Possibly upgrading my turntable

J

Jason1979

New Member
I currently have a Stanton T.52 turntable, and it's okay, especially since I bought a new technics headshell for it, but I am wondering if this is considered to be a good turntable or not? Also I am considering upgrading to a new turntable, mainly because the Stanton is fully manual, and I am wanting a fully automatic, but unfortunately there are not many automatic ones made these days it doesn't seem, and I thought I'd see if there are any recommendations people here may have for some decent automatic turntables, but also at a reasonable price. The only one I've been able to find so far is a Denon automatic one, but I'm not sure if it's a good one or not. Anyway I wanted to spend less than $400 if possible, not sure if there are any good automatic turntables for that price or not, there don't seem to be any except ultra cheap ones, but those seem to be kind of junk turntables.
 
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That looks to be one of the straight-arm models with a replacement SME-style headshell. These are okay for DJ use but are a poor choice for listening use. Do not attempt to use any cartridge with an elliptical, line contact, or other "quality" stylus. Stick with the cheaper conical/spherical stylii or you may damage your LPs due to an inability to properly align the cartridge in the underhung straight tonearm.

There really aren't any good new full-auto or semi-auto turntables in the $400 price area (or maybe at any price). You'll need to look on the used market for a good vintage model - Denon, JVC, Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, etc.
 
I was thinking there might not be any good full auto turntables for that price, because in my searches to buy one online I wasn't finding any, which really surprises me, because there has to be demand for them, there are 500 models of manual turntables being manufactured out there right now, and about 2 models that are fully automatic, and they are basically not any good. I would think someone would step in and make a quality auto turntable some of us like to push a button and have it play lol
 
There are no truly good automatic turntables available today. To build a good new Direct Drive full automatic today would cost over $2500-$3500 or more. Takes a lot more design and engineering effort, and the economy of scale present in the 1970's and Japan, Inc's industrial might is no more. If you want a quality automatic, you must buy vintage.
 
Don't forget Technics !
I was recently in your situation .There are many options out there in the pre owned market .Now , the market in the US is a bit different , but ,some suggestions are :
-Technics SL-D3 ,SL-Q3 ,SL-Q303,non suspended SL-1300/1310 mk1&2 ,1600/1610 mk1&2 suspended chassis but these could maybe go over the limit of 400 especially the 1600/1610 mk2
There are also the T4P models with pivotant tonearm and linear tonearm wich I dislike because they limit the choose of cartridges (but maybe you can live with that )

Anyway and no matter the model it is important how close to mint condition is the turntable

Sony PS-X55 .Generally , I saw that the Sonys are going at bigger prices , probably you'll find PS-X 65,6,7 at higher prices ...But maybe you are lucky

Dual .I was almost going to treat me with a Duat idler turntable , but I stopped this direction just now .I love them but I want a fully serviced one , because they need a mechanical skilled owner wich I am not so much)or serviceman .Still , I am going to follow this idea because would like a 1229 or a 701/721

Denon almost got one , but ...I was afraid of the potential failure of the electronics .These have an electronically assisted tonearm .They are 40years old , so ,more prone to failure .If you know how to recap one , great! Same goes for the Biotracers from Sony or some great JVC tables (QL-Y series are said to be great)Generally these are pricey ,as the Kenwoods and Sansuis are (on Eba*) but maybe you have luck on Craiglist or Audiogon ,or maybe some local stores...

I would try a Mitsubishi if I'd find one
 
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I am currently using a Shure M92E cartridge with a N92E stylus, and it seems to give me good sound on my turntable, but I have never had a high priced stylus and cartridge so I am not sure how those would perform. The only automatic one that I have found that even seems a potentially good one is the Denon DP-300F but I do not know if it's a good one, it's fully automatic, but it doesn't have a strobe light, which I find useful for adjusting speed to get it exactly right.
 
Stanton T-52 is best left to budding hip hop rap DJs for "scratching", far from a good turntable. The Denon auto table is just about it as far as new auto tables go and if you don't have high expectations it will get you by. Bottom line $400 doesn't go very far today when buying a new table. Both Stanton and Denon have little relationship with the quality/performance of their name sake companies products from the past, both now catering to the low end mass market offering products cheaply made in China.
 
Thank you for the replies, I was under the impression Denon was a good company, I did not realize they no longer were a quality company like they were in the past. I may actually look at a rebuilt turntable from the past. I can get one in my price range for that. Did not realize Denon was made in China. But just out of curiosity, what are some good currently manufactured turntables? that are on the lower cost side of things? I've heard from 1 person I know that the Audio Technica 120 is a not so bad turntable, but then again I don't know from first hand experience if this is true or not. Only thing I hate about buying a vintage turntable is I worry things will break on it, with a new one that is less likely, but then again if a new one is made of all plastic then it might be more likely to break than an older one made of metal parts. What are peoples experiences with this?
 
The DP-300F isn't a real Denon. It's a Hanpin turntable with a Denon badge. Denon hasn't built turntables themselves since the early '90s IIRC. Hanpin makes most of the new sub-$400 turntables - including the Audio Technica AT120LP. They're not bad, but they can be easily bested by cheaper used models.
 
Jvc jl f45 or jvc jl f50 are not bad tables. Dual 1019 dual 1229 are not bad tables. All 4 of these would work very well for you and cost less than what you want to spend. Some of 5th yamaha tables as well.
 
skriefal said:
The DP-300F isn't a real Denon. It's a Hanpin turntable with a Denon badge. Denon hasn't built turntables themselves since the early '90s IIRC. Hanpin makes most of the new sub-$400 turntables - including the Audio Technica AT120LP. They're not bad, but they can be easily bested by cheaper used models.
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Maybe, but they don't make the Denon DP-300F.
 
Then who does make the DP-300F? Most claims are that it's made by Hanpin - but if it's someone else then enquiring minds want to know...
 
It certainly isn't being built in Japan with Japanese mfg parts/components by Japanese citizens, not for that price and build quality. Looks like Hanpin has cornered the market on all the cheaply built tables coming out of Asia.
 
You might check out Bill at "fixmydual" for a Dual TT that has been gone over. Not sure the prices he gets but you will get a nice TT thats has been refurbished. His reputation is good & Dual made quite a few auto record changers so you should have choices. Others may know of other rebuilders out there.
 
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