Automatic Turntables


Is there ANY 'table on the market with at least auto Return,.. let alone Fully Auto function which sounds "good"? I don't mean GOOD,.. but????

I was "Fully' part of the "High End" gang; was part owner of a, now defunct, company,. used all of the great stuff in the 80s and 90s. Since then, well, my system 'ain't "bad": Cambridge 550A; unmodified ony DVP-9000es and Monitor Audio RS-6s.

My Current table, purchased here, as a "Refurbished" Thorens 166 mk II, which ( you Know who He is!) and sold to me a with a Garbage cartridge: Autofon "Omega"! ( He kept That fact to himself!)

So, any advice will be greatly appreciated..
operanutlgb2
My Mitsubishi LT 30 has all those things and sounds great. Mine has had some upgrades (Litz wire tone arm cable, WBT RCAs connectors, new caps in the motor for more torque & better speed stability, extra damping). It couldn't be easier to set up carts.
Music Direct has a Denon DP-300F here is the description clipped from their website
The Denon DP-300F is a belt driven table with great speed accuracy, a sophisticated tonearm, a DC motor and a balanced aluminum platter. The DP-300F couldn’t be easier to use. Start and stop at the touch of a button. The arm lifts up after playing a record. Switch between 33 and 45 without having to move the belt. Dustcover is included. The DP-300F even has a pre-mounted moving magnet cartridge and a built-in MM phono preamplifier. Just connect the DP-300F to any input on any audio system and you’re ready to spin wax!

and a link
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-4968-denon-dp-300f-fully-automatic-turntable.aspx
I don't think it gets much easier to use.It looks pretty nice although I have not herd it
From the same era, using the same technology, and according to some, designed by the same design team...

The JVC QL-Y series (5/7/55/66/77) - all have the electro mechanical servo damped arm, the later top models have magnetic bearing direct drive motors, and interchangeable arm tubes - so they can be low mass straight arms or mid-mass S-arms depending on the tube fitted.

I would not stress too much about the Ortofon Omega - the cartridge body itself is completely standard OM series, so by replacing the stylus you can upgraded it to an OM20/30/40.

Also the Omega is a surprisingly good cartridge, even if it doesn't get much respect from audiophiles... very much an undervalued cartridge. (it is effectively a rebadged OM5 I believe - and sold for less than the price of an OM5 stylus)

I particularly like the Denon, JVC, and Sony Biotracer electro mechanical arms, as the automatic function is achieved without gears/levers and doodads that can gum up or interfere with playback performance.
Also the servo damping really does work and makes them very very versatile, able to match up with a wide variety of cartridges, that might have resonance problems due to compliance/mass mismatches with a non damped arm.

Very highly recommended tables

Other interesting automatics:
Pioneer PL-L1000/1100, Yamaha PX1/2/3, Revox (this one is sort of automatic/semi-automatic), Mitsubishi LT20/30

The below models have auto lift at end of record and auto shut off. Auto return is NOT necessary as it adds a motor underneath the tonearm, just more things to break and resonate. All have really decent arms.

JVC QL-A7, same as QL-7 but with auto lift & shut off, detachable headshell.

Yamaha YP-D71, JVC coreless motor, detachable headshell.

Kenwood KD-770D, coreless motor, excellent tonearm with detachable headshell with offset angle on straight armwand.

Technics SL-M2, two versions: P-mount or detachable headshell(hard to find).

I also agree with Dlaloum from above.

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