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
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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I recently obtained a Scott automatic TT on fleabay for really cheap (under $100.00). I got it because I have some Scott tube equipment and I thought it would be nice to round out the collection with another Scott product. I did not expect it to sound good. In fact, I was just going to put it on a shelf. One day I had nothing to do and for fun I put a Grado black cartridge on it and fired it up. I was very suprised by the sound. Very detailed, very clear and very easy to listen to. It compares quite well to my NAD533 which is a Rega P2 clone and sold for amost four times what I paid for the Scott. You may want to look into one.