Turntables New vs Used


Thought I would post this as possible food for thought. Have been in this hobby since 1957 and have owned a great many tables both new and used. My first audiophile table was a Dual 1019 and it has evolved from there.

I deal a lot in turntables both new and used, sort of a hobby business. With that in mind in recent years there has been several new tables to hit the market such as those from Music Hall,Project, and so on. Not all but most of the tables in the sub $1,000.00 range are just horrid to say the least. For what one pays in this category,one can find true stellar turntables in the used market.

Used tables from Sota,VPI and Rega will clearly outperform anything from Music Hall, Project and others.

This is not meant to disparage Music Hall or Project or others of the same category. But when one truly looks into what is available in the used market,it becomes readily apparent that the higher end used tables will sonically be superior to the new offerings.

I know for the last few months have had several of the Music Hall and Project tables as well as others come and go through the door.

To be candid there is no black art or voodoo science in turntable design. Physics and Geometry are basic law and are absolute with debate not being possible.

But many of these new tables have seem to have forgotton these basic laws and some of the new tables are pure dreck and I am being kind there.

Turntables from VPI,Sota,Rega,Nottingham,Bluenote,Clearaudio,JA Michell,and Simon Yorke offer tables that firmly place them among the best in the world,with sound engineering principles.

Plus the upgrade path is clearly there for future sonic improvements as materials and science come about.

In addition the price one will pay for one of the used tables make these some of the best bargains for today and tomorrow. However with all things used do make sure of whom you get it from and that you are getting what you pay for.

Don't overlook many of the excellent direct drive used tables from Denon,Kenwood,Yamaha,Technics and others. But do concentrate on thier upper end models forgoing the lower model line up.

All in all the current used market represents far greater value than most of the mass produced new tables.

For instance a Rega P3 is in my opinion is vastly superior to a Music Hall MMF 7 and at less cost, new price to new price. I know I have had both here in recent months. Used the Rega P 3 is a hands down winner in this category.

Both VPI and Sota are easily accessed via phone or e Mail and are most helpful in their product line.

The choice is yours and it is your money.
ferrari
I tend to go along with Raul with his comments; ie, at this performance level they are all damned good and synergy comes into play much more.
Terry, sorry I can't make comparisons, but the Avid Volvere is a lovely turntable. Beautifully engineered and easy to set up. I have heard it a number of times and have been very impressed by detail and soundstage, depth in particular. Arguably the Diva is better value, but the Volvere has the advantage of upgradeability to the Volvere Sequel, arguably what you should aim for as a "last turntable". Unfortunately it's expensive in the UK, but very expensive in the US. With the current $ price, I am not sure it is the best value for our colonial cousins.
I have compared the simon yorke s7 and s8 with the brinkmann lagrange - the lagrange wins easily.
I'm searching for info on my Yamaha P-550 Direct Drive Turntable. Any owners/users out there? This is a pretty old TT, but seems solid and still operates. Does this unit compare with any of the current production "budget" units?
I'm trying to decide if I should continue working with this table, perhaps tweak it, or just upgrade altogether.