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Help with TT ideas for my first TT

Hi All,

I have been reading alot of reviews and searching around for my first TT.  ALot of recent recordings that i want are basically only coming out on vinyl or super crappy mp3.  I have an Aaron integrated amp, with some custom built SB Acoustic Monitors (Bromo).

I am looking at the marketplace in the 1 - 1.5k range and see I can find alot of different solutions and wanted to get peoples thoughts:

Marantz tt-15 - Seems like  bargain at 1500, but difficult to setup
Clearaudio Concept - good reviews, bumps against the magnetic arm (Cement floor at my place)
Music Hall MMF 7.3 - Seems like a great solution
VPI Cliff Wood
Pro-ject X1 or X2 - Have read some reports of motor noise
Rega Planar 2 or 3 - Seems to be they are what they are

With such a crowded field how do people choose?  I live in Central Mass, and dont have alot of options in terms of auditions so would love to get peoples thoughts. 
kro77
guy-incognito's avatar
guy-incognito
169 posts
 
I've had a new model Rega Planar 2 and eventually upgraded the arm to the RB330 (used in the planar 3 and 6). My dad has a new model Planar 6 and I currently have a current gen Planar 8. The current model planar 3 seems to be the sweet spot on pricing vs features/quality. I would be looking for a deal on a Planar 3 or 6 if you can swing it. Both are great tables.

I dont have any experience with the MoFi tables but they seem well regarded amongst the people who own them. Seems to be a solid choice..

Not 100٪ sure, but I believe Marantz table is made by Clearaudio (or at least uses some parts sourced from them). I have read several accounts of owners saying it was a great table but they ultimately ditched it for something else due to what ever reason. Take that with a grain of salt as I have no personal experience with this table.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Clearaudio did advance the art with the development of the magnet thrust system on their bearings and their motors are excellent but otherwise their turntables do not offer much more than VPI tables do. Their tonearms vacillate between pretty good and downright terrible.
VPI's unipivot arms are downright terrible. Their new gimbal bearing arm is a vast improvement. Both VPI and Clearaudio are more interested in cosmetics than performance. Thus the turntables at the bottom end of their ranges give more performance for the money. With their more expensive units both companies become hyper focused on isolating the platter from the motor instead of isolating the entire turntable from everything else in the environment which IMHO is far more important given modern motors are very quiet and are spinning quite slowly. 

jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
it is a pretty competitive market... all these are similarly well performing products, no dogs in the bunch - just choose based on what attributes/conveniences matter to you -- mofi decks seem to have a lot of buzz, of course, regas and projects and clearaudios have been out there forever for good reason
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
Get a Technics direct drive (SL1500C).  Great table at a great price.
No belts to fiddle with:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-M69FZQj3bRn/p_133SL1500B/Technics-SL-1500C-Black.html?XVINQ=GLX&aw...

vinylvin
146 posts
 
+1  mijostyn
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