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The $1000 question....

Nick Danger said:
B stock Scout would be the way to go. I have seen used Scouts sell for even less.
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Ideally this would be the way I want to go, but I have already gone from a $500 budget to pushing $1500, which is a big stretch. The B-stock scout would be $1400 + another 3-400 for a cartridge. Not to mention the accessories. It is a little too much. If I can get the whole setup table, arm and cartridge and have a few pennies to spare for under $1400, then that would be ideal.
 
Yeah, it's hard to go completely crazy in less than a year. Most people don't reach the turntable that costs as much as a new car for at least five years of listening and upgrading.

:D:D:D
 
I got myself a "B" stock Scout for Christmas and am really enjoying it. The only flaw I can find is a scuff mark on the platter. I took the AT 150mlx cartridge off my old table and mounted it on the Scout until I get some cash ahead and decide what I want. Then again I may just leave it as it sounds good.
 
Not to sell the Sansui AU-D11 and Polk LSi15 short, but I recently played my demo song which is Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon SACD, track 4, "Time". I heard that song on a pair of the $6000 Totem book shelves, with some fancy Rega CD player and another fancy NAD or Naim Integrated amp. Compare than to my Sansui AU-D11, Polk LSi15 and a pioneer dvd/SACD player at my home.

I was very hard pressed to tell the difference that extra $8000+ of gear made compared to my $1200 system. The Sansui is pretty legendary for its sound, but the Polk LSi series is extremely underrated. Anyway, this is the turntable forum, and I am very very happy with my amp-speaker combo. All I am missing is a capable turntable, for which I am spending almost as much as the rest of my system combined...
 
melofelo said:
... a mid-late 80's 3 point suspended is where the fun is at..:D
try to listen for the difference in turntables..not cartridges.
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Good advice Mellow Yellow, that's why I purchased my Heybrook/LVX combo for $500 in 1997
 
stopkidding said:
Not to sell the Sansui AU-D11 and Polk LSi15 short, but I recently played my demo song which is Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon SACD, track 4, "Time". I heard that song on a pair of the $6000 Totem book shelves, with some fancy Rega CD player and another fancy NAD or Naim Integrated amp. Compare than to my Sansui AU-D11, Polk LSi15 and a pioneer dvd/SACD player at my home.

I was very hard pressed to tell the difference that extra $8000+ of gear made compared to my $1200 system. The Sansui is pretty legendary for its sound, but the Polk LSi series is extremely underrated. Anyway, this is the turntable forum, and I am very very happy with my amp-speaker combo. All I am missing is a capable turntable, for which I am spending almost as much as the rest of my system combined...
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As far as i'm concerned, you're preaching to the choir, i have a mint 1975 Marantz 2220B reciever that i paid $150 for, and it sounds awesome, I also have a 1978 Yamaha YP-D6 turntable with a $50 Audio-Technica AT95e that also sounds very nice.

And in case some of you might be wondering, yes, i have heard megabucks sound systems, some i liked, some i didn't, so in my opinion, it's not always a given that spending more on equipement will automatically get you better sound. I think that system sinergy is the most important thing, so i'll take a $1200 sound system made up of used equipement that works well together, over one that costs $5000 and was just thrown toghether.

I just finished reading and article in TAS magazine on Crystal Cables, long story short, their speaker cables are priced at $28 100 for a 2 meter pair, now, i'm sure that they're much better than the 15 000 cables that i've read about last month, and please don't get me started on those garbage worthy $4000. But seriously, how can someone sell $28 000 cables and keep a straight face?

Back on topic, i'd try a used VPI Scout, or a new VPI traveler, since i believe that they've adressed the issues they had with it in the beginning.
 
UncleAng said:
Good advice Mellow Yellow, that's why I purchased my Heybrook/LVX combo for $500 in 1997
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Well in that case how does a Yamaha PF-800 compare. It was one of the vintage options before I decided to go the new route. Figured I could get it reconditioned and throw a nice cart on it.
 
1. Technics SL1200 MK2. Good used example $500
2. Brand new Denon DL 103Rb Moving Coil cartridge. $400
3. KAB TDR 1200 fluid damper. $149
4. KAB Tone arm rewire. $169

You'll never look back.
 
stopkidding said:
The B-stock scout would be $1400 + another 3-400 for a cartridge. Not to mention the accessories. It is a little too much. If I can get the whole setup table, arm and cartridge and have a few pennies to spare for under $1400, then that would be ideal.
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Here's to hoping you were the guy that got the MINT VPI Scout off of AudiogoN a couple hours ago for $1100. I'm personally bummed that I missed it, but really hope that you got it!
 
stopkidding said:
Will you be mad if I wasn't? :(

Well you should be!!
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Yeah, I am mad that it wasn't you! That would have been perfect for you, man. You could have got an Ortofon 2M Blue cart for $200 and been at $1300. Tried the 2M Blue out for awhile and if you decided you wanted to upgrade the cart down the road when the budget allowed, you could probably sell the 2M Blue for at least $100 to put towards your next cart.
 
It seems like this conversation is about turntables that are pretty different in their presentation. A VPI and a Music Hall are not exactly strikingly similar. Did you get a good idea of what you like about the turntables or systems that sounded best?
 
Happy to report back that I ended with a VPI Traveler with a Sumiko BPS EVO III Cartridge. Here is a brief summary of what i auditioned and why I chose the traveler.

1) Rega RP3/RP6 at store 1, Was really impressed by the sound quality, got me seriously thinking about the RP6, but at 1995 with Exact cartridge was a bit too much
2) Tried the Marantz TT15-S1 in Store 2. On paper its supposed to be great. It had great detail, but the way it was setup it really didn't grab or engage me.
Then I tried the Music Hall MMF 7.1 and 5.1SE. Again this store, though very reputed in town, had the tables poorly setup. The amp had its balance set to L6 and bass set to +7 and the sales guy couldn't figure out why the Left channel was so strong. I never got comfortable with the setup or how all 3 tables sounded. Decided to go to store 3
3) Tried the RP6 again in store 3. This time it was hooked onto mega-buck microwave sized Mac preamp, two microwave size Mac mono block amps, garden hose sized speaker cables. It sounded fantastic. But then how would it sound in my tin can set at home?
4) At store 4 I tried the Pro-Ject Xpression with Sumiko BPS EVOIII on a fancy ass $15K rig, loved the detail of the cartridge, the Pro-Ject was great too.
Finally I tried the VPI, with the Grado Platinum cartridge. Really loved the way the system sounded. I really liked working with the sales guy, who was really relaxed and cool about demoing everything, talked about music, tastes, interests...loved the look, feel and sound of the traveler, decided to go with, give the sales person his due credit, and give myself a turntable so that I can stop obsessing about it;.

I was still nervous about how it would sound outside of the store demo room, in my tin can home system. But I was really surprised. If anything my vintage Sansui G-8700DB and my mass market Polk RTI6 and the traveler make fantastic setup. My Sansui integrated amp was having trouble, so right now have hooked it up to my B system. Couldn't be happier.

Thank you all for your help and advice
 
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