Most hyped turntable, tonearm, and cartridge?

@aj523,

"Of course I still obessed a little with vibration and swapped out the stock feet for the Symposium rollerback plus and one of their better shelves. And changed the cart to the Aphelion2 which was a nerve racking experience, thank God for the head screw."



This is the kind of unforgettable stuff that sets us audiophiles apart from the rest of the human race. We sometimes seem to be living 2 lives, one for the world and the other for our obsession.

After 20 years of marriage and 2 kids I don't think I'd be up to that kind of thing anymore. It's bad enough with a $250 cart let alone a $3k one.

Gosh those days of experimenting with wall shelves and various turntable platforms seem so so long ago - and yet so recent.

If I remember correctly different platforms under the Rega 3 never seemed to make much difference.

The better way for me to go was to use a rigid lightweight table as a support rather than a wall shelf.

I now suspect that this was largely down to living fairly close to a busy main road whereby no wall shelf was ever going to excel in being stationary enough.

I hope you've had better luck at the vinyl summit with your Rega 10. Many years later I'm still not certain what the best way of attaching a turntable wall shelf would be, but here's a nice story warning of some potential dangers.

https://theaudiophileman.com/decent-audio-turntable-wall-shelf/

Its not hype. Its in our blood.

That may be true. A good analogy with Porsche 911. I’ve never driven 911, but I had a chance to sit on the passenger seat in mid 90s. The driver showed off a little bit (?), and I still cannot forget the exciting feeling I had.

My understanding is that the "new" Garrard 301 is not that at all.  The factory is now refurbishing the original 301s, including replacement of certain parts that they now are re-manufacturing.  The ultimate plan is to increase the number of parts being manufactured to the point where wholly new tables can be built from scratch.  The new Thorens 124 looks a lot like the original, but, it is a direct drive table, not an idler drive table.

I am familiar with the original Garrard 301 and 401 and the Thorens 124.  When these are properly refurbished and maintained, they can sound very good--punchy, dynamic and lively.  I have no idea if this is the result of the kind of drive mechanism employed or any other characteristic of the table and the particular arm being used, but, I've heard similarly lively sound from some belt-driven and direct drive tables that happen to use high-torque motors, so I do wonder if that contributes to this sound.

I own a belt-drive table with a spring suspension (Basis Debut with vacuum clamp and motor controller) that has a quite different sound--the table sounds less vivid, but the presentation is more "poised" and there is far less noise from the record grooves (the platter damps vibration imparted in the record by the act of playing the record).  I like my table, but, if another listener thought it sounded "dead," compared to the likes of the 301 and 124,  I can understand that judgment.  Given the right system and preferences, the 301 and 124 can be world class tables and I certainly would not rule them out just because they are old and can be prone to some noise issues.

I own a Woodsong 301 with an Ortophon R309D arm.
In the process of setting up my new Triplanar SE arm and selling the Ortophon. The Ortophon is a nice period right match for the 301 but can’t compete with the performance of the Triplanar.
I had been searching for a good used 301 for years. Feel fortunate to have found a great one. The 301/401 are legendary and deservedly so. They originally were designed for professional use and are truly built to last... and they have. When fully restored, they are hard to beat. Their physicality is unique. And with the idler drive they produce the thrust of music unlike any belt drive. My Woodsong certainly has many features well beyond the original. It also happens to be beautiful!

At the 2018 High End show in Munich, UK-based SME announced that they had taken steps to reintroduce the classic Garrard 301 @larryi

Here is an article about "new" Garrard ***

Now for a bit of disappointing news: The new Garrard 301, with SME M2-12R tonearm and custom plinth, carries a retail price of $23,500, freight additional.

By comparison, secondhand original-issue 301s are routinely available for between $2000 and $3000, with full rebuild services ranging between $500 and $1500.