dnpainting
Super Member
I was going to have it gift wrapped for you, but, believe it or not, they are out of stock, sorry!
The best turntables at their respective fields?
- Thread starter davidro
- Start date
I was going to have it gift wrapped for you, but, believe it or not, they are out of stock, sorry!
Well maybe ...
Bill's onto something here
... best for what? Playback at the cabin? Playback in the kids room? Playback in the studio?
Best in my living space would likely be GT2000 or variant, but I'd need a second table to spin 78's too. So my "living space" will actually have 3 TT's. An all purpose machine that does preview/test play including 78's. A fine playback that I use for headphone sessions, transcription taping, or ripping - and one for the downstairs for "family music". So what to plug into these slots? It changes what is best :scratch2:
For family music including guests, nieces and nephews, etc - it likely would not be what's on most folks lists so far. Maybe the B&O RX would do as it sounds good enough and it's pretty fool proof?
Bill's onto something here
... best for what? Playback at the cabin? Playback in the kids room? Playback in the studio?Best in my living space would likely be GT2000 or variant, but I'd need a second table to spin 78's too. So my "living space" will actually have 3 TT's. An all purpose machine that does preview/test play including 78's. A fine playback that I use for headphone sessions, transcription taping, or ripping - and one for the downstairs for "family music". So what to plug into these slots? It changes what is best :scratch2:
For family music including guests, nieces and nephews, etc - it likely would not be what's on most folks lists so far. Maybe the B&O RX would do as it sounds good enough and it's pretty fool proof?
melofelo
Addicted Member
Belt Drive ?
..uhm...i doubt i'd need to upgrade beyond this..
http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/796/
..uhm...i doubt i'd need to upgrade beyond this..
http://www.stereophile.com/turntables/796/
Flammaster
DrumCorpsZappaFreak
I like Elac 620U for idler drive.
iLUVanalog
Addicted Member
Another wrench in the mix: PRICE POINT
Arkay
Lunatic Member
VERY tough question to answer, for a variety of reasons. In some cases, you have choices where things are slightly different, but what is better comes down to listening preferences. Anyway, I'll make a stab at it:
Belt Drive - Continuum Caliburn
(Extreme out-of-the-box over-engineering applied to the basic design. I'd almost as much like to have a Thorens Reference or Prestige, though; there is something very appealing about those two vintage "statement" TTs. Best that I actually own is probably the Jobo Acoustical 3100. The belt drive that famously claims to be "the best in the world", the LP-12, I think is excellent when all tweaked out, but not really worthy of the claimed title. Even a Yamaha PF-1000 or PF-800 gives it very serious competition!)
Direct Drive - Rockport Sirius III
(Again, extreme out-of-the-box over-engineering by an obsessive perfectionist! There are a dozen or so vintage Japanese DD tables like the GT-2000X and Exclusive P3a that compete in the next tier down, but none of them is quite as over-the-top as the Rockport; not in construction quality, nor in price! Best one that I actually own is the GT-2000 (with auto-lift arm).)
Idler Drive - Garrard 301
(In stock form; I think some of the best DIY Lenco rebuilds come close to competing with it, though, but ssssshhhhHH! Don't tell anyone; the Lenco prices will go up further! Anyway, I'm assuming the OP wanted stock TTs, and the stock Lencos are not nearly as good as a stock 301. Best that I own is a modded Lenco; it trounces the Duals, Elacs, etc... that I also have and enjoy)
Hybrid (belt + idler) - Thorens TD-124
(This combines both technologies in one hybrid design, and does so very well, with a construction quality that comes close to Garrard's 301. I have one of these. Maybe it is cheating to call this the "best", because there are so few truly hybrid designs, but neither is it fair to put it in either the idler or the belt-drive categories, so it wins here by default.)
I'll admit, there are some newer models like the "Christine The Angel of Music" one mentioned that I've never seen in-the-flesh, never heard, and have to go by my own imperfect outside knowledge and "educated guesswork" to make decisions about where I think it would actually stand in any ranking. That said, I doubt any of us has experience of ALL the great TTs out there, so any listing like this is necessarily prone to mistakes and bias, anyway. Based on what I know today, I'd say the above are the ones that I currently BELIEVE to be the best. That opinion may change, as soon as I see or hear of anything better than these. I doubt anyone really KNOWS which TTs are best, even if we could agree on what "best" means.
Such questions have been asked before, and there has always been difficulty in agreeing one a single answer:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78044
Belt Drive - Continuum Caliburn
(Extreme out-of-the-box over-engineering applied to the basic design. I'd almost as much like to have a Thorens Reference or Prestige, though; there is something very appealing about those two vintage "statement" TTs. Best that I actually own is probably the Jobo Acoustical 3100. The belt drive that famously claims to be "the best in the world", the LP-12, I think is excellent when all tweaked out, but not really worthy of the claimed title. Even a Yamaha PF-1000 or PF-800 gives it very serious competition!)
Direct Drive - Rockport Sirius III
(Again, extreme out-of-the-box over-engineering by an obsessive perfectionist! There are a dozen or so vintage Japanese DD tables like the GT-2000X and Exclusive P3a that compete in the next tier down, but none of them is quite as over-the-top as the Rockport; not in construction quality, nor in price! Best one that I actually own is the GT-2000 (with auto-lift arm).)
Idler Drive - Garrard 301
(In stock form; I think some of the best DIY Lenco rebuilds come close to competing with it, though, but ssssshhhhHH! Don't tell anyone; the Lenco prices will go up further! Anyway, I'm assuming the OP wanted stock TTs, and the stock Lencos are not nearly as good as a stock 301. Best that I own is a modded Lenco; it trounces the Duals, Elacs, etc... that I also have and enjoy)
Hybrid (belt + idler) - Thorens TD-124
(This combines both technologies in one hybrid design, and does so very well, with a construction quality that comes close to Garrard's 301. I have one of these. Maybe it is cheating to call this the "best", because there are so few truly hybrid designs, but neither is it fair to put it in either the idler or the belt-drive categories, so it wins here by default.)
I'll admit, there are some newer models like the "Christine The Angel of Music" one mentioned that I've never seen in-the-flesh, never heard, and have to go by my own imperfect outside knowledge and "educated guesswork" to make decisions about where I think it would actually stand in any ranking. That said, I doubt any of us has experience of ALL the great TTs out there, so any listing like this is necessarily prone to mistakes and bias, anyway. Based on what I know today, I'd say the above are the ones that I currently BELIEVE to be the best. That opinion may change, as soon as I see or hear of anything better than these. I doubt anyone really KNOWS which TTs are best, even if we could agree on what "best" means.
Such questions have been asked before, and there has always been difficulty in agreeing one a single answer:
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=78044
davidro
Lunatic Member
See I think that may be the point of this thread. I've just learnt of the Rockport existence for the first time now. Not to mention other esoteric ones that others have mentioned hitherto. Again, let's not be too shy, why can't we dream?
