TOTALLY CONFUSED about analog

confused,
celtic's advice will serve you well. a pre-owned rega may be
worth a look (recently on audioshopper for 300.00)
Also may browse for a Thoerns table in the classifieds. Recommend the TD-160 at 200 to 300. either way, cartridge
selection (to start)is grado, grado, grado. demand 40% off
of retail, and use an alignment tool to install. a 2 degree
error will destroy the stylus and vinyl promptly, and disappoint you sonically. it's worth paying to have it mounted and tested by a pro. your friend that says no sweat, he can do it for free, can't. enjoy!

ken

listen to a rega p3 used or new with either a grado or a dynavector 10x4 cart. new, that will cost right at $1000 (with the dynavector) and will serve you very, very well. that was my first turntable set up and even though my turntable rig today costs nine times that, the rega still sounds incredible. my mother has a music hall and *i* prefer the stability and rigidity of the rega. the music hall sounds almost as good and costs way less, but i found it harder to set up and didn't like the feel of it, but that may not mean anything to you. for sure, check them both out (music hall 2.1 and rega p3) you can't go wrong either way. they're both fantastic turntables suited to all sorts of music, although it is my opinion that the p3/dynavector is *the* budget turntable choice, though others no doubt disagree.

let your ears be your guide and good luck!

Well, If you can start higher you should go for Basis1400/RB300 combo and define for yourself a cartridge which you want to use. There are 4 variables in analogue playback: Table, Arm, Cartridge and Phono.
I've started from Rega p3 and I was pleased with it's performance for 6 months and desided to upgrade. If I started from Basis I would probably still keep it.

Thanks, guys. I have been reading these posts extensivelly (hence the confusion) and I read some posts by Extremephono just bashing the Rega. It seems nobody could counter those viewpoints. Would that make the Rega the belt drive equivalent of the DJ turntable, then? I mean it's got to have so many things done--yet you guys seem to like it so much.

I just don't want to bother with changing this or that, adjusting things...

Ken

Ken-

The suggestions in the posts so far have been pretty much on-target. I'll echo what has been about a good used Rega P3 or Music Hall for your quest in your lower price range, although you would need to be careful about Grado cartridges with the Rega as Grados have a tendency to hum which sometimes is exagerated by the Rega.

In your higher price point, the Basis 1400 that was previously mentioned should be on your short list, but you may want to consider the RB-250 arm which has already been modified by Origin Live to go along with it.

As a suggestion, you may want to get started with a good basic UNMODIFIED used table/cartridge like the ones already mentioned and use that as your reference point before you spend alot of money.

Regards
Jim