Turntable Recommendations

[SpruceMoose]

I have six tables in fairly regular use. All but one I bought used. A few on eBay! (B&Os) The only one I didn’t buy used I bought new. In 1977 or so. A Dual 1245. So far it has needed a new belt. That’s it. I wouldn’t worry too much about an old used table breaking any time soon.

 

[fahfisher500]

I’m still running my college turntable, Dual 1237, other than belts and cartridges, I’ve done nothing to it. It has survived epic parties at UGA!!

 

[majick47]

I suspected it but now I'm certain these stupid millennials believe that for turntables/records to sound authentic they have to sound like **** with ticks/pops and other assorted garbage noise. The entry level mfgs are happily providing them with POS tables to play their $50 records on that will never get cleaned.

 

[beat_truck]

 

[Champco]

I suspected it but now I'm certain these stupid millennials believe that for turntables/records to sound authentic they have to sound like **** with ticks/pops and other assorted garbage noise. The entry level mfgs are happily providing them with POS tables to play their $50 records on that will never get cleaned.

Just seemed to fit

 

[majick47]

Like the 30yo loser from NY who doesn't want to work who's getting evicted from his parents house.

 

[Soundork]

I've actually gotten to hear a 300F. The auto-return is a pretty nice feature. Part of me wants to avoid buying vintage because I dont want something that will break in a year, and I had a really bad experience with a Pioneer PL-A45D

Hey, I am one of the ones that shows up to work no later than 8 o'clock in the am...

When I answered the first time around, it was way past my bedtime, so now I am changing my answer: If I were you, I would invest in a decent DAC instead. Bringing a nice turntable and fragile records to a college dorm is never a good idea. Just connect the DAC to your phone or anoother device, there are plethora of good streaming sources on the Net that would also stream your vinyl collection.

Just to give you heads up, I just saw the MMF 1.5 and it looks interesting if you still want to go the new deck route. When it comes to the Denon...the Needle Doc sells it with premium price cartridges. He does not do that for many other decks, that must give you a sense of the quality of its sound.

https://www.needledoctor.com/analog/analog-components/turntables/brand/Denon

Best

Soundork

P.S. One additional thing that you might want to invest in at this time: A good record cleaning device. Even in college you will be buying records in limited quantities, just clean them up as you buy and store. Otherwise one day you might end up with 800 records that need to be cleaned, dont ask me how I know, please.

 

[dehost00]

I suspected it but now I'm certain these stupid millennials believe that for turntables/records to sound authentic they have to sound like **** with ticks/pops and other assorted garbage noise. The entry level mfgs are happily providing them with POS tables to play their $50 records on that will never get cleaned.

Maybe for your average crosley customer, buying to be trendy or something. Best I have at the moment is an anti-static carbon fiber brush, but soon enough I'll invest in a proper kit. I would think that $300 would be enough to get out of the POS range

 

[dehost00]

Hey, I am one of the ones that shows up to work no later than 8 o'clock in the am...

When I answered the first time around, it was way past my bedtime, so now I am changing my answer: If I were you, I would invest in a decent DAC instead. Bringing a nice turntable and fragile records to a college dorm is never a good idea. Just connect the DAC to your phone or anoother device, there are plethora of good streaming sources on the Net that would also stream your vinyl collection.

Just to give you heads up, I just saw the MMF 1.5 and it looks interesting if you still want to go the new deck route. When it comes to the Denon...the Needle Doc sells it with premium price cartridges. He does not do that for many other decks, that must give you a sense of the quality of its sound.

https://www.needledoctor.com/analog/analog-components/turntables/brand/Denon

Best

Soundork

P.S. One additional thing that you might want to invest in at this time: A good record cleaning device. Even in college you will be buying records in limited quantities, just clean them up as you buy and store. Otherwise one day you might end up with 800 records that need to be cleaned, dont ask me how I know, please.

Thanks for all the advice. I hadnt even considered a DAC. I should have specified; I wouldnt bring this new turntable to my dorm. I live maybe 30 minutes away from my campus, so I would be at home to enjoy it reguarly enough. That MMF-1.5 seems to be pretty close to perfect. Swappable headshell, sturdy looking build, gorgeous tonearm, and not to mention 78rpm! Color me impressed. I hear mixed things about VTA adjustment, though. I wonder how important it really is.

 

[dehost00]

I have six tables in fairly regular use. All but one I bought used. A few on eBay! (B&Os) The only one I didn’t buy used I bought new. In 1977 or so. A Dual 1245. So far it has needed a new belt. That’s it. I wouldn’t worry too much about an old used table breaking any time soon.

I don't deny that they're sturdy, but the Pioneer lying completely disassembled in my basement due to a single faulty microswitch that they dont make anymore sort of turns me off to vintage stuff.

 

[hifitommy]

here is a NEW direct drive 'table:

https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-LP120-USB-Direct-Drive-Professional-Turntable/dp/B002S1CJ2Q

 

[Djcoolray]

Yah, if your going off to college you might want to pick a turntable....that will survive college. A turntable that every tech in the world knows how to work on and lower priced parts readily available.

Like a heavy DJ Turntable the Technics SL-1200...

