A line almost from the infamous Captain Sensible,Women and Captains first.Modern technology from a turntable specialist.If you buy quality it can hold its resale.https://www.rega.co.uk/products/planar-10.Whatever you buy its still the vinyl that sits on it thats most important.
Sell Me Your Women, Your Children, Your Vintage Turntable...
Ok I’m trying to understand the appeal of buying something like an old Garrard 301 or an elderly Technics all trussed up in a shiny new plinth, versus something manufactured in the 21st century by people not wearing clogs.
Surely modern gear has to perform better, dollar for dollar? It isn’t like these restored Garrards are exactly cheap, i was looking at one for almost $11k yesterday on Reverb. The internals looked like something out of a Meccano set.
I ought to be more in tune with the past, I’m almost 60 and wear bell bottoms, but the style of the older TTs just doesn’t do it for me. Now then, my Dr. Feickert Volare had a look that was hardly futuristic, but that’s about as retro as I’d prefer to go.
All that said... I will buy one of these old buggers if it genuinely elevates performance.
With $10k available for table and arm, on the new or used market, how would you splash the cash?
Rooze
Surely modern gear has to perform better, dollar for dollar? It isn’t like these restored Garrards are exactly cheap, i was looking at one for almost $11k yesterday on Reverb. The internals looked like something out of a Meccano set.
I ought to be more in tune with the past, I’m almost 60 and wear bell bottoms, but the style of the older TTs just doesn’t do it for me. Now then, my Dr. Feickert Volare had a look that was hardly futuristic, but that’s about as retro as I’d prefer to go.
All that said... I will buy one of these old buggers if it genuinely elevates performance.
With $10k available for table and arm, on the new or used market, how would you splash the cash?
Rooze
- ...
- 95 posts total
Different strokes for different folks. If you don’t see the appeal in vintage turntables go for one of the modern designs, there are many good options to choose from. From your list, I’d probably go with the SME. @rooze I have a modern turntable and vintage as well, they are very different in everyday use, the way Garrard switches clang, there’s nothing modern like it. Idlers do sound a little different from belt drive and to some a more engaging sound…only you can make that decision for yourself. Rumble is not an issue and such an easy fix, I don’t get why it’s mentioned so often. |
@scar972 Different strokes for different folks.Thanks for the suggestion on the SME. I guess there are various considerations when selecting a table/arm, certainly budget is the prevailing factor, then, when you get down to individual assessments, there's performance, aesthetics, reliability, ease of use/setup, availability of parts, etc. Just focusing on performance and aesthetics (which in my case are the two most important aspects, in that order), I WOULD SACRIFICE AESTHETIC FOR A DOLLAR TO DOLLAR IMPROVEMENT IN PERFORMANCE. People seem reluctant to say that a well-restored vintage deck will generally sound better than a similarly priced modern unit. SOME OF YOU HAVE, but mostly the issue is skirted around. Some of you are alluding to "I built it with my own hands", "It looks wonderful" etc, but not so much "It just sounds obviously better". So, I'm taking from this that there isn't really a consensus on SQ, and that it's generally down to personal preference, dictated by whatever heads up your list of personal priorities. OK, no real surprise. So, no one has 'sold me their vintage turntable', per the original challenge. Maybe we can do better with your womenfolk and children... :) Rooze |
Improvements is the illness of audiophiles, there are vintage turntables like Luxman PD-444 with ZERO requirements for improvement! There is NOTHING like than made today for reasonable price, nothing. Read about it. The market value today is probably at least $3-4k. I’m a lucky user of a pair in my system. When you say "dollar for dollar" it’s NOT about modern turntables, they are all overpriced (even the lowest quality turntables are overpriced compared to much better vintage classics). Garrard cult is very BAD example of vintage turntables in terms of price, they are definitely overpriced when refurbished by professionals. |
- 95 posts total