Turntable recommendations

[Kevin_McC]

Last year I got back into vinyl, but before buying a nice TT I figured I'd get a cheaper used one to try first to see if I would really still enjoy LP's.

Well as it turns out I listen almost exclusively to LP's, so I want to get a better turntable. I have three older TT's that I've been using; Technics SL1300 direct drive, Philips 212 belt drive and a Pioneer PL-12D. Between the three I prefer the Pioneer which I bought for $3.00 at a yard sale.

My question is what turntable would you recommend new or used below $700.00. I have a new Grado Red cartridge that I can use for now, so the budget is mainly for the Turntable. Some of the one's I've looked at so far have been.
Music Hall MMF-7
Music Hall MMF-5
Rega P3
Origin Live
Sota
Thorens 125 MK II
Thorens 126 MK II
VPI
Project ?
Is there any other models that I should add to the watch list?

[JohnT]

Kevin, so your looking for another TT :LOL: ...I saw that one coming. Isnt there a higher ended project table you could add to the list, and how about a used VPI ? ...

[Kevin_McC]

Thanks John,
I knew there's a bunch I forgot about. I added your suggestions to the list.

[Burke Strickland]

Thorens may still be commercially available in the US, but when I was looking for a new turntable a couple of years ago, a dealer of my acquaintance who carried the brand at the time warned me against buying a new Thorens. Although they were very well regarded when vinyl was king 20 years ago and earlier, and was the brand I first set out to find last time around, he related that the customer service and dealer support by Thorens for North America had been practically non-existent the previous few years. Virtually all the ones he sold came back for repair and getting the parts was problematic (took months sometimes).

Even though he did not carry Rega, and therefore lost a sale by doing so, he steered me toward the Rega Planar 3, which I ended up buying and continue to be very pleased with, especially after the P3 motor upgrade. (Essentially I now have a P3 with the old style Planar 3 plinth.) One of the Music Hall turntables would, of course, be a very good alternative.

With a Grado Reference Platinum cartridge mounted on the Rega's tone arm and the Lehmann Black Cube (Improved) as my phono stage, I am in sonic nirvana when playing my vinyl collection.

Good luck -

Burke

[Bob]

Kevin,
Congradulations on moving up to a high resolution music component and getting away from mediocre cd playback. My vote would be for Music Hall, in that price range.
I would write more now but, am listening to The Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots"(on pink vinyl) right now and it is drawing away my attention.

[David Meek]

Kevin, tomorrow Burke and I are going to audition a Nottingham Analog TT called the Horizon against a Rega P3 and a P25. The sales rep swears that this $1K TT (with Rega RB250 tonearm) "blows away" the P25 (with a Rega RB600). We'll see. . . .

FWIW, this unit did get a very favorable write-up by Michael Fremer in a comparison against a Sota Comet and a Rega P3.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[Kevin_McC]

David/Burke let us know what you think about the Nottingham.

I went over to a friends house yesterday to listen to his Thorens 125 MKII. That was definately a step up from what I've been using. I even took my PL-12D with me to A/B just to get an idea and I immediately noticed the difference, lows, highs better definition and separation. I know a couple of times I just sat there and said wow. I know now I definately need a better table.

[David Meek]

Kevin, the Nottingham Analogue Horizon is coming home with me. Well, in about 2 weeks that is. I'm not trying to hijack the thread so I'll keep it brief: Blow the Rega P25 away? No, not at all. I'd say the two units were VERY close in performance, but the Horizon, with a $200 Grado Gold cartridge seemed to pull more detail or information out of the grooves than the P25 with a $600 Rega Exact cartridge, plus the "feel" (pace?) of what I was hearing was more to my liking. The P25 had more high-end resolution than the Horizon and men's voices had no "chestiness" at all, plus I already like the "Rega sound". I had to think really hard about this choice, but in the end went with the Horizon. I DID go with a Grado Sonata cartridge as it has more top-end and resolution than the Gold and this should (I hope!) give me the best of both TT's I heard today. One other thing worth mentioning, is the Rega had high-quality after-market interconnects and the Horizon had very inexpensive OEM's that are hard-wired to the arm - and it still sounded fabulous.

Hope this helps.




David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker

[sattothestars]

As a Nottingham dealer,I would go for a used Innerspace.Overall a better TT,better platter,and arm.If you are patient they show up in Audiogon for around 800.00.The Horizon is equal to an MMF5 and costs more..Moving up to the Innerspace will alow you to upgrade arms and puts you up closer to the hiend entry TTS.My 2 cents.




JLF sattothestars