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Should I keep the Turntable or sell it?

I’ve been back and forth on this decision for about a month, and the more I learn, the harder this decision gets.

Backstory: I won the brand new Cambridge Audio Alva TT turntable in an online contest in mid-May, and while it sounds great, I decided to list it for sale a couple weeks ago. I’ve always wanted to try out a Rega P6 or P3 with a really nice cart, because I feel like I’m not getting enough out of my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon. Prior to winning the Alva TT, I switched the Red Ortofon out for the Blue, and there was a great improvement in sound quality. But after comparing the Pro-Ject to the Alva TT and hearing what a $1700 turntable can sound like, I definitely am interested in exploring more high fidelity turntables. The issue is that I feel like I prefer the sound of tubes over solid state, and the Alva TT uses an integrated Alva Duo phono preamp for the RCA out, and their own DAC for the Bluetooth out if I want to go that route. I don’t have a ton of experience with tubes, and maybe it’s just the “cool factor” I actually like and I’m just having a placebo effect.

So I decided to list it for sale to try and get a Rega, because I heard so many great things about them. But over the last week or so, I’ve learned more about the Alva TT and how it uses Rega’s famous tonearm. I looked up the cart and it is listed at $500 separately, which is probably why it sounds better than the Pro-Ject w/ Ortofon Blue. I’ve also read on these boards about direct drive being better than belt, which the Alva has as well. It also has the added bonus of Bluetooth that go directly to my KEF LS50 Wireless, but I would most likely just use interconnects.

So I would love to get some advice from you all. I’ve gone back and forth about keeping the Alva or selling it, along with my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, and buying/trading for something like a Rega P3 or P6. If you had my first world problem, what would you do?
bignamehere
bignamehere OP
56 posts
 
@chakster My age comment still stands, and you only best me by a year. Any comment that ends with "before you were born" is condescending and rude, implying the person on the receiving end of the comment is too young to know better. Your opinion of the phrase may differ, but feel free to argue your point with a linguist, not me. Also, I believe your opinion of high quality is very different than many other audiophiles and a large handful of leading manufacturers. That is fine, we all have a person preference. Maybe your understanding of the belt drive technology, and why it is used on the most advanced tables in the world, is lacking and you should do some research on it. You do seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about direct drive, but since you say Technics is the only "REAL direct drive", maybe you should do more research on other companies in the industry, and the advances they have also been making for decades. Lastly, you also need to read comments on these boards more critically, as you would've learned that I have indeed heard a Technics a few times, and am not blindly dismissing the brand nor the technology. 

Again, thanks for the info on Technics, but keep the "color commentary" to a minimum on my thread or just refrain from commenting. Thanks.
captain_winters
133 posts
 
I suggest regardless of your turntable decision, ensuring your tonearm choice has an easy azimuth adjustment. I find that the soundstage is enhanced with azimuth adjustment which results in equal, or equal as possible and lowest crosstalk in each channel. 
clearthink
1,421 posts
 

bignamehere "keep the "color commentary" to a minimum on my thread or just refrain from commenting."

Everyone is free to post hear within the rules established by the forum it is not for you to limit, restrict, or discourage any poster or contributor from writing, sharing, or contributing his thoughts to this group. I will steadfastly, consistently, and uniformly defend the rights of others to share as they wish and accept that only the moderators may intervene on the forum’s behalf.
lewm
13,731 posts
 
Take a deep breath and keep what you’ve got for a while. The foregoing conflicting bits of advice should be reason enough to take it slow. With all respect to Chakster, I am really rather surprised at some of his pro-Technics opinions, because in my own equally worthless opinion Chakster owns at least 3 DD turntables that I would place at least equal to or better than SP10 mk2, namely Denon DP80, Victor TT101, and Luxman PD444. But his basic notion that the low end of the new revised SL1200 series is a good way to go, if you’re restricted to only the new (vs vintage), I do agree with. One strategy would be to sit tight and look for a DP80, which can be had for about half the cost of a new SL1200GR if that’s the $1700 version.
bignamehere OP
56 posts
 
@clearthink condescending comments, and especially those intended to derogate a protected class, should not be used. I am sure the moderators and Audiogon attorneys would agree with that statement. If you feel it's okay to post racist, sexist, ageist, or any other form of disrespectful language, do it on your own thread. 
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