What to look for in a good turntable???


Ok guy's I sold my record collection many years ago.
The only turntable we had was crap.It was my fathers.

I have herd that if you spend about half of what you spend on a CD player on a phonograph, the phonograph will blow the CDP away.

Well I spent about 1,600. on a used Meridian 508.24.

What do I need to look for in a turntable that will outperform the 508?

My music taste is rock n roll.

I realy don't know what to look for at all.Consider me a blank piece of paper folks.

Does the tonearn make the most important investment?
What is the most important thing to look for?
tweakster
Cartridge is most important. The overall character of the setup will be determined by that choice> shelter 501 would be my top pick At $800 bucks it sounds like a lot to spend on a starter table. It's not. You can live with this cartridge until you are ready to spend in excess of $4000 on a table.
Arm next Clearaudio Unify or Graham Robin At around $800 these are it. If your not ready to spend that much yet; look at Rega 250 300's.

Table : look for Acrylic platter minimum 30mm 50-70 better; isolated motor; spit plinth. The Clearaudio champion is a great place to start; because you can upgrade it all the way to a Champion Level II Base price $1000
Basis also offers a similar upgrade path starting with the Basis 1400

Good luck
Mike
WARNING! The following is the biased view of a DEALER!

The most important thing is that regardless of the components you select, they be installed and setup properly, and that they perform well together as a system. Professional setup is different than just mounting and aligning the cartridge. Choose a dealer who you know has the knowledge to perform a full professional set up.

As for the hardware, The SOTA Comet-III/250 table and arm with Grado Statement Series Platinum cartridge, and Grado PH1 Phono Stage is an amazing vinyl system that delivers far more than you'd expect for $1250. And everything except the Rega arm is made in the USA... Harry
Try A VPI Scout.1500.00 list,1350.00,discount. Will give you another perspective into what music should sound like.