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Help with TT ideas for my first TT

Hi All,

I have been reading alot of reviews and searching around for my first TT.  ALot of recent recordings that i want are basically only coming out on vinyl or super crappy mp3.  I have an Aaron integrated amp, with some custom built SB Acoustic Monitors (Bromo).

I am looking at the marketplace in the 1 - 1.5k range and see I can find alot of different solutions and wanted to get peoples thoughts:

Marantz tt-15 - Seems like  bargain at 1500, but difficult to setup
Clearaudio Concept - good reviews, bumps against the magnetic arm (Cement floor at my place)
Music Hall MMF 7.3 - Seems like a great solution
VPI Cliff Wood
Pro-ject X1 or X2 - Have read some reports of motor noise
Rega Planar 2 or 3 - Seems to be they are what they are

With such a crowded field how do people choose?  I live in Central Mass, and dont have alot of options in terms of auditions so would love to get peoples thoughts. 
kro77
kro77 OP
69 posts
 
I have it setup in my basment system with my workshop.  It sounds really good, i dont know what i was expecting, but I enjoyed the call it ritual of playing the disc, and the sound came out.

Am very pleased so far..  but I dont have alot of reference points.
bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 
Am very pleased so far.. but I dont have alot of reference points.

Fantastic. Well, your first reference point is the sound vs digital formats.

I put my vinyl ‘to sleep’ for over 35 years. When I dug it/them back out about a year and a half ago, I realized quickly what I was missing/had missed.

Bought a good ‘re-stater table’, and started collecting a whole new batch of vinyl. Now, with my recently acquired SOTA Sapphire/Jelco 850/Soundsmith Zephyr combo, digital is having a much harder time competing with my ears.

Enjoy
kro77 OP
69 posts
 
This has been my first venture into vinyl and for sure I can hear stuff differently on some of these recordings.

really fun so far, but I almost that quality of recording has become more important now.


knollbrent's avatar
knollbrent
521 posts
 
Yes @kro77 now look for reviews regarding albums you want. I bought 10 of my favorite artists albums right out of the gate and the mastering/press was terrible. Blonde, Mellencamp, Springsteen, Amy Whinehouse to name a few. Never made that mistake again. I research a lot before buying any album. 2 1/2 years ago, I had no albums. Now I have over 500 from all genres and just ordered 5 more. I love the ritual with vinyl.
bkeske's avatar
bkeske
5,597 posts
 
And check out Discogs for good older LP’s. Or even eBay, but that can be more iffy. 
I’ve gotten a lot of great LP’s on Discogs, at a fraction of what new ones cost.
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