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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 
128x128rooze
cakyol's avatar
cakyol
940 posts
 
Take a look at these:

https://www.thorens.com/de/thorens%C2%AE-td-350.html

or

https://www.thorens.com/de/thorens%C2%AE-td-550.html

Their sound may be a few percentage points inferior compared to most of the top of the line modern turntables, but I think their looks are excellent.

Sometimes watching a turntable spin may be more rewarding than actually listening to it :-)

This is also nice.  With it, you do not have to worry about any issues which plague almost all belt drive turntables:
https://www.technics.com/us/products/grand-class/sl1200g-series/sl-1200g.html


solypsa's avatar
solypsa
462 posts
 
Benz LP-S @a16g is heavy but not at the top end..lighter than, for example, an SPU....depending on model and.headshell. I have experience with 4pt but but not Stogi. Curious to hear about your impressions.
unreceivedogma's avatar
unreceivedogma
1,000 posts
 
Fatdaddy: I owned a Garard when I was a high school teenager. It’s in the trash heap.

I graduated to a Dual 1229 in college.

In 1985 I bought a VPI HW MK II. I upgraded it to a MK IV in 2015 (I was going to trade the MK II in for a VPI Classic, but Harry Weisfeld talked me out of it: he said to simply upgrade and save myself $4,000). The thing is built like a brick…outhouse, as the saying goes. After 35 years, still running strong. I expect to have it another 35 years (assuming I make it there myself: I would be 102 then).
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