What do YOU consider to be the best TT ever built??
- Thread starter BASF_01
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Superampman
AK Member
A better question would be: at what price-point are the limits of analog recordings reached? I would think way before $100,000.00. The defacto benchmark was the Linn which everybody needed to improve on to compete so the other question is which tables out there outperform the Linn and by what significant margin?
ghazzer
Senior Member
The OP actually asked two different questions. The title asks about the best TT ever built, and the first post asks which company is the best manufacturer of TTs.
I'm guessing that he is looking for our opinions on manufacturers. My personal opinion would agree with some of the higher end mfg'ers mentioned here, but I agree with BS that I'll probably never be in the market for one.
I'm guessing that he is looking for our opinions on manufacturers. My personal opinion would agree with some of the higher end mfg'ers mentioned here, but I agree with BS that I'll probably never be in the market for one.
Hey, I have one of those!
Njoy-Music
Old Time Rock & Roll
I'm just along for the pretty pictures! 
There is no answer to this question, your just going to get opinions. Mr Pig showed a few TT's most people could never afford so how does a average joe compare a TT they never heard?
In short a Technics SL-1200mkII will do the job at a user friendly price, easy to upgrade and reliable. So will a hundred other TT's...
IF I was in the market for a higher end TT, it would be a Sota and even those are chump change compared to some of the crazy looking monsters out there
In short a Technics SL-1200mkII will do the job at a user friendly price, easy to upgrade and reliable. So will a hundred other TT's...
IF I was in the market for a higher end TT, it would be a Sota and even those are chump change compared to some of the crazy looking monsters out there
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
And I find the Mk II even better reliability wise. Both are on my Top 10 best list ever (P.S. Most of them are not Audiophool rubber band driven with Toy DC motor decks). All of them were to some degree broadcast studio decks (yes, the Thorens TD 124 and Garrard 301/401 are present)
If you want to be told what to get then do this; scour the countryside for an Empire 598 in really good shape then change out the tone arm with something more modern like a Jelco 750DB and the best cartridge you can afford like a Grado wood body. Search the internet for all the relevant mods and voila you have the best turntable. Wait, that's my turntable...
Mister Pig
Pigamus Maximus
Well I got 3 of the 4 you listed. But still love my AR XA with a rubber band. Or my audiophool one with tape drive and DC motor. It sounds remarkably nice.
Regards
Mister Pig
nailer
audionerd
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
P.S. The AR XA gets honorable mention along with the AR XB and Thorens TD 150/160. As tied for 10th place. DC motor does not get that.
Sandstrom
Seldom turns out the way it does in the song
Hey that brings to mind what I would want if money was no object, the extremely rare RC-100 Turnover Changer from the 30s. Just a mechanical marvel!
sqlsavior
Lunatic Member
Best as in, if you had say, £/$100,000+ what turntable would you personally buy.
greetings from the north east of england
greetings from northern new mexico!
Personally, I would probably buy a VPI Classic 4, with one VPI 12" arm, plus space for my Jelco 12" arm. But an Oracle Delphi with an SME arm would be a difficult temptation to fight. I'd want to try a nice new cartridge, too, and get a new RCM. But I doubt I'd go much further than that, unless I was otherwise set for life. Even then, the point of diminishing returns (for me) would be met, I'm pretty sure, and I'd likely just leave that last 1% in the grooves, for the platinum-eared folks out there.
ateal
Super Member
I'll let you know on Saturday as I am going to the high end audio show here in sunny Orange County this Friday. http://theshownewport.com
I went last year and got to hear this bad boy (clear audio statement) with top of the line audio research amplification and some equally amazing speakers playing pink Floyd's another brick in the wall. The sound was that good I nearly peed my pants (and I can't stand Floyd).
There was also tons of other great high end gear + records for sale + live performances + great bar. It was like disney world for audio enthusiasts. Highly recommended.
I went last year and got to hear this bad boy (clear audio statement) with top of the line audio research amplification and some equally amazing speakers playing pink Floyd's another brick in the wall. The sound was that good I nearly peed my pants (and I can't stand Floyd).
There was also tons of other great high end gear + records for sale + live performances + great bar. It was like disney world for audio enthusiasts. Highly recommended.
lini
just me...
Maybe an SME20/3A for being not as fugly (for my taste) as most of the other high-end designs - though I'd probably still miss a proper hood...
Or maybe a Nakamichi Dragon CT - with hood! 
Definitely not a Goldmund Reference, as I wasn't really impressed, when I had the chance to audition that many years ago...But in fact I'd also rather have other uses for a sum of 100 kiloquid.
Greetings from Munich!
Manfred / lini
Do we not provide a shoutout to the Nakamichi units which were superb decks and solved one of the most vexing vinyl playback issues ever, the off-center pressing?
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has attempted to tackle that problem, before or since.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has attempted to tackle that problem, before or since.
We posted almost simultaneously . . .Or maybe a Nakamichi Dragon CT - with hood!
Daunia 70
Lunatic Member
The very best TT's ever manufactured technically and sound wise were the Japanese DD's of the late 70's/early 80's such as the ones stated on the awesome VintageKnob website link below. Sure,you could place any of these on a waist high fancy lookin' gold,pure silver,or polished oak/marble made plinth and charge the absolute earth,but at the end of the day that'd be silly!
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiR8Z6ZmYHNAhXCJ8AKHYWVBNgQFggsMAU&url=http://www.thevintageknob.org/kenwood-L-07D.html&usg=AFQjCNGHRrzVhrmSJ1FFPuZw658I97NtTw&sig2=nzwMljq86sKgLv9qiHUOSw
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiR8Z6ZmYHNAhXCJ8AKHYWVBNgQFggsMAU&url=http://www.thevintageknob.org/kenwood-L-07D.html&usg=AFQjCNGHRrzVhrmSJ1FFPuZw658I97NtTw&sig2=nzwMljq86sKgLv9qiHUOSw
I agree with those who mentioned the Linn LP12. For both design and sound, I haven't handled or heard anything better. It starts at $4320 for the Majik configuration and goes to $12,600 with Linn's best power supply and tonearm; expensive, but a small fraction of what some of the other-mentioned super 'tables sell for. If we throw in value as a criterion, I'd go with Rega. From the RP1 at $445 to the RP10 at $5495, all are great values and all make records well worth listening to. I haven't yet heard the new Planar 3 for 2016 ($945), but I don't doubt Trusted Reviews' conclusion that "for most people, this is all the turntable they could ever need." I have its predecessor, the RP3, and despite its bargain price it offers all the musical satisfaction I require from my record collection, and I can say that after having spent most of three decades with an LP12/Ittok combination.
Daunia 70
Lunatic Member
I'd rather have my L-07D stacked upon 5 or 6 Sansui BA-5000 power-amps. Just imagine the extra weight and stability instead of all that fancy pancy cut blocks of gold,silver,oak and/or marble
