Trying to get in to vinyl, turntable suggestions?

04-20-09: Tvad
Any debate about Technics versus Rega is a complete waste of bandwidth.

Yeah, but I had fun.

Burnsy1, to answer your question, Rega makes several different tables in their line, so yes, there is plenty of room to upgrade in that line. I personally have the one in the middle of the line, the P5. That is their table in the $1500 range, and with their TT-PSU it is indeed one of the very best options in that price range, as Zenblaster says.

As far as comparisons to the Technics, the Technics are indeed built like a tank. They also can sound like one... :) Seriously, I must agree to disagree with Johnny - most of the audiophiles I know personally are also professional musicians (classical and jazz), and all of us who have heard the two tables (I have owned both) have greatly preferred the Regas for their soundstaging and better instrumental and vocal timbre resolution. You hear more of what the original recording space sounded like, and greater variety of color in the tones of the players. The Technics, in my experience, tends to be preferred by people who listen mainly to rock or other types of mostly electronic music - those tables tend to homogenize different recordings rather than bringing out differences, another reason they are preferred by DJs as well. I am not saying there is anything necessarily wrong with this, by the way, different strokes for different folks - many audiophiles prefer to make all of their recordings sound as much the same as they can in their systems. I am not saying the Technics are bad tables by any means - it all depends on what your priorities are, and those tables do what they are designed to do very well. There is plenty of room in this hobby for people of all tastes and preferences. While I will crack a joke here and there, I do try to honestly describe what I hear when posting on this site, whatever the subject may be. Since I am not a very good writer, sometimes my comments are taken much differently than they were meant, and I certainly take my share of the blame for that. As I have said before, I sure am glad a became a musician instead of a writer!

04-21-09: Learsfool
Since I am not a very good writer, sometimes my comments are taken much differently than they were meant, and I certainly take my share of the blame for that. As I have said before, I sure am glad a became a musician instead of a writer!

How right you are! If you hadn't written this clarification, I wouldn't have realized that your bigotry against direct drive turntables also extends to the people who listen to them.

Thanks again for all the input so far. I have a couple questions maybe you can help me out with.

If the technics has a more homogenized, or quiet sound as some have described, but can also be upgraded in many ways...do the upgrades not impact this type of sound? If so any thoughts on what it is with the technics that is responsible for the perceived sound difference?

Also, any thoughts on the VPI 19 MK2 that Mred mentions?