Turntable upgrade recommendations: SME vs AMG vs Technics vs other

Hi @mijostyn ,

Lenco Turntable is a genius piece of Swiss engineering. If you add heavy plinth and upgraded tonearm it over performs any mid priced belt drive turntable.
One of my friends who had used dozens of great turntables used Lenco L70 in the same time with Micro Seiki 1500 and liked it no less than Micro Seiki. In my system Lenco L78 exchanged a decent turntable Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck. Another friend prefered Lenco L75 by miles over his Pro Ject 6.9.

The issue with Lenco and most other vintage is that it is not plug and play. Sadly, a lot of people who use vintage don't have engineering scils and audio experience to get truly good results.

Regards,

Alex

@mijostyn 

After reviewing my earlier posts, I think that you were quite right to criticize them. Sorry for the aggressive tone in my response.

@drbond 

I readily admit - I enjoy the listening versus the upgrading of the system and the pieces and that isn't conducive to finding the best option available :)

Enjoy the journey - I attended a virtual meeting with VPI this fall and can definitely appreciate the idea of exploring different approaches to sonic bliss.

Dear @terry9  : I owned MS non-air bearing and with air bearing too, both really in average league. Not a very good TT designs by today, perhaps for the old times.

Techdas came from there but even that could be that problems with were fixed what's not fixed ( I think ) could be the designer mind who instead to design a totally new TT he gone and goes with the past.

His last TT goes for around 400K and almost needs a dedicated room only for the TT.

Anywa, it's his privilege.

R.

@terry9 , No problem. The point of it all is that it gets us thinking. Graham Engineering is right down the road. TechDas tables are very quiet even from a foot away but, opposing magnets are much quieter, no compressor.

@alexberger , Yes, maybe 60 years ago. 

Platters resonating is hardly ever a problem in this day and age. Even if a platter did ring just throw the right mat on it and it will stop entirely. There are other issues significantly more important. Bearing noise, isolation from external vibration and speed stability are all more important. Platters have become much larger than they need to be because they have become a male phallic symbol. They have become a design element more than one of explicit performance gains. 

@rsf507 , I listened to the Strain Gauge on a smallish monitor system of very high quality but there was no bass certainly below 40 Hz probably more like 60 Hz. I have no reason to believe it would make anything but excellent bass below 60 Hz. It had absolutely no problem picking up people walking. What you could not hear you could see with it's display lights. The system has a very different presentation than my own system so I have to temper my comments. The sound of that system was very forward, instruments and voices tend to be in the plane of the speakers. My system throws everything behind the speakers. I am at a loss to say what the strain gauge does with the 3rd dimension. I listened to the Hyperion for a short period. It is relaxed and smooth. The Strain Gauge is an attack cartridge. Transients are sharp and delineated. Strings are pluckier, snare strikes sharper. People have said it is sort of like switching to electrostatic speakers and I can hear where this comes from. It Is very clear and detailed. I did not hear it miss track at all. From my perspective it should work well with my system and represents quite a value if you add in the phono stage and I would get the 610 signature unit. As always I won't be entirely sure until I get one, such is the risk in this hobby. There are systems that will not do well with the Strain Gauge. Those that have a system that is already bright and leans toward the harsh side should proceed with caution.  Those that feel they are lacking detail and dynamics will certainly benefit.