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Turntables from 1-10: Personality 8.5 Beauty 12

This thread could be interesting for any components, but I write as I am thinking of adding a turntable to my system.

In the end, I might not use it very often, but I love the beauty of turntables, if only as a conversation piece for my missionary work with non audiophiles.

Obviously, I want it to sound very good too but I might get more pleasure per dollar per hour of usage with an unusually gorgeous turntable. I need to keep the budget to < $10,000 retail.

Could anyone recommend a particular VPI model? The HRX is obviously gorgeous, but I imagine the less expensive ones look great too and much of the same performance as their top of the line?

How about the Michell Gyrodec SE? Is it as gorgeous as it looks in pictures? Oracle?

Obviously the dowdy LP12 is out, as are the mdf Regas and others.....

Thanks for any ideas.
cwlondon
ddarch44's avatar
ddarch44
40 posts
 
Save $9600 and buy a beautifully restored mint AR XA. You cannot beat their Zen-like simplicty, and I still can't believe how good that can sound given that clunky-looking arm.

No, they will never compete with these other tables for sonics, but I think you will be surprised how good they truly sound when restored and running properly. The venerable XA has started many down the audiophile path....

Dave
patrickamory
193 posts
 
I'm pretty blown away by Peter Clark's blue Redpoint that he showed at CES this year.
docsavage
109 posts
 
I have to agree with Dan And Raul on this one. Thom's Galibier tables are great to look at but more important they also have amazing sound.
clio09
3,360 posts
 
Many excellent suggestions. In any case I will throw out the SOTA Nova or Cosmos TTs as new production options not yet mentioned. However, some vintage tables that I have seen of late sure look great. The Merrill Heirloom is really nice from a simplistic perspective, and some of the higher end Micro Seiki tables (wood plinth and RX series) are real lookers.
ducatirider
111 posts
 
For sheer beauty it has to be the La Luce line from Judy Spotheim. Apparently they sound great too. I also think the Acoustic Solid in polished aluminum finish is quite visually appealing. Definitely not retro looking but neither is the HRX.
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