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Choosing My First Turntable

Houly

Houly

New Member
Hello, I'm a new user here. I joined because I heard good about this place and I want to get my first Turntable, but I have no clue what to get.

I have been Googleing a bit around and got down to the following TT's in my price range, which is approx. 160€ (1200DKK). I decided to find used ones, but if there is better in that price range (new) then I'm ok with that. I mean it is not necessary to be vintage or w/e.


Click the links to see pictures and description (Danish, but should be pretty obvious.)
From cheapest to most expensive.

On this site there is also a lot of old "Bang og Olufsen" TT's like the Beogram 1000, but I don't know if they are as good sounding as they are designed.

I hope you guys can help me decide.

~ Cheers Houly
 
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The ERA MK6 due to the SME tone arm. If not that ERA I'd take the Argon, looks like a rebadged Rega. But, the ERA with that arm is the best of the bunch. Granted, I know nothing of ERA tables.
 
At that price, you're definitely better off with vintage. Denmark probably has a lot of good used equipment from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

It might be helpful if you described the rest of your system and why you want to listen to vinyl.
 
Regardless of people's personal biases may be, the ERA is the best deal of the bunch by far.
 
vinyl1 said:
At that price, you're definitely better off with vintage. Denmark probably has a lot of good used equipment from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

It might be helpful if you described the rest of your system and why you want to listen to vinyl.
Click to expand...

Well the rest my system is pretty basic.

(Click Items to see Pictures)
AMP: Sony STR-GX415
Speakers: 2x Jamo SAT-30011
Sub: Jamo SW30011
Headphones: Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250 ohm

I'm probably going to be upgrading my system over time.

I want to listen to vinyl because... well. It seems kinda "fun". I like the "hunt", browsing stores and the internet to get the LP's that I want. Also the very high quality sound it produces (Listened to a few Jethro Tull LP's at my uncles.) As I've gotten better equipment I've needed to listen to higher quality media, and enjoyed it more.
 
The SME on the ERA is worth more then the table itself, definitely the best buy.

The Argon also is very good.
 
sfrost said:
The SME on the ERA is worth more then the table itself, definitely the best buy.

The Argon also is very good.
Click to expand...

Another vote for ERA :yes:

the add says: Well maintained ERA MK 6 turntable with SME 3009 arm and Pickering XSV 4000 pickup sold due to selling record collection. Manual included.

It really looks great!
 
So I got this guy with the ERA MK6 down to 160€, and I'll go get a listen in a few days. Is this too cheap or am I having a great Score? I mean even the pickup and tonearm seem pretty darn expensive compared to the price of the whole thing.
 
I like those SME tonearms, you might not want to wait around for to long. Do they ship overseas?:D
 
Houly said:
So I got this guy with the ERA MK6 down to 160€, and I'll go get a listen in a few days. Is this too cheap or am I having a great Score? I mean even the pickup and tonearm seem pretty darn expensive compared to the price of the whole thing.
Click to expand...


Too cheap and a great score! But it's important that everything is in good nick. Maybe other people can point out some specific tips.
 
I don't know if that Sony receiver will do vinyl full justice, but I have little knowledge of recent mass-market equipment. However, many recent inexpensive electronics are cheaply built, full of gadgets, and don't sound very good.

What kind of phono stage, if any, does it have?
 
I wasn't going to get involved, but since you live in Denmark I think you really ought to consider a linear tracking Beogram.

Some of the newer units have preamps with RIAA equilization builtin, so you can connect to almost any modern reciever, you avoid the hassles of cartridge alignment, anti-skate, etc. You will never experience inner grove distortion, unless you play records that have been damaged by conventional tone arms. IMHO: Most turntables are overpriced compared to a good B&O.

Sound Smith offers a retip service as well as new moving micro cross cartridges if you like the MMC series or you can go with the older 4000 series equipment, but none of the older units include a preamp so you might need to purchase a seperate one.
 
Ken Boyd said:
I like those SME tonearms, you might not want to wait around for to long. Do they ship overseas?:D
Click to expand...

Uhm dba.dk is like ebay so that depends.

RJee said:
Too cheap and a great score! But it's important that everything is in good nick. Maybe other people can point out some specific tips.
Click to expand...

Yes, some pointers what to look for was kind of what i wanted.

vinyl1 said:
I don't know if that Sony receiver will do vinyl full justice, but I have little knowledge of recent mass-market equipment. However, many recent inexpensive electronics are cheaply built, full of gadgets, and don't sound very good.

What kind of phono stage, if any, does it have?
Click to expand...

Well, I will be upgrading my soundsystem over some time. This amp does have phono stage and ground. Oh and a lot of the gadgets on it is the radio, so its actually a reciever. Whoops.

analoge4ever said:
I wasn't going to get involved, but since you live in Denmark I think you really ought to consider a linear tracking Beogram.

Some of the newer units have preamps with RIAA equilization builtin, so you can connect to almost any modern reciever, you avoid the hassles of cartridge alignment, anti-skate, etc. You will never experience inner grove distortion, unless you play records that have been damaged by conventional tone arms. IMHO: Most turntables are overpriced compared to a good B&O.

Sound Smith offers a retip service as well as new moving micro cross cartridges if you like the MMC series or you can go with the older 4000 series equipment, but none of the older units include a preamp so you might need to purchase a seperate one.
Click to expand...

I found a B&O Beogram TX2 for 1500DKK, but I'm thinking that maybe I want it to be a bit more "un-handy" to sum it up in one word. Atleast for my first TT.
 
Another consideration: think about what cartridge you will use. The SME is the 'Improved' version with a fixed headshell. It needs a high compliance cartridge. If you want to use lower compliance moving coil cartridges, the Rega clone would be better.

For future upgrades, go for the Lenco L78.
 
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