Which Turntable Should i get?

[MX117.MC7150]

At $2K you are up to the Rega P6 with a considerably better arm. Call around to all the sellers and negotiate.

Or, look on the used websites (US Audio Mart, etc.). For the money, there are a couple of used VPI turntables I would be looking at. Especially their Scoutmaster. Can add all sorts of upgrades over the next 30-40 years as the mood strikes.

As always, new or used............... negotiate.

 

[Apreggiator]

I do have a local Technics dealer.

But I don’t want to waste too much of their time until I’m legitimately in the market. I’ve had this discussion with my wife, and she actually finds $1,500-$2,000 for a turntable to be reasonable if it’s in the buy-it-for-life context. (She uses it too). When the money is set aside and ready to go, I’m lucky enough that auditions are a ten minute drive away.

Keep her!

 

[ImAnonymous]

Just curious how you use your current turntable. What is it connected to? Do you mostly listen through speakers (wired or BT) or headphones, or both? Once you start upgrading here and there you'll quickly realize how the pieces 'fit' together (or don't!).

I use Grado SR125s through the headphone out on my cheap victrola currently, i am working on choosing a preamp and amp that will leave decent speakers as an option later.

 

[Tonoje]

The Technics may be the one-and-done buy for the rest of your life. Then again, maybe the Rega could be as well.

One can certainly buy the Rega Planar 3 and apply no upgrades. Over time, I've come to think of that as perhaps the more sensible way.

Fairly soon, anyone new to Rega will start hearing about upgrades, both Rega and third party. There are many available.

From Rega itself: an external power supply is the main one

From 3rd party:

Acrylic or Delrin platter
Machined subplatter
Replacement counterweight
Replacement feet
Record weight
Machined pulley
Double pulley for 2-belt configuration

If not exactly upgrades, there are also some accessories from Rega to allow arm height adjustment.

As some of the Rega original parts can look a bit cheap (exhibit A: the feet), some of the 3rd party options might be more cosmetic rather than sonic improvements, though you can be sure they'll tell you it's sonic. The thing is if you apply some of the less-minor upgrades, say a power supply (about $400 in the US), a new subplatter, platter, and counterweight (total $750 for Groovetracer, rather a lot more if you opt for their premium versions), quite a lot of cost has been added to the turntable's original price.

With the SL1500C there's no need, not really any way in fact, to rebuild the deck like that, or add functions, and most people probably won't upgrade anything at all (I'm not counting the cartridge, which is something you can do for any turntable).

One thing I didn't mention, but maybe someone else did in this thread, is that along with swappable headshell capability, the Technics has adjustable arm height. With the Rega, that's one of their "you don't need that" or "all you have to do is" items [followed by PITA procedure]. As Rega likes to say, "we have omitted all the usual gimmicks".

If OP does decide on the Rega, it might be a good idea, if they're likely to want the power supply later, to just spend the money now on the Planar 3 RS, though it's about $1700.
That bundles the Neo PSU mark 2 and some other improvements over the basic Planar 3 model. Apparently.

I see more value in what the Technics SL1500C gives without any additional thought or work, whether comparing it to the RS edition or the plain old Planar 3.

 

[justjed2]

If you can go $2k, I'd get the SL-1500CS, with the Delta/Sigma drive of the SL-1300G. And I'd replace the Ortofon 2M Red with a 2M Bronze, or the MC X30 moving coil, if you have the capability.

 

[Sleiven]

Rega is good but still a belt drive will all the inherent problems, even if Regas belt are better than most you will still be off correct rpm most if the time if you do not have a adjustable speed box.

Technics will give a lifetime on trouble free and consistent play back, with easy cartridge change out.

Check platter movement and run out on TT whichever which one you buy. Technics has had some bad platter stories

 

[DeadTrader]

I’ve had this discussion with my wife, and she actually finds $1,500-$2,000 for a turntable to be reasonable if it’s in the buy-it-for-life context. (She uses it too

I'll reiterate that your wife is a keeper. I told mine that I wanted a new retirement system she said ok even after the budget price I mentioned (which I surpassed).

If you have 2k can I offer a recommendation for a different brand. Unless you need a detachable headshell. Mofi is dumplings Is first lineup of turntables, Right now they are selling the Ultradeck for $1495 without cartridge, it was $2495. With the Mastertracker cart it's $1995. I can't a 100% confirm, but I do believe the Mastertracker is an AT VM 760 engine in an Aluminum billet body.

At that time I had the P6 and the Mofii in the house at the same time. The Mofi Sounded much better , but that could have just been the difference in the cartridges. Anyways the P6 went back. Over the years that i've had the Mofii , it just keeps sucking me in to the music on every album I spin.

 

[Benihana242]

I will second the advice to take a look at used tables. Modern (used) and vintage can both be incredible values and buys.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is how each drive method behaves in use. For example - it's common for direct drive turntables to have a braking system that stops the platter. Belt turntables usually don't take long to stop as the belt is typically creating drag when the motor is off, but they don't start up as quickly as a direct drive table. These little behaviors can add up.

Another thing to keep in mind is upgradability - I think someone mentioned this - but the Rega tonearm mounting geometry is 222mm pivot to spindle with a mounting hole that other brands make tonearms for - Origin Live, Audio Origami etc. So with a Rega table you could upgrade the tonearm in the future whereas that's more challenging (Or not possible) with some of the Technics decks.

