Need new turntable: opinions?

  • Thread starter Thread starter paintedtape
  • Start date Start date
P

paintedtape

New member
just starting a new thread from the discussion in the 'need new turntable cartridge: opinions?'.

I've had to toss my old record player and replace it with something. the problem is I have next to no money I can shell out for this purchase - as essential as it is to me food and rent just have to take priority at the moment.

so I am looking to score something decent/acceptable/functional for (hopefully) under $200. I'll be using it pretty much only for listening. I do sample things sometimes when recording but exceptional fidelity is not necessary at those points. it will play out of a technics SA-R277, which needs to be replaced almost as much as my old turntable. some day when I'm not a student I'll work on improving my entire rig, but until then I just need something that works!

there's already been some good suggestions in the other thread but please don't hesitate to name drop some rigs I could look for.

thanks ya'll.
 
Well, anything from the late 1800s to about 1950 is going to be in 78RPM format, which only really died out around the mid 1960s. I do have a large quantity of my grandfather's 78s which I really must try and digitize. The other main format was 16rpm, which was speech grade and often used for language discs or other spoken-word recordings. I've only ever seen a couple of those, however and not many decks support it anymore.

If you only need 33/45 capability, you might try the Kenwood P110. I've had good luck with mine - the only flaw (aside from lack of high speed mode which is fairly rare these days) is that it's a little too compact and the record pokes out the side of the machine while running.
 
Technics. They're very good quality and no bells and whistles which means better reliability. I got a Technics SL-1510 that sounds really nice and is direct drive. It's from around 1973 and hardly had a problem with even though it used to live in a junkie-flat.
The only fancy function it has is a very usefull one; pitch controls on the front panel which means you won't have to spent your hard earned money on repairs if it's slightly out of pitch.
 
I have a Technics that's made of plastic. Apparently not all Technics turntables are up to snuff.
 
diggy_dude said:
I have a Technics that's made of plastic. Apparently not all Technics turntables are up to snuff.
Click to expand...

Is that always bad? All I know is that mine have served me well and many people love their 1210 too.
Bang & Olufsen made some nice models in the 70's however new pickups are very expensive because they're licenzed to some fancy company.
 
I recall a few days ago in thee old sound shop a clerk told me that direct drive is bogus because it puts more sound on the needle.

what do we think of this? what are the advantages of direct drive?

also, that clerk was trying to sell me pro-ject tables. most of them were super expensive, but I think the cheapest one was around $250-$350... I don't remember. it was the most basic model and I am pretty sure it was plastic or something... still, I took one look at it and declared it far beyond my price range.
 
WarmJetGuitar said:
Is that always bad? All I know is that mine have served me well and many people love their 1210 too.
Bang & Olufsen made some nice models in the 70's however new pickups are very expensive because they're licenzed to some fancy company.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's a bad thing if you just want to listen to records. Some people are particular about it though.
 
paintedtape said:
I recall a few days ago in thee old sound shop a clerk told me that direct drive is bogus because it puts more sound on the needle.

what do we think of this? what are the advantages of direct drive?
Click to expand...

A direct drive turntable supposedly imparts motor noise to the stylus through the platter. I have both a direct drive and a belt drive and don't notice a major difference. When seeking opinions about audio gear, you'll always hear from people for whom only the best will do. They'll give you all kinds of technical reasons why a certain turntable isn't good enough. The fact of the matter is there aren't many consumer turntables that are so awful they'll ruin your enjoyment of the music when set up correctly.
 
For under $200 new, anything you'll find will be made out of plastic and not be very heavy, which is what you need to to reduce rumble feedback if you're playing your records through a system with full range speakers. So looking for a used table will be a better option for finding something that was solidly made and hopefully equipped with a decent tone arm that allows for accurate tracking and cartridge alignment. If you can find a Thorens belt drive table with a heavy platter, that would be a good choice. Some of the upper end Dual turntables like the CS5000 were also offering a nice heavy design and also offered gyroscopic tracking tone arms that can deal with warped records much better then tone arms which only rely on gravity pressure to keep the needle in the grove. Some Thorens tables also offered this design in their tone arms but its unlikely you'd find one with that feature within your budget. Then again, there's always someone out there selling stuff cheap because they don't know what they've got and/or are desperate for some money.

Direct drive tables can be good too but they tend to be higher end designs that will be beyond your budget like a Technics SL1200, which is direct drive, very heavy and usually about 3 times the price of your budget. Cheaper direct drives will offer poor rumble specs because they'll be light weight. Belt drive tables tend to offer better rumble specs in the lower price ranges.

Good luck.

Cheers! :)
 
You can get used Technics SL1200mk2s on eBay for around 200. I would advise against buying one that was used by a scratcher type DJ, as it will be knackered--if you go this way, try to find one that was used only for general playback.

