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Next move: new turntable or cartridge?

"I'm not a technics guy - but somewhere out there (having trouble finding the link) there is a list of all the technics TT's along with their specifications, and their original retail price when new."

Here you go, bookmark;
http://www.vintagetechnics.info/turntables.htm

MK-II is generally better as improved rethinks rather than cheapened revisions.
 
dlaloum said:
Let the TT Jihad begin....Dr Tinear launches a pre-emptive strike in favour of the sprung-beltrdives....

A flanking attack by BrocLuno's p-mountian cavalry....

In terms of value for money - I will support BrocLuno's suggestion - p-mounts are currently out of fashion and therefore fantastic value for money.
You already have a p-mount cartridge... and you will probably score a second one with the TT...
(DLaloum's artillery up on the hill opens up in support of the p-mountians)

bye for now

David
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There are many roads to analog Nirvana, and not all of them involve drive belts and a suspended subchassis. The current turntable in my main system is unsuspended and uses belt drive with an FG servo-controlled DC motor. It sounds just fine to me. I've also heard direct-drives and idler-drives that sounded just fine, which leads me to believe that quality of engineering implementation counts for more than the type of drive system and suspension (or lack of suspension).
 
But don't get stuck with a P-Mount only system unless you're wanting limited choices and play nicer records. No specialty options. Sometimes, this lack of options limits the records you can play back to their best.
 
T-4P 'P' mount is plug-and-play, no adjustments. 1/2" mount allows a wider choice of standard and exotic cartridges for the more adventurous hobbyist and serious listener but will require several different critical and sometimes interactive adjustments for optimal results.
 
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Dr Tinear said:
A leading question from a leading advocate of the venerable AR XA. The original AR is a classic design that can deliver very high performance with a well-matched cartridge and a bit of tweaking to the arm. I still have the one I bought in 1974; it's sitting peacefully in its carton, waiting for me to abandon my infatuation with Grado cartridges (which can hum in an AR) and put it back in my main system.
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well, yes, I guess it was. Mostly due to the price range the OP was working with. As an ES-1 or a The AR Turntable would certainly be above that.

without going of topic ( i hope ) the Sonata-1 plays just fine in my ES-1
If you get excessive hmmmmmm from a grado in the XA (1.5W motor) something else might be emitting "field" near the table. Maybe the armtube is picking up motor mechanical noise and amplifying that?
 
For $400 you can get an *excellent* second hand turntable and with the remaining $100 you can get a pretty good cartridge.
 
dlaloum said:
Let the TT Jihad begin....Dr Tinear launches a pre-emptive strike in favour of the sprung-beltrdives....

A flanking attack by BrocLuno's p-mountian cavalry....

In terms of value for money - I will support BrocLuno's suggestion - p-mounts are currently out of fashion and therefore fantastic value for money.
You already have a p-mount cartridge... and you will probably score a second one with the TT...
(DLaloum's artillery up on the hill opens up in support of the p-mountians)

bye for now

David
Click to expand...

Let me go against the p-mount recommendation. It makes your cartridge choices much more limited, unless you want to spend more money to get special, discontinued, high-quality p-mount cartridges.

As for alignment, aligning a 1/2" cart in its headshell is no big deal if the manufacturer has published the overhang figure (in mm).

Note that i have owned several p-mount linear trackers in the past. I speak from my frustration finding really good carts.
 
ToneAlive said:
wow, that's surprising, I'm glad I asked this question. I would have thought that the cartridge would have been a much more crucial component.
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I would agree that the cart is more crucial. However, the quality gap is much larger with your particular table than with your particular cart (IMHO, of course).
 
So I am really leaning on a technics SL MK2... But which model number should I get if I don't end up wanting to overpay for a 1200? I definately want VTA, and I dont care about manual vs automatic. I guess what Im trying ti say is, knowing that, which is the best option between the 1300mk2, 1400mk2, 1500mk2, 1600mk2, 1700mk2, and the 1800mk2?
 
Basically all of them are great tables, one a better performer than the other.
The 1 generation are just as good.
Some MKII tables have armlift problems, dunno exactly which models though.

I have an SL1400 and SL1200MKII. They are both nice, sturdy and decent sounding turntables. I do miss vta on the 1400 (putting shims between headshell and cartridge is a way of getting around this).
 
ToneAlive said:
So I am really leaning on a technics SL MK2... But which model number should I get if I don't end up wanting to overpay for a 1200? I definately want VTA, and I dont care about manual vs automatic. I guess what Im trying ti say is, knowing that, which is the best option between the 1300mk2, 1400mk2, 1500mk2, 1600mk2, 1700mk2, and the 1800mk2?
Click to expand...

From my research here, the 1600mk2 (auto), 1700mk2 (semi), and 1800mk2 (manual) are the later and improved upon generation and are superior to the 13, 14, and 15. I'm also on the hunt for one of these. Which is why I recommended them. Ha. No competition here though. I'm not looking for the MKII versions simply because of looks. Good luck though!

PS, keep in mind the 1610, 1710, 1810 (MKI or MKII) are the darker charcoal gray version. Same tables, different color. Lots of feature and color options here. :)
 
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Refurbished SL-1700MKII with a brand new AT120E cartridge from a reputable seller and technician on ebay now. Pricey, but you wouldn't have to think about turntables for a long while.
 
I was at my Audio dealer, he was trying to set up a cartridge on a table like your's. he was frustrated because as stated in an earlier post, the tonearms geomtry is not correct. His comment was "What were they thinking when they designed this table" he couldn't even line it up correctly. So yeh the table should go.

You might consider the new Rega RP1 or a Music Hall 2.2le Tunrntable/cartridge combo. there both highly rated and in your budget, and should make exalent entry level tables, sounding noticably better. They would both benefit with better cartridges in the future which would allow their refinement to be noticable with your system.

If I were spending less, I would go with a Vintage Table and a new cartridge. I bought a Vintage Pioneer Belt Drive TT w/new Nagaoka Cartridge that sounds way better than it should for $200. I would likely have to go with the better cartridge on the two tables mentioned to hear much improvement in SQ.

Your phono stage play's an importent role too, it need not be expensive though. A Pro-ject Phono BoxII for about $160 is as good as any in it's price range and a good place to start. I have a Tonar Vinyline that works great and has similer inards as the Original Phono Box.
 
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I'll back up VOLTCONTROL on his recommendation to avoid/not buy the new entry level "audiophile" turntables. With your budget you should be able to find a very nice preowned turntable/cartridge that will way outperform the new entry level turntables.
 
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