turntable upgrade.

...and your setup is actually more than a 'humble setup'... Just sayin'.

 

[Bluzefan]

thanks for all your opinions....might just go the upgraded stylus route...Maybe a bronze!

 

[DavidTT]

To get the most from the bronze stylus, I believe that Ortofon recommends that you need to use the bronze body as well. The red and blue are "paired" so to speak, such that the blue stylus is considered an upgrade to the red stylus on the red body, but the bronze and black are also paired and there are supposed to be differences in the body between the red/blue and bronze/black. I haven't read much from users who added bronze or black styli to their red bodies, although I'm sure some have. I believe that they will physically fit.

Not to add confusion, but users also sometimes fit OM styli to the 2m bodies. They look weird but the styli fit, and some users have reported good sound using OM styli on 2m bodies.

thanks for all your opinions....might just go the upgraded stylus route...Maybe a bronze!

 

[crn3371]

I don’t think I’d go the Bronze stylus on the Red body. Even though the styli are all interchangeable, the Bronze/Black bodies have upgraded wiring over the Red/Blue bodies. If you decide to go with the Bronze, I’d recommend you go for the complete cartridge. This will also give you the ability to upgrade to the full Black experience just by changing the stylus.

 

[Bluzefan]

thanks DavidTT, I'm relatively certain the bronze will not fit the red/blue body...but I learn something everyday....
And, thank you, crn3371, I appreciate your expertise...one thing I've learned in my 68 years, theres always someone with a lot more knowledge the I have, no matter what the subject matter

 

[crn3371]

The Bronze or Black stylus WILL work on the Red/Blue body, just no real reason to do so.

 

[Bluzefan]

other than not having to re align the stylus?

 

[captouch]

I'd opt for a new stylus/cart as well. I don't think a new table would be the best use of your $.

 

[illinoisteve]

My quibble is that "turntable upgrade" implies that you will get a possibly better turntable to replace your old turntable, which you would then get rid of somehow.

Let me point out -- you'll never amass a turntable collection with that approach.