I'm not a fan of direct drive (this was recently discussed in another thread, but there's no "supposedly" about it, the motor DOES impart distortion at the stylus in that configuration...BUT those particular Technics are solid, venerable and VERY common 'tables that will do a fine job for basic playback on an average stereo system).

Another tip I would have for a good 'table around 200 bucks, if you can find one...NAD made a model in the late 90s/early 2000s called the 533 which was a re-branded Rega P2 (Rega makes excellent turntables by the way, though due to a series of price hikes, even the lowest new model is still out of your pricerange now, unfortunately). Speaking of, though, keep your eyes peeled for a used Rega P1 also--those came standard with a decent Ortofon cartridge and sold new for around 350, so you might could find a used one in your price range with some patience. That's a very good turntable. They've now been replaced by a more expensive model but budding audiophiles had a tendency to buy them, use them for a year or two then sell them for a couple bills and upgrade.

At your budget there are also some good old-timers such as the Acoustic Research (also called AR) turntables; these are very good, particularly the later "AR Turntable" later known as the ES-1, but those are spring-suspended turntables so they're going to be fussy about setup and placement. Best stick with a fixed platter design in your case.

Someone mentioned Bang & Olufsen but those generally used more or less proprietary cartridges that are quite expensive to replace; especially stay away from the funkier ones like the TXII linear tracker. Save 'em for the collectors.


PAINTEDTAPE, if you can save your pennies a little longer and stretch up to $300, this will get you into a good brand new turntable--the Pro-Ject Essential. Heck, the're 299 and free shipping on Amazon/eBay. It's just a basic, bare-bones decent quality entry-level turntable. Belt drive, ok tonearm, and comes with a decent Ortofon cartridge. Fully manual meaning next to nothing there to break down on ya. Honestly for only a hundred bucks more than your $200 budget you could save yourself some hassle and just get that. This really is the very lowest price of admission for a decent quality turntable that you don't have to buy used from "some guy" who treated it "some how" if you get my meaning. If I were in your shoes, I'd save a little more and hold out for the Pro-Ject, it looks like a good spend of money on a table that will sound decent and last you a long while since it's good enough to grow into. Buy once, cry once.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, a lot of the B&O turntable used Ortofon cartridges. Great sounding, but like has been mentioned, a bit pricey.

The Technics SL-1200, also previously mentioned, has been a workhorse for decades. Last time I checked, parts were still readily available for them. If you can find a decent one for $200 or less, that would be the way I'd go. If buying used, you'd probably want at leas a new stylus if not a new cartridge Did you salvage the cartridge off of your old unit?
 
there's some nice Pioneer 'tables from back in the day that have solid wood plinths ...... they come belt drive and direct drive depending on the model and you can usually get them for less than 200 bucks..
I've actually been meaning to start haunting EBAY to look for a Pioneer 'table to add to me collection.

And I have a Pro-Ject 'table ..... an earlier one ..... definitely a nice table for a bit more. Music Hall has some models around that price too and I think they're made BY Pro-Ject.
 
LDS said:
Yeah, a lot of the B&O turntable used Ortofon cartridges. Great sounding, but like has been mentioned, a bit pricey.

The Technics SL-1200, also previously mentioned, has been a workhorse for decades. Last time I checked, parts were still readily available for them. If you can find a decent one for $200 or less, that would be the way I'd go. If buying used, you'd probably want at leas a new stylus if not a new cartridge Did you salvage the cartridge off of your old unit?
Click to expand...

B&O's using Ortofon? I should have known that as both B&O and Ortofon is pretty cheap here. I got the cheapest Ortofon for my SL-1510 for around 55 $ and it sounds pretty reasonable. Are you using an adaptor to make the Ortofon fit? Should have known about that, gave my Beogram 3000 away for free because the pickup broke but I loved the thing.
My Technics is pretty quiet and its not because my amp is shite. But it is a very solid construction too, all metal. Probably there's better turntables out there but I'm a relatively poor guy and needs the money for recording equipment, instruments, food and rent.
 
In general...

Belt drive is less expensive, and if the belt is good (not stretched or otherwise slipping,) and the table has a heavy platter, belt drive will give you very accurate speeds.

Direct usually has quicker up-to-speed times, which makes them appealing to DJ's who want to hit "play" and have the table spinning at the selected speed NOW.

Most tables have a variable speed control.

They can often be found at second-hand shops, for FAR less than $250! Use the on-board speed control and strobe to determine if it spins at the right speed, listen closely for undue noise. Expect to have to buy a cartridge. Pay about $25 or maybe even less. Buy a cartridge for, i dunno, $50. Take your wife or GF out on all the money you saved. Everybody's happy!
 
wowzers, I left town for a couple of days and I'm deeply satisfied by all the info/advice that's been dropped here. THANK YEE/THANK YA'LL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top