For an out of the box ready to go package the Technics is amazing - I'm a big fan of direct drive. Aesthetics are another part of it. As cool as I think the Technics tables are - they are "industrial" looking and may not work or fit with your home or with the Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF). Sometimes when you get the green light on a purchase it's great but you can continue to return the favor by ensuring the table meets her visual expectations as well as including her in the purchase. In my experience this will grease the wheels for further expansion and audio exploration.

As for specific recommendations:

For new - even though I don't like belt drive much I would probably get a Rega for the above mentioned reasons. If you for sure don't want to upgrade then the Technics is an excellent choice.

For vintage - there's a bunch of cool ones:
Thorens TD-125 (Can purchase ready to go/refurbished from Vinyl Nirvana)
Thorens TD-124 (Can buy one and send it to Jim Campbell for restoration)
Luxman PD-441/444 - Shameless plug because I have a PD-441 for sale right now.
Technics SP-10 MKII - these are vintage but can be found for reasonable prices.

The above mentioned Thorens decks have more of a mid-century look and you can have a plinth made that's your choice of wood etc to make them a bit of a visual statement piece. This kind of thing goes a long way in my experience with the WAF.

 

[TomD62]

I have a bottom-to-mid tier Technics (SL-D2) from the early eighties. It is older than I am, and still faithfully does it's thing.

That's the context for how I view this choice. The Technics may be the one-and-done buy for the rest of your life. Then again, maybe the Rega could be as well. But for me, I'd absolutely go Technics.

You can fit about three pounds of duct seal or modeling clay into the voids of the D2 plinth and the change in sound will be very noticeable.

 

[Apreggiator]

Technics SP-10 MKII - these are vintage but can be found for reasonable prices.

Where? Honest Q, I only see them upward of 4K here.

 

[Benihana242]

Where? Honest Q, I only see them upward of 4K here.

Here’s one for example. No plinth or tonearm but only $1,000. Technics SP-10MKII turntable - electronics - by owner - sale - craigslist

 

[Apreggiator]

Here’s one for example. No plinth or tonearm but only $1,000. Technics SP-10MKII turntable - electronics - by owner - sale - craigslist

Thank you! I need to start looking outside of my continent (the Old one)..
For this kind of prices I know that I'd do...

 

[ImAnonymous]

Alright, after reading everyones advice i have decided on the Technics, but after i upgrade my headphone/speaker system. The way i see it, the best turntable in the world will still sound bad through cheap amazon speakers (obviously)… I was going to do it the other way around, but decided against that, because it would make no sense to buy a nice turntable and plug it into a set of $50 powered bookshelf speakers.

 

[Apreggiator]

Okay.

 

[J1mbo]

Tbh I think that's a good call. The biggest differences usually come from speakers and room acoustics.

The cartridge/stylus is also where a lot of the audible performance comes from once you get past basic competence in the turntable itself. That's not to say a nice deck doesn't matter. The 1500C is fantastic in every respect and is the sort of thing people actually notice when they walk into the room. But I wouldn't overestimate how much of the sound comes from the deck itself versus the cartridge and speakers.

I've been surprised how small source differences can be in practice. I recorded a couple of quick comparisons of vinyl through a £20 Behringer UFO202 USB ADC vs raw CD audio (loudness matched). If you're curious, give them a listen with headphones:

They're certainly not scientific tests, but I think they help illustrate the point, especially when talking about upgrading from a very basic setup. A sonically competent source doesn't necessarily have to be massively expensive. There are differences for sure, but they're generally much smaller than the differences between speakers, cartridges and room acoustics.

 

[Apreggiator]

Tbh I think that's a good call.

Of course it's a good call. I was just a bit baffled that the OP lets us run two pages in and then takes this turn.
If it's a genuine decision, no probs.

IF this is fantasy system building I'd suggest to go and waste other people's time.

 

[msm187]

Hello! I am new here, I know this has probably been asked a million times but i am looking to upgrade from my cheap Victrola Turntable (I am aware its not great) to Something better as i slowly upgrade my setup from all ultra-budget to something far better. My current contenders within my budget are; The U Turn Audio Orbit Theory in walnut with the 2m Blue cartridge, The Technics SL-1500C, and the Rega Planar 3. If anyone else has suggestions for other turntables within the budget those are welcome.

Orbit theory
Rega Planar 3
Technics SL1500C

It would depend on the rest of your setup IMO. Do you already have a good phono stage, amp, and speakers? If you're running this all through the built in phono in the Victorola(assuming it has one) into cheap powered speakers, then the sound quality is bottlenecked and you've spent up to $2k on a nice turntable that ends up sounding bad due to the bottleneck. So if this is your entire budget and you don't have all the other components settled, I'd go a different route entirely.

Fluance RT85(still have the 2M Blue)
Ifi Zen Phono 3
and for speakers some decent powered bookshelfs around $500 or you could do even better buying speakers and an amp/receiver on marketplace with that money.

if the rest of your setup is already decent, and you're set on buying new, then the Technics is what I'd buy. I just prefer the look of it, but I would upgrade that cart to at least a Goldring E3, so add another $200 on top of the price.

But for my money, I'd do some serious damage on Marketplace buying vintage gear with $2k.

EDIT: Some of the comments were hidden for me. Looks like you need to upgrade your whole setup....