Decent budget turntable?

I second the recommendation for the Pro-ject. Music Hall turntables are also made by Pro-ject.

I would actually look at a Pro-ject Xpression III with a Speedbox. You should be pretty happy with that.

I goofed around and ended up with a Pro-Ject Debut III with an Ortofon Salsa mc cartridge which necessitated the upgrade to the acrylic platter (standard on the Xpression) and also got the SpeedBox. All-in was about $800. Cartridge was a significant portion, though. My rig sounds very good, and I am happy with it for the near future. I may upgrade next year-- but only after buying a record cleaning machine and a bunch of LP's.

If it were me, it's a tough call between the Pro-ject tables, the Music Hall tables, and Rega's.

Jedinite, if your budget is $400. I would start with the Debut III. NeedleDoctor often runs them on sale. I would have them upgrade the stylus. You may not want to upgrade from there.

I would also bypass your choices on a phono pre and instead get the the Musical Fidelity V-LPS. You can then get the power supply upgrade later.

PMB

03-27-10: Ilidra
Just purshase Music Hall MMF 5.1 in like new condition with Goldring 1012GX cartridge instaled. Any sugestions for budget phono preamp to use with.

That's easy: the Cambridge 640P. Less than $200, handles both MC and MM. Extremely quiet, accurate RIAA, catches the details and also the dynamic jumps. I've had one for 3 years and even with several downstream upgrades, its basic goodness holds up well and resolution is further revealed.

The other contender would be the Musical Fidelity V-LPS at around the same price. To get appreciably better you'd need the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II at $600 or the PS Audio GCPH at $1000.

Another vote here for the Rega - especially in that price range, it will throw a much bigger soundstage and have greater resolution of acoustic instrumental/vocal timbre, if you care about such things. The Rega P2 is a great value for the money, what I would call a perfect starter table.

Thanks PMB, Lears and Johnnyb53 for your input.

From looking at some old threads here one TT I may be considering is the Audio Technica AT-PL120 or an LP Gears modified Audio Technica AT-LP120 USB. For under $300 new it seems to be a decent table that doesn't require much set-up time and tweaking. I may keep looking around for a decent Pro-Ject or Rega TT as well locally.

Rega RP-1 $445 shipped & easily upgradable. I got mine from Gene Rubin...highly recommended both the TT and the dealer!