 

[Djcoolray]

But from the suggestions I’m seeing, hell a new Pioneer PL-30K would be a better choice....

 

[Markoneswift]

If you are taking your system to college with you, and hands other than your own will likely be playing with your equipment

Sigh, I knew there was a reason that I regretted not going to college

 

[dcmfan]

I suspected it but now I'm certain these stupid millennials believe that for turntables/records to sound authentic they have to sound like **** with ticks/pops and other assorted garbage noise. The entry level mfgs are happily providing them with POS tables to play their $50 records on that will never get cleaned.

The youngsters in my area won't ask for advice. They say older folks are condescending, stuck in their ways and convinced that nothing new is worth a damn. How did these millenials get so judgemental?

 

[Grenadeslio]

Young people have always thought old people are stupid, and rightly so. How many old people needed help just setting the clock on their VCR when you were younger? Now, I'm not agreeing old people are stupid, but to the young the lack of ability with newer tech makes older people seem stupid.

Just like now, the youngster most likely thinks we're still stuck in the old days and why we like vintage. That may be true to some extent, but for the most part it's because this (turntable music reproduction) is our generations tech, we know what we're talking about.

As for the "single" Pioneer table with the bad unabtainium switch you're familiar with, sure things become obsolete, but most likely a donor table could be found. That said, this is the reason so many prefer simple belt drive tables like the AR XA, really nothing to go wrong other than a belt replacement so usually a safe bet.

But keep in mind, the electric motor is one of the most reliable things man has ever invented, most electronics are replaceable, there's really no reason a table can't be brought back into operation other than laziness, or disinterest.

Here are pics of the tables your not POS $300 "new" entry level decks would have to compete against to get my dollars. Again, both purchased for less than $350, the KD500 about four yrs ago, the KD770D about two yrs ago. But I did see and mention to another member here, a KD770D sell on eBay for $345 about 6 months ago. The deals are still out there for those interested and willing to have a little patience and do the due diligence to find one. It's really not that hard, just set your eBay account to alert you when a possible candidate comes up for sale, that's really all it takes.


To compete with either of these decks in the new market would be well over $1000, most likely closer to $2500. Also keep in mind taking inflation into consideration it's really not a fair fight. The new $300 entry level deck would have been a $35-$40 deck back in the day so really not a contender, more in line with the cost of a kids toy table back then. So expecting more out of the deck than what it can deliver is unrealistic.

 

[Grenadeslio]

Thanks for all the advice. I hadnt even considered a DAC. I should have specified; I wouldnt bring this new turntable to my dorm. I live maybe 30 minutes away from my campus, so I would be at home to enjoy it reguarly enough. That MMF-1.5 seems to be pretty close to perfect. Swappable headshell, sturdy looking build, gorgeous tonearm, and not to mention 78rpm! Color me impressed. I hear mixed things about VTA adjustment, though. I wonder how important it really is.

VTA in many cases can be brought into alignment with cartridge shims, but if staying with the included cartridge a non-issue anyway. But if like most of us there will be a time when you wonder how much better it will sound with a better cartridge, this is where VTA will come into play.

How important is VTA? If you've ever played golf, how easy would it be to have a great score if you angled the club heads backwards? Vertical tracking angle is that important if you value your records, and the quality of reproduction.

Shimming works if the cartridge in question is too short top to bottom, but if too tall you're out of luck.

 

[Grenadeslio]

As for more recent turntable purchases, helped a young friend "Cooper" getting started in vinyl purchase his first deck a few months ago. From his criteria I settled on a Technics SL1200 MKII, found this pristine example on eBay, contacted the seller and we settled on a price of $290. Even came with a new if cheap replacement stylus for the Shure cartridge installed.

 

[jrtrent]

Thanks for all the advice. I hadnt even considered a DAC. I should have specified; I wouldnt bring this new turntable to my dorm. I live maybe 30 minutes away from my campus, so I would be at home to enjoy it reguarly enough. That MMF-1.5 seems to be pretty close to perfect. Swappable headshell, sturdy looking build, gorgeous tonearm, and not to mention 78rpm! Color me impressed. I hear mixed things about VTA adjustment, though. I wonder how important it really is.

Thanks for the clarification about your college living situation. In your original post, the words "I'll be off to college" put a different idea in my head.

I think the MMF 1.5 looks very interesting, too, and it's gotten at least one positive review from a person whose opinion I respect (Steve Guttenberg). Being a Rega owner, I don't find VTA to be very important. In Rega's information about their arm spacers, which is the only VTA adjustment Rega offers, they wrote:

"Arm height or V.T.A adjustment can be a controversial subject. Rega believes that the integrity of the arm fixing onto the arm mounting board is much more important than the questionable facility of arm adjustment. The arm should be reasonably parallel to the record surface or slightly lower at the mounting. The only time a spacer is necessary to raise the arm height is if the rear of a cartridge is hitting the record whilst playing."

 

[Djcoolray]

With the receiver you have, you will hear why you need to adjust VTA. You will have unequal left and right stereo separation. A new pioneer PL-30 costs three hundred bones and has VTA.....and it’s not made from plastic !!!