Turntable recommendations

Redoing my stereo into my theater room. Looking at turntables in the 1500-2500 range plus mc cartridge. Been a longtime since I upgraded my table.


Fwiw I only buy lps and iTunes nowadays. I have about 2000 lps. 

Any audio nerds that have recommendations?

Pro-Jett? Rega, VPI? 

Thanks

I don't have any recommendations for specific turntable, but I do have a suggestion regarding features.  

A few years back, I bought a Stanton turntable with SPDIF output so I could digitize some of my LPs.  I've been pretty happy with it, even though it's not a high-end unit.  I did figure out that the SPDIF was redundant.  It works fine, but I found that Ii could get good results without the digital output since I have a decent sound card.  I think that my sound card probably has better converters than they could afford to include in the turntable.  If you have in interest in that area, it's something to consider.  

Good luck.  

Hi,
 
I had a Pioneer for 30 years, and replaced the belt twice on it in that time. Never failed. Three years ago, I dumped the turntable because Pioneer no longer made the belts ... PL120 it was I think.
 
Had a Stanton Cartridge, 681EEE I think it was, and that Cartridge was bought for $300 dollars in 1980 or so, and it lasted quite a while. It outlasted the turntable, and finally gave up.
 
When I went looking for a turntable, I finally bought one from Stanton T.92, and I have to admit that it is a fabulous little thing ... and I can pull that little FM radio trick ... slow things down 2% so the albums sound heavier than they really are ... makes Black Sabbath sound better on their first album! Hehehe! Deep Purple ... sounds even heavier than their pop music!
 
Only concern is that the Turntable does not have a hard cover, which is a bummer. I liked the nice cover, so in that sense it has an edge that is rather cheap all around.
 
Cartridges ... I really thought that the 681EEE was the secret and the trick to listening to all those imports 30 years ago ... because the quality of the sound in Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze with that cartridge and ESS Heil AMT1 Speakers, was ... way out there ... and the trippiest thing ever. I just tried this with the Stanton, but I can tell that the cartridge that it came with is not half as good as the original cartridge was!!!!! I still have the speakers, and JaMac here in Portland has re-coned them twice so far ... so at least you know what kind of quality/comparison I am doing.
 
I can tell you that the "fidelity" of the sound I had with the ESS Heil Speakers, Pioneer turnatable with the Stanton Cratridge, 30 years ago, made a huge difference on my learning to trip with music ... and the main reason why "radio music" and specially "AM" did not make it ... it was crap by comparison. Today, a lot of this has changed, but there still is no "fidelity" as clean as the one on the masterful artists out there ... for whom radio is NOT their end ... the work itself is!
 
Hope this helps

Moshkiae


Hi,
 
I had a Pioneer for 30 years, and replaced the belt twice on it in that time. Never failed. Three years ago, I dumped the turntable because Pioneer no longer made the belts ... PL120 it was I think.
 
Had a Stanton Cartridge, 681EEE I think it was, and that Cartridge was bought for $300 dollars in 1980 or so, and it lasted quite a while. It outlasted the turntable, and finally gave up.
 
When I went looking for a turntable, I finally bought one from Stanton T.92, and I have to admit that it is a fabulous little thing ... and I can pull that little FM radio trick ... slow things down 2% so the albums sound heavier than they really are ... makes Black Sabbath sound better on their first album! Hehehe! Deep Purple ... sounds even heavier than their pop music!
 
Only concern is that the Turntable does not have a hard cover, which is a bummer. I liked the nice cover, so in that sense it has an edge that is rather cheap all around.
 
Cartridges ... I really thought that the 681EEE was the secret and the trick to listening to all those imports 30 years ago ... because the quality of the sound in Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze with that cartridge and ESS Heil AMT1 Speakers, was ... way out there ... and the trippiest thing ever. I just tried this with the Stanton, but I can tell that the cartridge that it came with is not half as good as the original cartridge was!!!!! I still have the speakers, and JaMac here in Portland has re-coned them twice so far ... so at least you know what kind of quality/comparison I am doing.
 
I can tell you that the "fidelity" of the sound I had with the ESS Heil Speakers, Pioneer turnatable with the Stanton Cratridge, 30 years ago, made a huge difference on my learning to trip with music ... and the main reason why "radio music" and specially "AM" did not make it ... it was crap by comparison. Today, a lot of this has changed, but there still is no "fidelity" as clean as the one on the masterful artists out there ... for whom radio is NOT their end ... the work itself is!
 
