Turntable price vs quality

306Prairie

New Member
Trying to be respectful of the rules here, hopefully I don't slip up.

I am curious as to the values of a few turntables I have. The SL-1200 Mk II is very well known, and I have a good idea of it's worth, as well just installed a 3M blue cartridge.

Tonight I installed a new belt, lubricated and set-up my Yamaha YP701 correctly after finally watching a very informative video I found on the site here. Sounds great! Speed is spot on and I swear after properly adjusting everything I'm already hearing better sounds from my Blue Oyster Cult. There seems to be a dedicated following to this one yet I have no idea what it's worth compared to my 1200.

Lastly there is a Pioneer PL-560 (the direct drive) with a Grado F2+. Needs new feet installed, seems to be a common fault in this model but otherwise works great. This seems like another that I can't find for sale and am not sure of a value compared to the previous two.

Upstairs is my JVC QL-Y66F which is very popular from what I've read....but man does it let a lot of unwanted noise transfer through! My young girls light steps translate hugely through my speakers, I would think something worth the money it is I wouldn't have this problem.

As such, I'm starting to believe that a high price doesn't necessarily equate the best sound. Thoughts?
 
As such, I'm starting to believe that a high price doesn't necessarily equate the best sound. Thoughts?

Well it depends on what you or another person feel is "High Priced"

And I hate to tell ya, as my tables and equipment elevated in price, performance and sound quality went up as well.

So what do you want to know?, your post started like you wanted to get pricing on your tables and then you ended it with a question about others opinions of audio component cost vs. quality.
 
Well values first on above turntables so I can form my own opinion on quality vs cost. Secondly, others opinions with gear they've owned, perhaps something that wasn't particularly valuable but was better than most in performance.
 
Upstairs is my JVC QL-Y66F which is very popular from what I've read....but man does it let a lot of unwanted noise transfer through! My young girls light steps translate hugely through my speakers, I would think something worth the money it is I wouldn't have this problem.
The plinth is the (IMHO only) weak point on those JVCs. So much technology they had to cut something to bring it in at a price point. I wall mounted my QL-A7 and the whole family can dance and jump and there are zero issues...

 
The SL-1200 Mk II is very well known, and I have a good idea of it's worth, as well just installed a 3M blue cartridge.

Yamaha YP701 I'm already hearing better sounds from my Blue Oyster Cult.

Lastly there is a Pioneer PL-560 (the direct drive) with a Grado F2+.

Upstairs is my JVC QL-Y66F which is very popular from what I've read....but man does it let a lot of unwanted noise transfer through! My young girls light steps translate hugely through my speakers, I would think something worth the money it is I wouldn't have this problem.

As such, I'm starting to believe that a high price doesn't necessarily equate the best sound. Thoughts?

There is a general more money buys better sound but there are some serious anomalies in that statement such as the sought after brands, the Pioneer/Marantz/Sansui tables can frequently be priced well above their performance level. The SL-1200 gets in on that, too, even though it is a very good turntable. Finally, we have the better vintage table pool of products that the range of a price on one table may go too high for its performance while others might not reach the price for their performance.

What I read in what you posted is you have the SL-1200/3M Blue vs. YP-701/BOC, PL-560/F2+ and QL-Y66F/? and you are noticing differences. Can these differences be attributed to the cartridge or the rig you are using? to evaluate differences one should only change one thing at a time. You should be able to bolt up that 3M Blue (what is this?) cartridge to all of your tables since they seem to use the standard headshell. Of course, alignment should be set properly for each table. And since I could force myself to read BOC as the cartridge on the Yamaha, I did that, too, not knowing what is on the table. But that Yamaha does look to have a nice arm on it.

As to the footfalls bothering a table, some do, the Thorens for example, and some don't, the heavier direct drives in general but not every table in a group will suffer. Those that have problems with this that really like their table will mount it on the wall. Not too often the kids will be walking on the wall.

Well it depends on what you or another person feel is "High Priced"

And I hate to tell ya, as my tables and equipment elevated in price, performance and sound quality went up as well.
Helps that you have an overall understanding of how to move up the tt ladder. Takes knowledge of the gear to do that, not just AK info/desirability or bay pricing to indicate what is better.
 
Thanks for the replies, I had never thought about a wall mount, that's definitely worth a shot. As far as kids not walking on the walls, you've obviously never met my girls haha. Our dance parties get pretty intense....

I suppose to test properly as you noted I should be transferring my cartridge to each table and using the same power source but with the three kids that's just way too much work.
To clarify:
Jvc- AT-160ML
Yamaha - unknown cartridge
Technics - 2M blue (3M was a typo)
Pioneer - F2+

Now, does anyone have an idea what these are worth?
 
I suppose to test properly as you noted I should be transferring my cartridge to each table and using the same power source but with the three kids that's just way too much work.

Not necessarily. Due to compliance matching with the arm, the same cart won't even sound the same on two different tables. Component matching and symbiosis is where the magic comes in this hobby.

As far as values go, I usually use eBay completed sales and/or HiFi Shark.
 
Not necessarily. Due to compliance matching with the arm, the same cart won't even sound the same on two different tables. Component matching and symbiosis is where the magic comes in this hobby.

As far as values go, I usually use eBay completed sales and/or HiFi Shark.

