Nottingham Spacedeck vs Rega Planar 8 vs Technics SL1200G
Larry at Hollywood Sound, Hollywood, FL has parts and is as knowledgeable about the Nottingham table as anyone in the US(and a good guy). I had a 294 for years and enjoyed it. Never had any trouble. Did have a Nott Wave Mechanic motor controller which upped the wound quality by a quite considerable bit. |
I would consider three MM cartridges - Goldring 1042, Nagaola MP-500 and Audio Note IQ3. Cost - about $500 - $1100. You also need speed and 'bite' and explosive dynamics for real flamenco, not new age kind of flamenco. Nagaoka and Audio Note might be somewhat more sophisticated and polite. Perhaps Roxan MMs would be fine as well. Yeah, Nottingham motor controller wouldn't hurt, especially if the wall current is not good. Also Walker motor controller, maybe even better, about $1600 for either, I guess. I decided not to get it for now, but I have PS Audio conditioner/regenerator to use for the entire system. No, not a full substitute for motor controller but works well. |
I owned Rega, moved up to NA Mentor (precursor to the Dais). The table is not suspended, so it can take an air bearing tonearm. I use the Trans-Fi, which is surely the best bargain in audio at $1000. Cartridge is a Koetsu. The 'heavy' kit is worth considering, now or in the future. So is the Wave Mechanic. I gave away my older but well regarded Technics 150 Mk2; not in the same league. Not even close. |
Assuming I choose the right cartridge @essrand The right cartridge is Pickering XSV-3000 (or Stanton 881s) MM with original Stereohedron stylus (one of the best profile ever made) if you don’t want to spend more than $400 to get highly competitive sound up to $800 easily. It’s high compliance MM which is perfect for Technics tonearm. Victor X-1IIe with titanium pipe cantilever and nude elliptical tip is also nice one for under $350, but the Victor X-1II with beryllium cantilever and nude shibata stylus tip is better than all of them, but much more expensive if the condition is like new. Those Victor are mid compliance and great for most of the modern tonearms too. Grace F-14 and LEVEL II are absolutely killer MM cartridges along with the AT-ML180 OFC if the budget is over $1.5k If you will buy Technics make sure to remove stock rubber mat and replace it with SAEC SS-300 alloy mat with disc stabilizer like Micro Seiki ST-10 This is your ticket to high-end analog |
