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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
drrasta
224 posts
 
For tube preamp with phono consider the Anthem Pre1--about $650 used on Audiogon. With some NOS tubes very nice sound for the $$. Also consider a Pre1L ($450 used) Or Pre2L ($700 new) + Black Cube phono section.
bibto
1 posts
 
I have a mint Oracle Delphi Mark II with Audioquest PT-8 Arm and two different cartridges, both MM, one Grado, and one Dynavector. Huge list of options and tweaks included, $1000.
sedond
1,387 posts
 
by bibto's table, ewe won't regret it! i got a similar deal on a mint oracle, then had it upgraded to their latest mk-v specs for not too much more. of course, i was lucky to buy it from a dealer in quebec, which is right across-town from oracle's factory.

also, regarding giant-killer tonearms, check out the origin-live mods for the rb-250. o-l sez this set-up is better than even their rb900-modded arm, due to rega's different pivot design for the 250 vs their other arms. i bought one from stone audio uk, and it was ~$300, including their adjustable vta base. that pt-8 on bibto's oracle is nothing to sneeze at, tho...

doug

saturn99
21 posts
 
Outlier, Get this turntable. I saw this on Ebay. The Sota Star Turntable with SME 3 Tonearm and Ortofon ME 10 cartridge. List price was 3000 dollars for everything. He wants 800 dollars for it. Here's the link to the add and pic of the turntable
gmele
93 posts
 
Normaly I would not respond to posts. I think that to many people are looking to wave the flag for there own equiptment, which is fine. But this time I'm going to do a little flag waving myself. Get the Basis 1400. Trust me the Basis does not Waltz. If you have ever put one together you would see that it is built to far more exacting standards (case and point being that the motor used is the same as thier flag ship model) than the Rega P25. Which I think is a good turntable but does not beat out the Basis. Lets put it this way, I'm thinking about putting a Graham 2.0 on my Basis, with the Rega I would get rid of the table first. Did anyone actaully listen to the Rega VS. the Basis... I did and the Basis did it for me.
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