Turntable newb: which used turntable is the best deal?

R

Recognizer

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Hello, I apologize in advance for asking such a basic question, but as a guy who's just starting out his decent into the turntable world I figured it would be best to ask you guys, the experts, for your opinions. I have 3 turntables for sale in my area and all appear to be in pretty great condition. They are:

Mitsubishi LT22 - $150
The guy is pretty firm on this price but the table looks great. The linear tracking system intrigues me.

Pioneer pl-5 - $70
This table also appears to be in pretty awesome condition, although a little uglier than the Mitsubishi

Pioneer PL-A35 - $100
Price may be negotiable. Table looks great in the pictures, and I like the wood base.

These are my options, any feedback would be great!
 
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The PL-A35 seems a bit over-priced there, you can definitely get much better speced tables for that amount of money when you're buying used. The PL-5 is a LOT better, as is the LT22.

That said given that choice personally I'd go for the LT22. Linear trackers will track the grooves better than tables with conventional tonearms, but one of the disadvantages of a lot of the more easy to find linear trackers on the market is that they tend to only accept P-mount cartridges, limiting your selection quite a bit. The LT22 seems to be one of the few I've seen that isn't ridiculously priced that actually accepts standard 1/2" mount cartridges.

As far as I'm aware, the LT22 has identical specs to the more sought after LT20, it just doesn't have that nice wood veneer and looks a little less pretty.

So my personal choice would be the LT22, but that's assuming that it's in perfect condition with everything working. You wouldn't be going wrong with the PL-5 though. They're both very well speced turntables. Ask the sellers if you can do a listening test and use that as an opportunity to test out if all the buttons work correctly, if the thing keeps speed correctly etc. If one of them has problems that need fixing and the other one doesn't, then I'd just go for the one in working condition - both the PL-5 and LT22 will be really solid turntables.
 
Thunderbox said:
The PL-5 has by far the best specs. If it has a good cartridge it would be my choice.
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Actually, the PL-5 and the Mitsubishi have identical wow & flutter (0.025%) and S/N ratio (>78dB) specs. The LT-22 is quartz locked which the Pioneers are not and weighs nearly twice as much as the PL-5. Money aside, the Mitsu would probably be the better choice.

Finally, I had a PL-5. I was not impressed and ended up quickly flogging it on craigslist. I've heard, but not owned, an LT-20 and was impressed.

John
 
Purely my opinion, but I'd pick the A35 if you could get it for ~$70 or so. A lot depends on what cart is on it, however.

Cheers,
Larry B.
 
Thanks guys! I was leaning towards the Mitsubishi as well. There is now a JVC JL-F30 and technica DD33 both for $80 but I think I'm going to go with the Mitsubishi.
 
I harbour a prejudice against linear tracking turntables I don't trust them. For mainstream Japanese turntables, I prefer S shape tonearms. Might be aesthetics or just what I'm used to. Based on what I've seen and been able to buy local recently, direct drive Toshiba's and JVC's have been the best value so far. Although I didn't buy any, I have also looked at some Akai direct drives. Those I saw were lowish end and experiencing "counter weight droop". More or less correctible but did not instil in me any confidence. Just my opinion but a decent entry table should weigh about 8kg (17/18 pounds) at least and more is good.
 
If I'm not mistaken the JVC JL-F30 is a belt drive. The DD33 - is that a Technics SL-DD33? If so, it's a straight arm, p mount, limiting your choices for cartridges.

I'm in the Mitsu LT-22 camp.
 
Having heard all three (and taken all three apart) my vote would be the Mitsu.

PL-A35 wins the aesthetics award if you like wood. But AC synchronous motor units can be frustrating and fiddly to try to dial in on pitch.

PL-5 is pretty plain aesthetically and some of those have issues with the 33/45 switch. Other than that, they're pretty simple and easy to fix.

Mitsus main concern is that they may need lamp replacements in the position sensors. But they're definitely the best performer.
 
boreas said:
Actually, the PL-5 and the Mitsubishi have identical wow & flutter (0.025%) and S/N ratio (>78dB) specs. The LT-22 is quartz locked which the Pioneers are not and weighs nearly twice as much as the PL-5. Money aside, the Mitsu would probably be the better choice.

Finally, I had a PL-5. I was not impressed and ended up quickly flogging it on craigslist. I've heard, but not owned, an LT-20 and was impressed.

John
Click to expand...
same except the finish but apparently not.
Yes you are correct I beleive I was looking at the specs for the LT-20. I thought the 2 were the same except for the finish. Thanks
 
It appears to have also come with a Stanton 981 HZS cart as well. After some research it seems that people really like this cart, although it sounds like it will be really hard to find a decent replacement stylus.IMG_3195.JPG
 
Recognizer said:
It appears to have also come with a Stanton 981 HZS cart as well. After some research it seems that people really like this cart, although it sounds like it will be really hard to find a decent replacement stylus.View attachment 971180
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That cartridge alone is probably worth close to the price you paid for the entire turntable, even assuming that the stylus needs to be replaced. Heck, if it's an original D98S stylus (which it looks like) and the cantilever is in good condition, it has value as a re-tipping candidate.

Needlestein could recommend some good aftermarkets for it. I'm using a 4825-DEZ from the Voice of Music which is respectable, although it doesn't bring out all that cartridge can offer. The LPGear vividline replacement I believe has some detractors, but a vividline for the XSV-3000 might be a candidate.
 
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