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Good Semi-automatic Turntables ?

Pardon my ignorance, but are there any good quality semiautomatic turntables available new these days?
I am in the market for a new turntable in the <$1200 range, but would rather have the motor shut off, (and ideally have the arm lift) after the record is finished. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Rick.
razaroff
sdecker's avatar
sdecker
143 posts
 
I'll just use this thread to rant about the lack of semi-auto TTs anywhere in high-end audio. While even luddite audiophiles expect a remote for their CD transport or even a volume/mute remote for their preamp, why is nobody else complaining that their expensive non-replaceable MC stylus is digging a trench through the endless groove once a record completes and maybe nobody is around at the time??

For a fraction of the price of that add-on electronic motor controller, silver tonearm wiring or vibration-damping shelf, the simplest of electro-mechanical components nicely integrated into the TT and tonearm will lift the arm and stop the motor once the record ends and interrupts a photodiode. How hard is that? Make it a modular unit that can be removed if it offends the sensibilities of some. VPI et al, are you listening??

This is the main reason I'm still using an '80s Thorens semi-auto when the rest of my rig is two decades newer...
bignerd100
515 posts
 
Amen Sdecker.
Ludites unite to demand useful technology.
Read review of newest Thorens in Absolute Sound.
Not that this is a reputable publication anymore but they did say nice things.
sit
315 posts
 
You might look for a vintage Micro Seiki DD Series produced in the late 70's to early 80's. I have seen them for a really good price on both Audiogon and EBay (at the $250-$350 range how can one go wrong?). They offer a solid table package, incorporating the quality that Micro-Seiki was known for, albiet at the entry level of the brand. The automatic lift and shut off system is not mechanical. Instead, it's totally electronic, incorporating what they call a Hall Effect Sensor. At the end of an lp or if the power is shut off the viscous damped lifter raises the tonearm. There is a high quality tracking force application spring and tungsten wiring that seems to provide never-ending performance without deterioration problems typical of conventional dynamic arms, and, one can dial in tracking accurate forces ranging from 0.25 to 3 grams. It has many other quality features as well. I have owned one since 1979 and it not only is a beautiful table but it still functions wonderfully and ACCURATELY. I have a Grado Gold cart. installed in the arm. I have played many lp's on the M-S (I own over 2000) and have never had one problem. Seriously. The M-S is now hooked up to my whole house system (which my wife and I use a lot) but I have run it on my primary system (which is deliberately solid state)and it performed quite admirably. One key negative is the cheesy feet M-S put on the unit which can be easily remedied to satisfaction for just a few bucks. (In don't employ an automatic table with my primary system.)
gp49
52 posts
 
Garrard, in their advertising of the Lab 80 Automatic Transcription Turntable in the mid-60s, said that automatic lift-off and shut-off adds an entirely new dimension of pleasure to record playing. My version is not available new; I happened across it serendipitously in reviving my Garrard 301 in a heavy laminated birch-ply/MDF plinth, when I decided to try a Rabco SL-8E linear tracking arm with a Decca cartridge. It doesn't shut off at the end of a side, but does pick up the arm, so the Decca doesn't keep playing the leadout groove after the music ends. As for the Garrard continuing to run, I don't think it's possible to wear out a 301 in a normal lifetime of record playing!
mannye
10 posts
 
Just buy a tonearm lifter for $100 and buy whatever table you want.
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