Best turntable for the buck

@tomic601

+3

I was keeping my trap shut as it would just be posted what I own, but have to believe it would be hard to beat the Sapphire for the $.

With a good arm, the choice of carts is almost endless. And of course a good phono pre.

A solid choice as a platform, if I do say so my biased self.

@rvpiano When playing classical, my vinyl rig is better than anything I have on the digital side in terms of 3 dimensionality, imaging, and soundstage. Tone and natural presentation is incredible as well, that is so important for acoustic instruments. It just ‘feels’ more real to me.

bkeske, 

‘Do you have the Saphire VI?
‘Does it require an arm separately? 
‘The price is right.

Sounds like you want in to the vinyl arena. I used to own a Rega… your criticism is the same as I would have made… I would have said too much noise resulting in decreased transparent soundstage. I have not been a fan of Rega since I owned one… the higher level ones are supposed to be better.

You might think about a used Linn LP12  or I think you could get a new Majik without cartridge for about the price you are looking at. I recommend getting one from a dealer… like I would most turntables.

I own a new LP12. Incredible transparency. One of the amazing things about Linn, any Linn TT, is you can upgrade them all the way up to the current top of the line by small steps. They have been Top performers… continuing to advance for many decades while many of their predecessors have fallen behind. 
 

Anyway, I thing the Majik really fits the bill for you.

I was keeping my trap shut as it would just be posted what I own, but have to believe it would be hard to beat the Sapphire for the $.

Me too.

I was looking at new tables, but in the end decided to just overhaul the Sapphire with the new motor/controller/etc.
The OP mentioned $4k budget, and the parts for the overhaul gobble up half of that.
But it sound pretty good at the moment, as those parts are in transit. So it is a bit of peeling the onion.

With a good arm, the choice of carts is almost endless. And of course a good phono pre.

A solid choice as a platform, if I do say so my biased self.

@rvpiano When playing classical, my vinyl rig is better than anything I have on the digital side in terms of 3 dimensionality, imaging, and soundstage. Tone and natural presentation is incredible as well, that is so important for acoustic instruments. It just ‘feels’ more real to me

Mine too, however my digital side is on the Best Buy side.

I have always liked the SOTA Sapphire, you can possibly get a refurbished table direct from SOTA. Put Origin Live arm on it and away you go. SOTA carry a variety of arms and can properly fit your arm board.

There are better arm choices than OL… IMO.
Certainly there are arms that are easier to align/adjust/set-up.

Sota Sapphire hands down. There is no other $3500 turntable that comes close to the Sapphire's level of performance.