Yes, you can't really compare apples to apples with turntables and cartridges. I pretty well stick with eBay completed sales knowing full well I won't likely get that same amount in a local sale. Unless the item is quite rare, in which case you never know.

I had a recent problem in my rig. I decided to try a Sony PS-X600 in place of my Thorens TD-160. However, they had two very different sounds and I use that rig to compare duplicate records side by side. My other turntable is a Yamaha PX3. I recently bought some replacement styli for a Stanton 680 cartridge, an Ortofon OM30, and an Ortofon VMS20. I first tried the Stanton on the sony, and the output was too loud and bright when compared to the ortofon om10 stylus I had on the Yamaha. I put in the om30 stylus onto the om10 cartridge of the Yamaha, and I really liked that upgrade, but I couldn't really compare records on the two turntables. The differences were too great! Then I used a spare Sony head shell I had and added the VMS30 cartridge with the new stylus! Nirvana! They are very close in sound now, and I can resume comparing duplicates.

I have a totally different cartridge on the Thorens, but it played very close to the Yamaha before I upgraded the stylus.
 
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How much difference do you guys think there is in those arms? Aren't they all Japanese S-shaped arms except the JVC? Without knowing the arm mass one could assume they are of medium mass for those and the JVC being close to the light side of medium if not the very high end of low mass. Not so different that someone needs to over analyze what cartridges will work properly. . . most will. Sure you will be getting resonance peaks ranging from 6-12 maybe, but probably a lot closer to the 8-11 folks want.
 
It is important that the OP understand that a cart which may be great on the Yamaha might be terrible on the JVC.
I think that is an exaggeration. What might sound very nice on one won't sound as good. I don't know that he has a terrible combination in what he has but I haven't run the numbers. I believe there is way too much effort put into getting that 9Hz resonance frequency. Best I heard in my system was a 6Hz combo well outside the ideal range, blows everything else I have personally used outta the main spot.

Just how bad do you think what the OP has would sound? Are we looking at some combo that will offer a performance failure? I don't think so.

Without knowing what the cartridge is in the Yamaha, the AT is the one, the others are not in the same class.

Is your rear coupling on that JVC not holding the back part of the arm straight? Just an observation from the pic, not part of the matching issue.
 
Happened across one of the faux marble Kenwoods tonight, KA-5070. Paid 100$, is that a good deal? I've heard of them before but never seen one, figured I would bite...seems to be in great shape.
 
Nice price. Equal to all the well known full auto late 70s machines from Sony, Technics, Pioneer and such for much lower cost and a unique look.

OM and SM are both on VE
 
Alot of vintage tables punch above their price point, until you convert their original selling price in today's dollars, and realize they were pretty expensive back then. In the 70's your average dude could buy and pay off a new car in a year if it was around 6-7k. So a turntable priced at 1k+ would have been hugely expensive. Today, turntables, even expensive ones, are relatively cheaper until you hit the upper stratosphere.

Well maintained vintage tables with new carts are generally the way to go, as far as bang for the buck is concerned. My Yamaha PX3 easily outperforms my Rega RP1, even with the upgrades I've performed on the Rega, there are things internally on the Yamaha where no expense was spared that result in higher quality output. No matter what I do to the RP1 it will always pick up ground hum from the crappy motor the closer the cartridge gets to the center of the record. The DD PX-3 will never have this problem.
 
Well, you don't know unless you give it a shot.

Take a record you listen to often, and know pretty well. Take it over the house of some guy who has a $30K turntable with a $10K cartridge, in system with comparable electronics, speakers, and cable. Ask him to play your record for you, and listen carefully. That will tell you what you need to know.
 
Trying to be respectful of the rules here, hopefully I don't slip up.

I am curious as to the values of a few turntables I have. The SL-1200 Mk II is very well known, and I have a good idea of it's worth, as well just installed a 3M blue cartridge.

Tonight I installed a new belt, lubricated and set-up my Yamaha YP701 correctly after finally watching a very informative video I found on the site here. Sounds great! Speed is spot on and I swear after properly adjusting everything I'm already hearing better sounds from my Blue Oyster Cult. There seems to be a dedicated following to this one yet I have no idea what it's worth compared to my 1200.

Lastly there is a Pioneer PL-560 (the direct drive) with a Grado F2+. Needs new feet installed, seems to be a common fault in this model but otherwise works great. This seems like another that I can't find for sale and am not sure of a value compared to the previous two.

Upstairs is my JVC QL-Y66F which is very popular from what I've read....but man does it let a lot of unwanted noise transfer through! My young girls light steps translate hugely through my speakers, I would think something worth the money it is I wouldn't have this problem.

As such, I'm starting to believe that a high price doesn't necessarily equate the best sound. Thoughts?

The Yamaha YP701 is a sleeper turntable - much less appreciated than it should be. Actually, the Pioneer and Yamaha sell for the same amounts. IMHO the JVC QL-Y66F is better than either, but lot of technology means lots of adjusting ! Again IMHO, the Technics SL-1200 Mk II is a bit overblown simply because it was a very good scratch turntable for DJs way back when. Its fame now precedes its true quality as a audio stereo turntable. The table was made with the explicit purpose of DJ-ing, and certain club acoustics. My 2 cents.

The Technics is of course the most expensive in todays market. The JVC > Yamaha = Pioneer. Not counting cartridges.
 
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