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New Turntable Direction

It's been a long time since I sought the opinions of the community.  I have been a happy Linnie for 20+ years stopping after upgrades with the Ekos, Cirkus, Lingo, and suspension.  I still have my Shelter 90X.  A recent upgrade inquiry resulted in approximately 6K investment in my table and this just doesn't seem to make sense considering it's age.  I have considered investing the 6K in a new table and staring all over.  I have initially looked at Oracle, VPI, and Basis in part because they have been around for as long as I have been doing this.  For what it is worth my phono stage is still a Rhea.  So what do you think new table or another Linn upgrade and if new table what brand?  As always I appreciate your feedback.
xagwell
smer319's avatar
smer319
138 posts
 
Technics SL-1200G with a Lyra Delos cartridge at $5200.00 Great setup.
mammothguy54's avatar
mammothguy54
949 posts
 
+1 for the Rega Planar 10.  I will add, place it on a high-quality platform such as a Symposium Acoustics Segue ISO.  What an excellent combination.  Only my opinion, of course. 
totem395
390 posts
 
@xagwell 
I'm very surprised by the retro leaning responses.


The others must be preoccupied, really.


viber6
2,448 posts
 
My taste in sound is crystal clear, detailed and lean.  I hate bass bloat and fullness, which are usually associated with impaired clarity in the entire freq spectrum.  My Linn Valhalla with Alphason HR100S titanium tonearm, Denon 305 cartridge gave me what I wanted, years ago.  The SOTA Sapphire TT with my same arm and cartridge was leaden and dead sounding.  The Linn replaced my 1st TT/arm, a top of the line direct drive Denon with the Denon 307 arm, which sounded leaden by comparison to the Linn.  That's when I became convinced of the whole Linn story.  Then I moved to the Goldmund Studio TT, but my Alphason arm was better than the Goldmund T3B straight line tracker arm.  The Goldmund TT was a little better than my Linn.  Overall, the Linn gets a very high rating from me.

Today, I would consider one of the top Rega table and arm combinations.  For $6K or so with the Rega Apheta 2 or 3 cartridge, reviews suggest the type of sound I like.  But the most important move would be a change of cartridge.  That gives the biggest bang for the buck.  Not necessarily the most expensive cartridge.  I wouldn't get the top Aphelion cartridge for $5K, but would get the Apheta 2 or 3.  But I am very happy with my 35 year old Denon 305 cartridge which still has the sound I like.
vinylshadow
489 posts
 
I’m in the exact same boat as the OP with my Basis 2001 w/ suspension/Rega RB900/McCormack Micro Phono Drive. Love my Basis but updates will be as much as new everything. I’m looking into Vertere. The MG-1 t.t. and SG-1 tonearm. PHONO- 1 phono stage as well...Vertere is very different than Basis as far as motor on the plinth and lack of suspension(I believe)....I have a 250 pound Sound Anchors rack so suspension may be less important a consideration.
I’ve read good things about Vertere...Have you or any posters here looked into or heard about them?
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