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Best Turntable at $1,500? Please Advise.

Dear Analog Veterans, I'm taking the plunge, and getting a turntable, following numerous disappointements with DACs (Bel Canto & MSB included) and the digital domain in general. I am new to the turntable arena, and would value advice from any analog savvy Audiogoners out there. I'm thinking of spending somewhere in the region of $1,500 (for table, arm, cartridge and phono stage) but would also value structuring my purchase so that there are good upgrade paths available in the near term (I could be willing to spend another $1,000 about four months from now). I would be most interested in getting something used on Audiogon, so if you know of any good deals in this pricepoint, please feel free to share. I could also consider upgrading my preamp to one with a phono stage (sensible I think). I hope my budget is enough to get me started (let me know if I really need to spend more though). Sound quality is, of course, of paramount importance, but if the table is visually appealing that would be great (more girlfriend friendly :-) Thanks in advance for your advice. My system is as follows: Bryston BP20 Preamp, Bryston 3B-ST Power Amp, B&W Nautilus 805 speakers, Stealth TR silver and PC Premier copper speaker cables (true birewire), Cardas Golden Cross, Kimber KCAG and Homegrown Audio Silver Lace Interconnects.
128x128outlier
john_l
782 posts
 
I would buy a new rega 25 with 300 tonearm and elyse cartridge new for $1275 for the turntable. The rosewood is very nice looking. I have the 25 w/600 and super elyse and I think it's great. I have read that for low cost phono stages, some good ones are: the rotel ($200 new-don't know the part), McCormack phono stage ($600 new), or the lehman black cube (600-700ish new). I see the mccormacks go used for $300 here and there. The lehman is a small box that does not need it's own audio shelf. Check and see if your bryston preamp can have a phono stage added to it.
sedond
1,387 posts
 
there was an oracle delphi mkll on rec.audio.marketplace for $850 yesterday - pick-up in nyc only. this is a nice deal on a nice turntable. i think it already came w/arm/cartridge. i'd check out an aragon outboard phono-stage, or the cary-aes tube fono-stage. re: cartridges, look for barely-used/demo/etc, moving-coil cartridges by ortofon, sumoko, benz, audio-technica.

another turntable choice - audio-max in california has a vacuum-platter-hold-down sota turntable, complete w/new sumiko ft-4 tonearm; they're asking $1295. this is also an excellent deal on an excellent 'table. they've had this for a *long* time, so they should be willing to deal. dunno if it includes a cartridge or not at the asking price...

doug

frogman
7,456 posts
 
Outlier, welcome to analog land. You won't be sorry. Here's what I would do: Sell the Bryston pre. buy a used tubed pre. with good phono stage Quicksilver($700-850?and a little tweaky),Audible Illusions Mod.3($800-900? less tweaky easy with tubes, AR SP9II, Melos 222C(that's what I use and could probably be had for about $850,much to my chagrin, and sonically in a different league from the others IMO).You'll have the magic of tubes and won't need to spend $ on another interconnect. In my opinion, the phono stages of any of these is far better than any of the $200-750 seperate stages; unless you can get a great deal on a EAR. Used Rega Planar 3 very reliable and good sounding($375?). I have seen great deals for used VPI HW19's with Sumiko,Rega,ETII!!!!!!!(tweaky) in the 1000.00 range. I would not, being new to vinyl, buy a used cartridge. You would have to spend a lot more to better the performance of the Grado Platinum($300)And if you want to spend more buy a used record cleaner. Happy listening.
outlier's avatar
outlier OP
381 posts
 
Guys, thanks for the great advice. As per Frogman's advice, I think selling my preamp and getting a pramp with a phono section would be a smart first move (also wanted to get into tubes :-) and then I'll get the turntable. Again, seeing that this is my first venture into turntable stuff, do you recommend MC or MM, and how should I allocate my money across table, tonearm and cartridge (55%, 30%, 15%???). Sorry for the basic questions. Thanks!!
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