Taking the Vinyl Plunge - What is YOUR Table Recommendation

[krautmaster]

I'd consider either a GR2 or a 1500C and save the difference for a better MM or MC cart.

My buddy has a 1500C and while a nice table, he has always had issues with it picking up vibration (the plinth is pretty light) the only way he could make it fairly quiet was to sit it on top of 2" thick car washing sponges. He tried sorbothane cups under the feet but they were too soft and started to sag so bad he couldn't keep the table close enough to level to play a record. My 1200GR2 is dead silent.

 

[sp2062]

All of you have given me much to think about.

I love the idea of going down the street to Crutchfield and grabbing a MoFi deck. But, I should probably be frugal until (as pointed out) I am able to devote more time than 150hrs. a year to vinyl!

 

[krautmaster]

All of you have given me much to think about.

I love the idea of going down the street to Crutchfield and grabbing a MoFi deck. But, I should probably be frugal until (as pointed out) I am able to devote more time than 150hrs. a year to vinyl!

Buy the BEST you can afford, going the cheaper route will end up leaving you with buyers remorse (believe me, I know)

 

[Mr Boochie]

Buy the BEST you can afford, going the cheaper route will end up leaving you with buyers remorse (believe me, I know)

Yes! A little warning here: you may end up buying that Technics direct-drive anyhow. Modern belt drives can be disappointing after a few months. I had issues with a $1500 (2016 prices) belt drive that had a noisy background — after all kinds of attempts to fix it, even getting a warranty replacement.

I sold it. Found a new-in-box Technics 1200MkII (last of the Japanese-made ones). The thing is very, very quiet and spot on, speed-wise.

Good luck, with your hunt!

 

[justjed2]

All of you have given me much to think about.

I love the idea of going down the street to Crutchfield and grabbing a MoFi deck. But, I should probably be frugal until (as pointed out) I am able to devote more time than 150hrs. a year to vinyl!

The better the turntable/cartridge combination, the more likely you are to WANT to put more than 150 hours on it per year. And, if Crutchfield is just up the road, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not at least checking them out, in my opinion.

Not that it matters, but my recommendation would be the best Technics you can afford. The SL-1500CS has the same Delta/Sigma drive as the SL-1300G.

 

[curtisw99]

Preamp is a Citation I
Amp is an MC275

I mostly stream Qobuz but I have wanted to dabble in vinyl for years. I understand my pre has a very good phono section. Budget is no probably no more than 2k, would be happier to spend less though. What have I read up on? Rega P3 and various Pro-ject models. I don’t care so much about features but I need something that’s not terrible to set up, and I’m also fine going vintage if it’s a maintained/overhauled unit. I’m guessing about 150 hours a year of use.

If you go vintage, get a full manual. they are really easy to maintain.
A lot of high end recommendations so far, but I would start with a Pioneer PL12D. They can be had for ~$100

 

[sp2062]

If you go vintage, get a full manual. they are really easy to maintain.
A lot of high end recommendations so far, but I would start with a Pioneer PL12D. They can be had for ~$100

Will keep this in mind.

Spent time at Crutchfield. The MoFi Ultradeck is awesome; their recommendation was the Technics SL1500. No hurry here and it would be nice to ease into this vinyl thing.

 

[Adaboy5]

I recently got a Technics SL-Q300 Direct drive quart for $20. it came with a Realistic RX1500 cartridge. It was easy to remove bottom panel and clean old grease and oil the motor. It plays very good. You can find them for cheap on eBay or local ads.

 

[PeterV59]

The auto vs manual option.
Ease of use is a benefit they both provide. Auto has more moving parts, less user serviced. Manual difference, you cue in and out, and all moving parts are user serviced.
I left the automatics behind many years ago due to a costly experience repairing an expensive deck (that of course means nothing to anyone other than just another personal experience).
If you can find a Systemdek (Dunlop Transcription Turntables) for a decent price, consider it. They punch way above their price point.

 

[jrtrent]

Will keep this in mind.

Spent time at Crutchfield. The MoFi Ultradeck is awesome; their recommendation was the Technics SL1500. No hurry here and it would be nice to ease into this vinyl thing.

Never seen one, but I've only read positive things about the SL-1500C. What HiFi, a review source I've learned to trust, puts the SL-1500C about on a par with the Planar 3 (an RP3 was my choice some years back); different strengths, so a real choice there, but they wrote, "That the Technics can go toe-to-toe with the Planar 3 and can still stand tall is impressive indeed. That doesn’t happen very often."

