VPI Turn Table

I'm also interested in getting back into vinyl. I have a fairly large collection, but my old turntable is shot. SD,you seem to have a lot of knowledge in this subject. Do you have any recommendations in regards to buying a pre-owned table? Is it better to buy new? I know that VPI is well respected. M dealer that use carries VPI and Basis. Is the Basis line another good one to consider? I know that the 1400 is not upgradeable, but the 2000 is. I don't have much knowledge in this area. Any advice would be appreciated.

I have the HW-19jr, and it's great, definitely the best for the money. With it, the AQ PT-8 arm, the Benz Lo4 cartridge, and the Musical Surroundings Phonomena phono stage. Nobody would believe how well these work together.

Kleiman: There are several other very good turntables which compete effectively with the VPI tables: the Basis 1400 is a good table, as are the Rega Planar 25 and Planar 9, Kuzma Stabi, SME 10, Linn Sondek LP12, and Thorens TD325. The turntable, of course, is only half of the equation. The tonearm is the other half. Here, you have a number of options among pivoted arms. The better pivoted arms include: VPI JMW, the Graham 2.0, several of the SME's, the Kuzma Stogi, and my personal choice for "Best Buy", the Rega RB900. Which arm you choose will dictate to some extent your choice of cartridge. The VPI JMW, for example, is a relatively high-mass arm, and will usually perform best with medium-to-low compliance cartridges. The Rega RB900 can be used with almost any cartridge, as can the Graham and Kuzma.