Recommended first turntable?

Well, here's the easy answer to your question. How about a new-with-warranty over-achiever on sale at Audio Advisor for $255 including mounted and aligned cartridge? You can get the Goldring GR-1.2 at http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl?ranlg&1167148054&read&3&4& for $249.97. List price is $425, which is what they sell for at Acoustic Sounds.

I recommended one of these to a friend over his vintage belt-drive Dual and he appreciated it so much he bought me the Monk/Coltrane-at-Carnegie Hall LP to say thanks.

I have the Goldring and paid $425 (gulp) through Needle Doctor. I didn't know about sites such at this one; sure wish I did.

06-15-07: Sbrgr12
I have the Goldring and paid $425 (gulp) through Needle Doctor. I didn't know about sites such at this one; sure wish I did.

It's a matter of timing. Audio Advisor doesn't carry these all the time. The last time, they carried 'em for $299 and had a demo closeout for $217 a year ago. That's the one I passed on to my friend.

This current batch is very limited and I think they may be B-stock.

But it's always worth checking out Audio Advisor when you're in the market for something. They don't always have a deal, but they might.

In my HT big rig, I got a B-stock Adcom GFA-7700 (5x175 watts) from them for about $743, a $1K Mirage sub for $543, and a $600 pair of Mirage surround spkrs for $277. In my living room 2-channel system I got a $500 Mirage sub for $250. All from Audio Advisor.

buying cheap isn't everything.

spoken as a true dealer.

i got a rega planar 3 at at garage sale a few years ago for $15. I got a sony 350lx this year at garage sale for $10