Buying a new TT today

I’m going to give you two responses, one involving upgrades and one involving a new setup, because I’ve done the first and considered the second. The Debut Carbon/ Ortofon 2M Red is a good deal. I assume you have a DC model TT and don’t have hum or motor vibration problems. If you want to buy some time to research a new TT, get an acrylic platter for the Debut and an Ortofon 2M Blue or Grado Timbre Opus 3. I found the acrylic platter was a big improvement. Ignore the folks who dis the 2M Red. It’s a very nice cart, and if you like it you’ll like the Blue. I got the low-output version of the Grado when I got a new phono preamp and the Ortofon’s 5.5mV signal could overload it. The Grado also fits the Debut well and won’t require VTA adjustment, which the Debut’s tonearm doesn’t allow. That kind of rules out MC carts right there. As far as new, I’ll just say to commit to spend all your budget or more. Don’t scrimp now. It costs a lot to really step up a TT setup. Take your time to listen to different carts for sure. Finally, consider a separate phono preamp. I built a Pass Pearl 2 and there’s a good chance there’s more to be had from your TT setup than your amp’s phono stage is capturing. No substitute for listening here, and lucky you that you’ve got two dealers available. Good luck!

Hello,
A lot of turntables come with OK carts. I agree with an upgrade on the cart to maybe blue or black Ortofon. But you have to decide can you afford to godown
the rabbit hole or should you buy what you want. First, sell your TT with the original cart. Take the money and the 2k and buy something that sounds better.  So many people have spent a lot of money trying to turn their Honda Civic into a Porsche. Just save up for the Porsche and sell the Civic when you get enough money. VPI is really good and so is Rega. Rega’s can be picky on some models due to hum from the motor once the cart gets close. Buy the Rega P6 with the MC cart so you have great sound and no hum. Best bang for your buck right now. When you are ready to upgrade you will sell the P6 quickly due to its great value. 

264win,

With a budget of $2K, you don't really have to choose between upgrading your TT or cartridge - you can have BOTH! I don't have as much experience as others on this group, but here's my experience.

I have a Rega P3; I loved it when I got it, with a Rega Elys 2. When I upgraded to a Dynavector 10X5, the improvement was not subtle!  I've had this  combination for years, and still enjoy it.  Since it's a high-output Moving Coil, it'll work with your Integrated amp.

I think the combination will fit nicely into your budget, and the Rega is scalable enough that it'll support you well when/if you later decide to upgrade your cartridge (though beware, that way madness lies :-)

If you have money left over after trading in your existing TT/Cartridge, you could look at upgrading to a standalone Phone Preamp. I have the Project Tube Box . Again, the improvement was dramatic, not subtle!

Enjoy your quest!

hshifi,

"So many people have spent a lot of money trying to turn their Honda Civic into a Porsche. Just save up for the Porsche and sell the Civic when you get enough money."


Wise words. Unfortunately some of us had to find out the hard way.

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is not a bad deck, as the OP has discovered. It's got much of what the high end decks have. 

What will a top tier turntable give that the Carbon won't?

Maybe a touch more low bass, certainly more scale, and perhaps a finer sense of separation and image. Even then it will have to be the right record, some will still sound more or less the same as the Carbon.

So it might well be better to save up first before making a sideways move. As you say, if it's a Rega then it's going to have to be one of the better ones. 

I’ve noticed that questions about turntable upgrade on this forum coming from people who own those Rega, Pro-Ject and related belt drive turntables, we have over 50 posts about it, almost even week a new post (and same turntables) over and over again.

I can’t remember posts/threads from the new Technics (GR or G) turntable owners who are not happy about this Direct Drive and willing to upgrade. I do remember only optional (very expensive) tonearm upgrades for this deck. When people invest in Tri-Planar tonearm for their Technics SL1200G i think this is a proof how how this turntable/drive really is. But i can’t remember anyone ever posted something like "I bought this Technics SL1200G and i don’t like it". I can’t remember anyone ever mentioned any technical issue with this Japanese made Direct Drive.

But i read about technical issues with Rega and Pro-Ject every week on audiogon.

Some people just don’t want to learn.

Those Rega, Pro-Ject and all these brands simply can’t make anything even close to the Japanese high-end Direct Drive. And if we remember more great products from Technics it will be hard to find any better tonearm than EPA-100 under $1500 or EPA-100 mkII under $4000. And those older DD from Technics like SP-10 mkII (under $1500) or SP-10 mkIII (under $7000) are ultimate. Now new SP10R replaced them all. Stock tonearm on $1700 Technics SL1200GR is fine for what it worth.

I know for sure than none of those Belt Drive (Rega, Pro-Ject and related) owner never ever touched those Technics DD turntables (old or new).

Technics is only one brand from a bunch of amazing Japanese brands like Denon, Pioneer, Micro Seiki, Victor, Kenwood, Luxman ... All made superb direct drive turntables in the past, some still making them, some are gone.