Turntables with the best value for my money

[HadiHissi]

Hello all,
I recently received Pink Floyd's dark side of the moon lp record for my birthday and the whole thing just hit me. I've always been interested in vinyl and turntables but it always seemed as a huge hassle and basically something out of reach nowadays.
So the moment i held that vinyl in my hand i knew its not gonna hang on my wall or in a closet, i'm getting a turntable.
Ive done my extensive research which pushed me to extend my budget to 300 - $400 max and im looking for the best value for my money.
I live in Lebanon and its kind-off limited in terms of turntables and i can't ship from amazon (its basically hard to ship from anywhere out here). Yet i managed to find a vintage store and some people selling their old turntables.
The things is that none of the turntables had details about them online. So im gonna list the ones i found thus far.

Turn tables refurbished by a proffessional:

Technics SL-QD22: $275

Akai AP-207: $250

Used turntables:

Greitz HSP 6500 by Dual: $120

Akai AP m393: $66

This turntable by sony: $80; i couldn't figure out its model, maybe someone here knows

Brand new turn tables:
I was able to find the ion max for $120 and pioneer plx 500w for $500 but i felt good towards neither.

So this was all i could find so far. I wish i can order from amazon so if anyone knows any tricks around amazon to ship to lebanon please help me out.
Otherwise, which is the best model of all and the best value for my money. The used ones, especially the one by Dual, may be in bad shape but if they are reliable turntables i can take the time to refurbish them.

Thankyou!

 

[BobHol]

I think you're being very smart by being cautious. Any used turntables have a number of possible problem areas. The condition of the stylus, The condition of any belts that it may have. All turntables need someway of being isolated from vibration coming through the table or shelf that they are sitting on. Lubrication of bearings and linkages. It is very hard to tell from pictures.

In todays market used usually provides the best value. But as I was trying to say it is usually hard to really determine the value of a used TT. Most of the current new TT's are either made very cheaply with little regard to how they actually sound or are sold with highly inflated prices because they're being bought by "rich" folks who don't really worry about value. That is my opinion.

 

[Djcoolray]

Well....

You could buy turntables from this site if you pay a membership fee, BARTERTOWN is a place where many professionals sell their rebuilt equipment. You just have to get to know who is rebuilding what based on the technical rebuilding threads. The stuff on amazon probably won't last very long before breaking....wouldn't even be worth shipping half way across the world.

 

[Quadman2]

Don't forget to obtain a cartridge that is in line in quality with whatever TT you end up with.

Q

 

[markshan]

Of those, I think the Akai is by far the best one. It's the only one I would consider.