I'm looking for and unpopulated Turntable reccomendations to pair with some of my existing analogue components. I currently own a Sutherland 20/20 phono amp with LPS. I also have an Origin Live Zepher 12" Tone Arm and a SoundSmith MMMC* Cartridge (Factory Upgraded). All very nice components, but I would prefer not to break the bank on plinth and platter. New or Used inputs!
Most of my listening is Jazz, R&B.
System-
SS Class A Mono Amps / PreAmp Tube / Efficent 3 way Speakers, Flanked by Duel Subs.
If seller/VPI cannot give you answers, Steve Leung at VAS knows a great deal about VPI’s, having worked with the father, and his shop is in the same building as VPI’s shop.
I would recommend most highly that you consider purchasing a Kronos turntable. The Kronos Sparta turntable may be a bit more than the other recommendations offered here on AudiogoN, but the Kronos turntables are truly in a league by themselves. If you want to hear what is truly possible in turntable technology this is it. The Sparta is the most affordable turntable from Kronos that employs the unique counter-rotating platter technology. This combined with amazing engineering and precision machining produces a table that could be an endgame analog product for you.
If you want to start a museum or a collection of audio oddities, then and only then consider the Transcriptors turntable recommended by someone here. Yes, it's a treat to look at and watch in action, but no it is not a good turntable by modern standards. In fact, it wasn't so good by the standards of its day. Either it made "Clockwork Orange" famous or Clockwork Orange made it famous.
Not sure what your budget is, but I recommend reaching out to Dave at Vinyl Nirvana. He can help you design and restore a Thorens with an armboard to fit your 12" arm, similar to the option shared in a previous post.
PTP Audio Solid 12 is an off the shelf heavy plinth Lenco conceived and built by Peter Reinders, one of us crazies, for a sane person to buy and enjoy.
Most people do not want to get that involved. They want to buy a table, mount the arm, plug it in and go. There are not many crazy fools like you and me.
As I was going to suggest a heavy plinth Lenco, I wonder why you would suggest staying away from one?
I built one, and it’s modded with some of my own design details, including a dedicated dynamic isolation platform. It is a fantastic sounding TT by any metric.
Note: when you rotate or slide ___ for a longer arm, and a factory dust cover is involved: you need to know about the rear counterweight section, it needs to fit when stored with the dustcover down., and the height must clear when the cover is on/down
I had to be very careful with this one, factory dust cover not shown, but the right side long arm and short left arm ’just fit’ when the cover is on.
Without thinking, I added a spacer to raise the long arm, (the JVC spinners are high and wide). I got lucky, top of the gimbal just fits below the top of the dust cover when on.
Having learned from that experience, I searched until I found the left Mission arm with a very short counterweight section, AND it needed a small diameter mounting ring to get close to the wide rim of the TT81. Luckily the seller knew how to measure for me before purchase.
The 12" arm is the sticking point. The Kuzma Stabi R is the least expensive new turntable I can think of that will take a 12" arm. Some of the Clearaudios may be able to take a 12" arm. Many of us would tell you to get rid of the 12" arm because we think that 9 and 10" arm perform better. It would also open up a lot more options. I would never recommend an old idler wheel turntable on a custom plinth.
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