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Best turntable under $4000

I am looking to take the next step in my analog journey. I currently am using a Fluance RT85 with ortofon 2m blue. I have a Rogue Audio cronus magnum iii. I am running them with Kef 104/2 's. Fluance seems to get alot of hate on here. I was considering a cartridge upgrade but I am hesitant to upgrade more then the cost of the table. I don't hear much background noise and like the sound. I guess I am wondering if I don't know I hear noise because I have not heard a turntable that eliminates that noise? When I went from my Onkyo to my Rogue Sphinx iii I realized I had been missing a whole lot of sound. Then I ditched my rebuilt EPI M150's and heard hidden instruments in tracks I have listened to for years. I am looking for that in a turntable upgrade.  Apperance is important. I have interest in the following:

Clear Audio Concept Wood w/ maestro v2

Mofi fender precisiondeck w/ mastertracker

Stretching my budget is:

Dr. Feikert Volare no cartridge

Gold Note Pianosa no cartridge

These take me out of my budget once I get a cartridge

Any other reccomendations 

I will miss the autostart function for those buzzed listening nights. I would like the 4k to include a cartridge. Any opinions are welcome. Anyone think I should say screw the "rules" and get an Ortofon black?

 

Thank you in advance

cpdkee
sokogear
1,097 posts
 

+1 Rega P8. Fantastic arm designed for the table. Just be sure to put on a wall shelf or some kind of suspension system (or both like I did) because it weighs only 10 pounds!. With a really good cartridge will put you over $4K by a little and by even more if you need a phono stage. 

The wiring goes straight from the cartridge all the way through to the phono stage - no headshells or tonearm cable interfaces to add distortions. Remember, every connector adds noise and distortion.

I wouldn't buy a used turntable of any type unless it was from a local dealer who would be willing to support it.

Regas depreciate very little for a reason. High demand and great value. Not big on their cartridges though.

Plus I think they look cool, but I wouldn't use that as a top criteria.

elliottbnewcombjr
5,480 posts
 

OP

did you decide and buy something?

scabarth's avatar
scabarth
5 posts
 

I have an older Well Tempered Classic with the arm from the same manufacturer it has been a joy to own since I got it. I am sure you can find one on the used market for a reasonable price. My cartridge is over your entire budget so I can not be recommending the Koetsu Rosewood Signature but it does a fantastic job.

cpdkee OP
31 posts
 

Thank you everyone for the responses.  All the feed back helped me narrow my search. Looks like I am going blow my budget on just the table and arm then buy the cartridge seperately. Thank you all

subterranean6's avatar
subterranean6
37 posts
 

Before you spend $4k on a new deck, I’d play around with ~$500 carts and phono stages to hear what you like. Take some time (months) so get a feel for what you like, then that’ll inform what you’re after when moving up with a turntable. 
 

get a Schiit mani for $149

carts to try:

Grado platinum low output 

Hana 

Denon DL 103 

that red dynavector

something from Nagaoka 

 

I love my Well Tempered Labs Amadeus but would probably get a technics 1200 variant next.

 

 

 

 

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