Hope this helps

Im with you on sound quality,  spent small fortune on vandersteen model 5s about 15 years ago.  They make all the difference in sound.  I need to upgrade them, but that will have to wait until bonus time.  Very costly but worth it

IK Obi


@CraigB, actually LP sales have been increasing in the last few years and they are predicted to surpass CD sales. Most would rather own a digital format song and if its physical media, LPs are cooler and to some sound better than CDs. I blame the hipsters. And the music lovers.

I would think the ONLY reason that LP sales are gaining on CD's is the fact that many people (including myself) can now download the CD and not have to store the thing after I've sucked it into my computer.

Looks like a Teac actually...

Turntables: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=28

Members classifieds:  http://audiokarma.org/ads/ 

craigb

I would think the ONLY reason that LP sales are gaining on CD's is the fact that many people (including myself) can now download the CD and not have to store the thing after I've sucked it into my computer.

I have been getting rid of the LP's because they are too heavy and I do not own a house, or have a nice place where I can take care of them.
 
There are some albums that you never want to let go ... like the original Space Ritual by Hawkwinid, the original Be Good to Yourself at Least Once a Day by Man, or a couple of the Brian Eno albums because they had original art with them, or that one Faust album and such, or the absolutely and massively well done art work on all the early albums by Amon Duul, up until Vive La Trance ... but sadly the "Album Cover" think is a thing of the past and not even considered ART anymore .. how many CD covers can you LIST these days ... specially if you compare them to the Album Covers? ... right ... I can list a couple from Djam Karet and that's about it!
 
I have no family, no love, and I have written so much about so much music, that so many folks don't give a merde about ... that while I have never in my life second guessed or questioned the music ... just like I would not question your own music ... even if I think/feel that it could have used this or that and a vacuum cleaner on this part here ... but the only two places that I have ever written about these things, are NOT appreciative of the things said ... which should be considered "literary criticism", or "artistic criticism" and instead, just like some folks here, it gets taken as "personal criticism" ... and after a while ... you know what?  None of this music will ever be remembered ... why? ... too many people can not appreciate the talks about it ... all most folks can remember is ... "the hit" ... and no one knows, or cares, or gives a damn ... as to how many "hits" have been lost and forgotten in the last 1000 years since music started being "written" on a pice of paper.  So no one asks, what did this mean Pedro ... they immediately say ... Pedro is a jerk and Karyn will never even say Hi! And Bapu will always try to kill the thread!
 
But I can't help it ... I love the music so much ... and I want it to live ... forever ... but no one here can see that ... no words I can use ... will ever ... clarify that for so many here ... and it hurts inside ... it really does ... because I have seen and heard, and loved, many of them, and met many of them, that didn't make it ... and they are all sad, broken hearted, even though they tried ... and a little bit more of zen philosophy is more Bapu here than anything else!
 
In the end, this is just like a film that made me cry ... towards the end of the film "Mahler" bu Ken Russell, his wife leaves him ... and he says quietly .. I wrote the Symphony for her!
 
The only thing left? ... forgive them for they know not what they do?
 
Like writing the Symphony is meaningless? You don't think I know that about ALL of you folks here? The records are no different! Just remember that!
 

 

jbow ...I think the AR is the best but I use the KD-12 a lot. It is according to what you want to spend but you really cannot go wrong with a good turntable from the '70s Stereo Wars era. Look around at http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php
...

 
Actually Stanton is not bad and the controls are good, but I am not sure that they would be considered ... "top of the line" ... but then neither were Kenwood or Pioneer in those days ... Bang and Olafson and a couple of others were much more expensive, but not necessarily better ... in fact the Pioneer PL120 rated better than 3 B&O turntables once on one of those magazines I will not mention.
 
In the end, the Stylus ... is the biggest difference, with one thing to remember ... if you have a metalic stylus on an area that has salt in the air, near the ocean, it will not last ... the salt in the air will eat at the stylus in time. Darn'd things like that can drive you nuts, because you never heard of it before!
 
The Stanton Cartridge I got, was the stylus being used in 3 of those B&O turntables, which was the reason why I decided to spring for it ... and it WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY ... specially when you factor in about 28 years of life ... making Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream and many others ... sound ... there are no words for it, my friend!
 

Space Cowboy
 
Buy whatever VPI rig fits your budget.  They really have their act together as a firm: they're going to be around for a long time to support their gear.  Really important consideration when you own a belt drive turntable.  That slick looking turntable is a VPI HRX.
 
Oh, they sound really good also.
 
Cartridge?  Dynavector or Ortofon.  Both of these companies will probably open an assembly lab on Mars one day.  Again, long term support.  And a vast range of cost / performance to pick from.
 
Cheers