Most hyped turntable, tonearm, and cartridge?

I love the metaphor, Dover. And your point is well taken; it's been noted by others as well, and all you have to do is look at the SP02 to know it is far more massive than any turntable motor needs to be. However, the Mk3 does have a 21-lb platter, a bit heavier than the skin off a rice pudding, at least my wife's rice pudding.

Where did I say the motor was other than SP-02 ?

I posted many pictures of this motor in my posts earlier this year (thanks to jpjones for the images in his blog).

It is Direct Drive and your records made with Direct Drive, period.

SP-10 mkIII and SP-10R are best DD from Technics available today.

Technics platters are all super heavy!

Denon DP-80 and Victor TT-101 platters are lighweight.

Those are greatest direct drive turntables available today for very reasonable price in my opinion.

If you like something else - no problem.


I like Garraard 301 Hammertone, but only because it looks cool, never tried. Using Denon, Technics, Luxman, Victor direct drive and I can’t detect any single problem with these different type of direct drives.

Apologies for my ignorance on Technics DD turntables. I only knew that some of their high end models were good for DJ in dance club. Now I see that some of their high end models are as good as turntables can be. 

lewm,
Thanks for your suggestion of  Denon DP80. However, if I ever buy a turntable again, I would go for a new one that requires minimal setting.
In that sense, I like my Clearaudio Bluemotion. The setup is so easy. The only downside is that I cannot install an SPU. I need at least two turntables, one for stereo and one for mono. Preferably three for two stereos. I have so many albums that do not deserve expensive cartridges.

I see two different schools of thoughts from turntables users: one who highly values vintage Thorens, Garrard, and EMT, and another who highly values DD turntables from Technics, Denon, and other Japanese companies. However, I have not heard yet from anybody who have had both about their cons and pros. Maybe those issues were discussed multiple times before, and I would not ask them again here.

I have one different question though, if I may. Which is a better table between entry level Clearaudio turntable (like Concept) or similarly priced Rega 6 and Technics SL-1200GR? I prefer the simplicity of Clearaudio and Rega, but if Technics is at least as good, and if it can be used with SPU cartridges (with additional counter weight), then I would go for Technics as my future turntable.  (Well, I've read that it is absurd to use SPU cartridges with SL-1200GR tonearm, but I've seen some people were happy with it.)

Again, thanks for all your posts.

Technics SL-1200GR is about as simple as turntables go.

Best built and loaded with technology it's tremendous value for money too. 

All 3 are great turntables but this is the one I'd choose without any hesitation.

Dear Ihcho, So, from the "most hyped" question, this thread eventually turned into a bunch of recommendations for purchase, and I fell into the trap myself. I’ve got to correct you on one statement; the "high end" Technics turntables (SP10 Mk2 and MK3) were in fact used in a lot of radio stations because of the near instant start-up, but never by DJs (in nightclubs). The favorite DJ table was and is the SL1200 and all its variants.


Have you decided which turntable is most hyped? It’s always the one that the other guy likes, never your own.