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Looking to get a turntable.

Looking for advice on turntables. Have heard the Sota moonbeam with my speakers on a tube system and while I liked it was trying to go a bit less expensive.

Grew up listening to vinyl and love all the pops and hisses that go with the early recordings. Mostly like blues, jazz, and classic rock but can listen to Frank Sinatra for hours.

Am just starting to understand what makes hi-fi tick and am still learning. I can now actually understand some of the how and whys of electronics.(thanks to my brother).

Grew up in a family that always was into music. My Dad had a pair of Maggies that are still my favorite speakers to this day. Components bought and sold alot so I got to hear alot of systems.

Ok maybe to much info but figured you might all need a little background.

My system;

Coincident Troubadour speakers
Audire Crescendo amp
Superphon revelation pre
Dennon TV 1500RD receiver
TEAC /cdP 1440 CD player(replacing soon after table purchase)

My question is what table(new or used) will enable me to get the most bang for my buck? Am looking at the Rega P1 and can go to demo it before purchase with my own lp's. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Price range in the 400-500 hundred range

Thanks
horsnit
horsnit OP
39 posts
 
ok after a quick search I am leaning to the VPI HW 19 what is the cost for this table used? I like that it is described,"built like a tank" as most of my stuff is.
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I sold several of the HW 19s in my earlier hitch as a VPI dealer and found them very well made and reliable. I don't recall any purchaser who wasn't satisfied. Check out current listings, I saw one the other day at around $500 without tone arm. I have some reasonable priced arms if you buy one without.
horsnit OP
39 posts
 
thanks Stanwal still looking and waiting to hear back about the HW 19 that I hope is coming up for sale. What arm would you suggest and cartidge and what would be the cost. Also any suggestions on mods?
mred
88 posts
 
I have a HW-19 Mk.2 that I'm looking to sell. Send me an Email (mscevw@aol.com)with contact info so we can talk.
sufentanil's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
sufentanil
782 posts
 
See also the Audiogon archives, as there is a lot of information from similar question.

I believe your preamp has a phono stage. If so, you won't necessarily need a separate one. You didn't mention if your price range was for the turntable only, or if it was for everything (turntable + tonearm + cartridge).

Some possibilities:

Music Hall MMF-5: Includes a Goldring cartridge. The cartridge is OK, not great. You'll do better with some of the Ortofon offerings. Unfortunately I found the tonearm's low mass to be limiting in terms of the number of cartridges it worked well with. Nevertheless, it will get you decent sound with good quality records.

Project Debut: Similar in many respects to the Music Hall (I believe they might actually be made in the same factory). Pros/cons similar to the Music Hall.

Technics SL-1200: There seem to be two camps; one thinks it's the best thing going under $1000, the other thinks it's overblown. I currently have a KAB-modified Technics (from kabusa.com). It blows away the Music Hall and Pro-ject I've had in the past. It works well with a wider range of cartridges, is built like a tank, easier to adjust various tonearm settings, and has its own dust cover. (Don't underestimate the importance of that latter feature, particularly if its in a rather dusty room.) It's by far the best sounding turntable I've owned, and has a clear upgrade path through mods from Kevin at KABUSA.com. The turntable-only price will be in your budget, but you'll need extra for a cartridge.

Rega P1: They have a good following, but I've never listened to one, so I can't in good conscience offer an opinion one way or another.

You'll also want to consider budgeting for accessories such as a record cleaning machine with cleaning fluid and a cartridge alignment tool.

I hope that helps.

Michael
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