HK T55C vs. Pro-Ject Debut Carbon

[BigBogner]

A little background here, a few months ago, I decided to sell my U-Turn Orbit and buy a Pro-Ject DC, which I was immensely happy with. Over the few months I had the Pro-Ject, I began wanting something that fit more in line with the rest of my vintage audio setup, as well as something with at least an auto-lift as I listen to vinyl a lot while I cook and don’t always have the time to run over and pick up the tone arm.

I managed to find a HK T55C last week without a belt, and ordered the part to get it up and running. Since that find, I came across a Marantz 6200 for $100 and picked that up. Now I no longer have a need for one of the TT’s and need help deciding which to keep as a backup.

Initial upper hand goes to the Harman Kardon as I favor vintage. My reasoning is that I can always find another DC, but the T55C is harder to come by, especially with all the components and in good shape. In addition to that I just prefer the looks.

I also could get more for the Pro-Ject, even after taking off the stock Ortofon cartridge and replacing it with a cheaper ATN91, which means more money for records. I know the DC has a great tonearm, which may give it a slight advantage to the Microrace that the HK has, but I don’t know much about that. The fact that the HK has a removable headshell is also beneficial imo.


Just looking for advice and opinions on the matter here, any help is appreciated.

 

[Ilikevinyl]

The T55C is designed to work with a record weight. If you don't have the original HK record weight, buy one that weighs around 1.2 pounds (HK weight). You'll then get the correct sub chassis bounce. The ITO Microrace tonearm has a mass of 8 grams. The tonearm designer also made the Linn Sondek Ittok tonearm also. The suspended sub chassis HK turntables were called "The Working Man's Linn Sondek LP-12". They are very good turntables! I also have a T55C. There are many threads on AK about the T55C and other HK turntables.

 

[BigBogner]

Here's what the original HK record weight looks like. Has a convenient speed strobe disc on the top.

A big part of the reason I’m leaning towards keeping the T55C is because it came with that record weight which I actually really like using on my Marantz

 

[Ilikevinyl]

Here's my actual HK record weight.

 

[Blue Shadow]

486 grams for those that need that info for the HK weight

The 55c is the best of the turntables in the stable right now. The best thing on the the 6200 is the name. It accounts for 75% of the value of the table these days.

I'd be a seller of the Pro-ject since you want some automatic in the table. I'd sell the Marantz to get the funds to buy a really decent vintage table. With the funds from these two you could buy a nice Denon, Kenwood or a few other brands. Lots of companies made great tables in the late 70s/early 80s.

 

[BigBogner]

486 grams for those that need that info for the HK weight

The 55c is the best of the turntables in the stable right now. The best thing on the the 6200 is the name. It accounts for 75% of the value of the table these days.

I'd be a seller of the Pro-ject since you want some automatic in the table. I'd sell the Marantz to get the funds to buy a really decent vintage table. With the funds from these two you could buy a nice Denon, Kenwood or a few other brands. Lots of companies made great tables in the late 70s/early 80s.

As a bit of a novice audiophile, I appreciate your insight, but fear I don’t have the depth of knowledge to understand why the HK is superior to the Marantz, or why a higher quality Kenwood or Denon would be put in a higher bracket. Do you mind elaborating on the benefits of one of these higher quality machines? I imagine build quality immediately goes up, as well as better motors and hardware.

 

[Blue Shadow]

The Marantz, the 6300 especially, is very highly sought after to get a brand name system and this makes it sell for a few hundred (5 or 6 actually) above its performance level. It is a decent table, had the armless version the 6320 with a Magnepan tonearm on it, from the company that makes the tall skinny speakers, very well thought out when it was released in late 1979 and still is one of the best arms available for under $1000 when found on the used market for about 500.

That table did not isolate the sound as it is just a piece of particle board, good an thick, with a veneer over it. Directly coupled to the shelf and such. I added a Thorens TD-160 Super to the fleet (bought used with a cartridge and Magnepan arm) back in 1986 to upgrade my phono playback. Then moved to a Kenwood KD-600 to take the place of the 6320 and got into a great table using that Magnepan. The TD-160 has been replaced with a TD-125.

These better tables will have better isolation, less motor noise, and with better bearings and rotational quietness have a blacker background (my first time on ak typing that as a benefit and not saying just turn off the lights, IIRC). There will be a more musical presentation and the table will have a better tonearm that will make the cartridge do a better job of extracting the information in the groove. I bought my first separate tonearm after having a Dual 1219 and was just amazed at how much better it sounded.

The 55c gets some of this because the tonearm is better than on the 6200 and its isolation was much better. The 55c sold for 365 in the mid-80s just as the TT was being replaced with the CD so it is the last of the good ones as it were. The 6200 sold for 200, the basic entry level price for a decent turntable in the mid-70s. Marantz was filling out their lineup getting a table made by someone and putting their name on it. This happened a lot, many turntable lines from major manufacturers were completely made by some other company

Tables that are most excellent are quite abundant and usually heavy and from the late 70s at least. I would recommend a look at the Sony PS-X4, 5, 6 or 7 as they are outstanding and not overpriced yet, and have excellent performance, isolation and ease of use. Other Sonys of the era are good, too.
Kenwood has the white ARCB based tables which are very heavy and isolate well. The KD-2xxx and KD-3xxx are belt drive the KD-5070 is direct drive and a nice table. But above them are the KD-7xx 8xx/9xx tables that are very nice. I don't know them because I have a KD-600 manual table with separate tonearm that is better because of the arm. All of these have end of the era isolation and tonearms that are very good, just not quite to the Magnepan level for sure. Some of these has some automatic functions whether semi- or full auto.
JVC had good tables
Pioneer offered some nice units usually high numbers, 550 and up.
There are lots of them. I'm just not a fan of the Marantz in any way. The 6320 was completely outclassed as the 6300 would be but they do say Marantz on them and they do look very good so folks want them to match their other Marantz gear which jacks up the price.

Spend some time on Vinylengine and look over the tables. Lots of choices. Post about what you like and folks can comment about how good it is. There are also chips in some tables that when they fail the table becomes a doorstop so I would avoid those.

Remember that anything someone actually owns in their rig today is in their mind most excellent whether that is true or not. With the low price you got the 6200 you could try it and enjoy it while you look for an upgrade and then flip the Marantz for a sweet profit to be able to buy the newer table.