What would be the best "attainable" Denon turntabl

10-06-10: Lewm
Johnny, Do you use the 500M? If you do, and if you like it, then fine. ...

Nope. I was answering the OP's original question about an available, affordable Denon DD (I presume) turntable. Denon has a new $2500 anniversary model out there, but since he was wanting something well under that, I figured the next best bet (unless you stumble onto a 25-yr-old one in excellent shape) would be a DP 500 M.

To answer your question, I have a Technics SL1210 M5G (upgraded tonearm wire) that I bought for $500 when they were plentiful. I've done some aftermarket tweaks, most very inexpensive and all aimed at dampening and controlling resonances (mat, feet, trough, headshell, arm wrap, isolation platform). I cannot believe how good this turntable can sound. I go to my local Brit-oriented high end shop and come away largely unimpressed by their Regas and Roksans. Not that those aren't good 'tables, but they don't tempt me to change rigs in the least. A couple years ago I was thinking of getting a Denon DP 500M, but the A-goners familiar with it implored me to stick with the Technics. I'm really glad I did, but am sorry that its continued production no longer fits Matsushita's business model.

Don't know why the DP500M is so unloved, but the Technics certainly stands as a best buy, by all accounts. (I own vintage types.)

The DP-500M is not a bad table at all. In fact, I like it better than the Technics SL1200. The tonearm in the DP-500M is a joke, a lot of plastic flimsy parts. The table, however, is well built, elegant looking(higher WAF than most), and has very smooth sound. The drive system is a departure from the vintage Denon that it does not use a tapehead to regulate speed. It uses an optical disc underneath the motor for the servo. Pretty clever. Overall, it's fine table for the price..... except the arm.

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Torque of DP500M motor = 4.5kg/cm. That's impressive and up there with the SP10 Mk2. DP500M chassis remounted in a better plinth with an upgraded tonearm might be quite something.

Lew,
I saw that data tidbit once but I cannot remember where. I kind of ignored it at the time because the specs also said "if you apply up to 80g of VTF then there will be no speed change" comment whereas the SP-10Mk2 is probably close to 6-8x that amount, if not more, and the really big TTs are more like 1500g. That said, the start-up to 33.33 is quite fast so it is not impossible. It might be an interesting thing to try.