I'm curious if there were any specific reasons why they recommended the Technics over the awesome Ultradeck. There are no hi-fi shops in the town I now live in, so I had occasion to call Crutchfield earlier this year about a budget amplifier (ended up with the Rotel A11 Tribute) and cd player (Rotel CD11 Tribute). Have to say I enjoyed the phone conversation and their taking into account room size, listening levels, features I would and wouldn't use, speakers I own or might want to try, and even the furniture the units would be placed on. I've been very happy with the products they recommended.

 

[Thorsten R.]

Technics SL-1500C or Dual CS-618.

 

[Ellymay]

My advice. Tread slowly. The rabbit hole is deep. Good luck.

 

[curtisw99]

Preamp is a Citation I
Amp is an MC275

I mostly stream Qobuz but I have wanted to dabble in vinyl for years. I understand my pre has a very good phono section. Budget is no probably no more than 2k, would be happier to spend less though. What have I read up on? Rega P3 and various Pro-ject models. I don’t care so much about features but I need something that’s not terrible to set up, and I’m also fine going vintage if it’s a maintained/overhauled unit. I’m guessing about 150 hours a year of use.

I tell all Noobs to get a full manual (or semi-auto if you're handy) table that you service yourself.

Get a Pioneer PL-12D or any mid 70's that looks similar (Sanyo, Project One, Marantz.........)

These can all be had for under $150 and there are plenty of YouTube videos that will guide you through the servicing.

Since they’re vintage, if you upgrade, you will get all or most of your money back out when you sell (assuming you DIY service)

 

[Vlad Soare]

Get the best direct drive Technics you can afford. You'll never look back. Even the cheapest one is awesome.
Audio Technica direct drives are also nice, and much better than you'd have the right to hope at their price. You won't go wrong with an AT-LP120X USB, for instance. Put a micro-line stylus on it (Audio Technica offers a really good one which is very reasonably priced) and call it a day.
Keep in mind that the more expensive models tend not to have a built-in phono stage, so you'll need to budget for an external one. The cheaper ones usually have it.

Edit: I had missed your mention of the Citation I. That preamp has a phono stage, so you can ignore what I said above. You'll be fine with any turntable.

 

[jrtrent]

My buddy has a 1500C and while a nice table, he has always had issues with it picking up vibration (the plinth is pretty light)

That's interesting. My 5.7 lb. LP60X sat on a 4-tier audio rack and had no picking up vibration issues. If your friend knows, what was the source of the vibrations that were causing the problem?

 

[jamesc760]

I have tried many many turntables over the last few years, used and new. I ended up with 2. One is a new Technics SL-1200GR and the other is a Technics SL-1200MK2 with a Rega RB600 tonearm. I liked the Rega turntable but couldn't stand the speed instability or the wow & flutter deviations. So I combined the Rega tonearm with the Technics. Both my technics sl1200 models are keepers for life. I don't really need any other turntables. I enjoy listening to LP records and I hope you enjoy yours no matter what you have.

 

[Azimuth]

Yes! A little warning here: you may end up buying that Technics direct-drive anyhow. Modern belt drives can be disappointing after a few months. I had issues with a $1500 (2016 prices) belt drive that had a noisy background — after all kinds of attempts to fix it, even getting a warranty replacement.

I sold it. Found a new-in-box Technics 1200MkII (last of the Japanese-made ones). The thing is very, very quiet and spot on, speed-wise.

Good luck, with your hunt!

Missing the counterweight

 

[Mr Boochie]

Missing the counterweight

Thanks for pointing that out.


The photo was taken right out of the box.

With the counterweight!

 

[jrtrent]

Yes! A little warning here: you may end up buying that Technics direct-drive anyhow. Modern belt drives can be disappointing after a few months. I had issues with a $1500 (2016 prices) belt drive that had a noisy background — after all kinds of attempts to fix it, even getting a warranty replacement.

By noisy background, do you mean that the turntable itself emitted noise, like rattles or squeals or scraping sounds or something?

I sold it. Found a new-in-box Technics 1200MkII (last of the Japanese-made ones). The thing is very, very quiet and spot on, speed-wise.

Glad to hear your Technics is very, very quiet! I've been lucky enough to have never had a turntable, belt or direct drive, that made disturbing noises.

 

[Mr Boochie]

By noisy background, do you mean that the turntable itself emitted noise, like rattles or squeals or scraping sounds or something?

Yes, mechanical noises, hum/hiss, and rumble from the turntable. Not the surface noise from the LP (not much you can do about that).

This is one of my quieter originally pressed LPs.

Look Of Love.
"Casino Royale Soundtrack." Colgems Records. COSO-5005. RCA Indianapolis pressing. 1967.
Run-out: I UZRS - - 4047 - - 3S A2