Best turntable/cartridge combo for $700-$750

Piedpiper,

It looks like you were pretty conscientious in trying to put together a fair comparison, especially in the platforming. Is it just me, or is the Rega Exact a kick-ass cartridge?

One thing that may skew my opinion is that I read enough (even from KAB) about the not-so-great tonearm wire in the base SL1200 that I bought an SL1210 M5G for the higher grade of tonearm wire. So perhaps I have not been exposed to the "dark sound" or "opacity" I've read in reviews about the SL1200's sound. Mine is satisfactorily airy and extended in the treble without being bright or hyper-detailed. Maybe the wiring in the basic SL1200 is that bad.

I do think that the Technics' mat needs are far different from the Rega's. Any mat needs to isolate noise from the turntable and room noise from coming up into the cartridge, but a mat for the Technics needs to keep that machined aluminum platter from ringing, which is no small feat.

If the stock Technics sounded smoother in the highs than the Rega, you should hear it with upgraded wire and the fluid damper (filled about 1/3). Adding the fluid damper imparted a surprising level of control, refinement, and delicate detail in the treble (e.g., violin, cymbals, and bells) and in hearing the ambience of the recording venue.

There's no question in my mind that, although I haven't heard them, the KAB mods must be a great improvement on the stock model. Re: the mat I simply listened to the two and chose the Rega felt one for both which was handy for keeping the comparison to the tables themselves even though the Rega felt mat would be unlikely to be used with the Technics. There are better/different mats for both tables but I didn't want to muddy the water any more than necessary.

Attempting direct comparisons are ultimately confused at best because optimizing the very important cartridge/arm relationship gets thrown out by using the same cart for both. I used the Exact because it was the best appropriately priced cartridge I had on hand that was broken in. I later put an older Sumiko Bluepoint Special on the Rega to great effect which surprised me that I liked it better in some ways than the Exact. I haven't tried it on the Technics yet.

05-15-08: Piedpiper
Attempting direct comparisons are ultimately confused at best because optimizing the very important cartridge/arm relationship gets thrown out by using the same cart for both. I used the Exact because it was the best appropriately priced cartridge I had on hand that was broken in. I later put an older Sumiko Bluepoint Special on the Rega to great effect which surprised me that I liked it better in some ways than the Exact. I haven't tried it on the Technics yet.

I use a Denon DL-160 mounted on a Sumiko headshell on my Technics. The Rega and Technics tonearms are pretty similar in effective mass, though that can vary on the Technics depending on the headshell.

I get the feeling that the Technics would like HOMCs, because it sure likes the DL-160 (esp. w/fluid damper), and A-Goner Ferrari's review of the Blue Point #2 on his Goldring GR1.2 indicates that the DL-110, 160, and Sumiko Blue Point all have a similar (good) presentation, while the Sumiko sounds a little more refined and detailed.

There are also some Technics/DL-103 enthusiasts out there, though I suspect they use a heavier headshell and the extra counterweight to match the effective mass to the DL-103's low compliance.

How about this?
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgtabl&1214939629
It's about as close to set and forget as you could hope. No tweaking or modding needed, and the price is right. The technics would be nice too.

I recently faced a similar decision and decided to go with pre-owned (1-week old) Rega P3-24 and a pre-owned Audio Technica AT440MLa cartridge. The total cost, delivered to my home, was $720. I'm absolutely thrilled with the sound! There's really little comparison between my old rig (Technics SL-3200) and thew new set-up. The most obvious improvement is in bass response and resolution.
Mika