How do you select a turntable? What is the process?

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Boogieman

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Sorry in advance for the abstract question.

Don't care so much for specific recommendations, as our tastes and systems will differ. But I am interested in the process of how to select a high end turntable ($10-$15K), considering there are so many manufacturers, plus various combos of phono stages, arms, and cartridges. How do you disentangle the latter components from the sound of table itself?

Cheers!
 
its very tough.lol. you really have to go listen and find whats right for you, and what works with your gear. ive owned 5 vpi tables and almost bought a 6th just to find out they were not what i was looking for. ive bought and sold several phonostages and pres with internal phonos. i drove around for 6 month listening to cartridges. took me 15 years to be very happy with both my table and cartridge. and not looking to upgrade anymore...... maybe. lol.
i wont recommend anything as you can find a billion recommendations in this forum alone.
its really a very personal matter and you must either take the time to find what right for you, or just buy and sell until you come across "the keeper" no one can truely recommend what the right table for you. with your budget you should be able to find something very nice.
 
Petro85 said:
its very tough.lol. you really have to go listen and find whats right for you, and what works with your gear. ive owned 5 vpi tables and almost bought a 6th just to find out they were not what i was looking for. ive bought and sold several phonostages and pres with internal phonos. i drove around for 6 month listening to cartridges. took me 15 years to be very happy with both my table and cartridge. and not looking to upgrade anymore...... maybe. lol.
i wont recommend anything as you can find a billion recommendations in this forum alone.
its really a very personal matter and you must either take the time to find what right for you, or just buy and sell until you come across "the keeper" no one can truely recommend what the right table for you. with your budget you should be able to find something very nice.
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Thank you. Buying, trying, and selling may be the way to go.
 
Boogieman - unless its a simple table like a REGA RP3, buying, trying and selling a table is a major PITA. Start with a budget for table, arm and cart and we can try to give you some suggestions.
 
Thanks, Mike. My strategy is to spend closer to $15K on the table, and the absolute minimum possible on the cartridge and arm that will work with the table. In the next year, I can fairly easily upgrade the latter 2 to similar level as the table, to stay within budget.
 
Boogieman said:
Thanks, Mike. My strategy is to spend closer to $15K on the table, and the absolute minimum possible on the cartridge and arm that will work with the table. In the next year, I can fairly easily upgrade the latter 2 to similar level as the table, to stay within budget.
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Can you tell me a little bit more about the rest of your system?
 
Do you have any local high end audio dealers that have turntables on demo?
 
you know $15k is a huge turntable budget and you can get an off the hook good table for less than that new including the awesome vpi hrx a personal favorite of mine, or a classic 3 for alot less than that.or even a beautiful amg which would be a little more than that. but if your dead set on the most you can get for that money look at this baby, i bet $15k gets this bought. and a couple thou for a new ortofon cadenza bronze or black would be a great start.
this is about the best table i can think of for under $20k right now. and this is a great deal .its over $30k new.
https://app.audiogon.com/listings/t...n-analog-2014-07-23-analog-48073-royal-oak-mi
 
Boogie, Do you have or have you ever owned a turntable ?Turntables are so dependent on set up and compatibility with the tone arm, the cartridge and the pre-amp or stand alone phono pre-amp that a good table can sound horrid if not matched or setup correctly. Sure one cab spend $15k but unless you compare a say $1,000 or 5,000 table to a $15k table you will never know how good some lower priced tables are. Sure $15k tables look cool, have a lot of quality pretty materials in the build but looks alone does not make sound. I recommend, go listen and compare.

And like Mike noted ; Can you tell us a little bit more about the rest of your system? amp section or AVR, or pre-amp
 
Go listen to as many TT setups as possible and, if you are so inclined, take notes about what cartridges and tonearms are set up with what tables, how they differed in sound, ask the dealer/presenter/owner how easy/difficult it is setup, read up on the reputation of the companies, and ask about warranty service. You might find that a TT in the $5K range more than suits your needs and might allow you to splurge on a cartridge, which is where you get the most variance in sound among vinyl components, IMO, and a phono pre. Speaking of which, do not scrimp on the phono preamp. If you don't choose a phono pre that is up to the task, it will be a choke point and you'll be wasting the potential of the rest of your vinyl rig.
 
Appreciate the insights. The system is MBL 101 E driven by Bryston amps and CAT preamp, which has killer phono stage. I listen mostly to rock.

As I mentioned, I am interested in the process, as our tastes will vary. Also, as I mentioned, my strategy is to get the best table I can at this time. The other components will be upgraded to the level of the table in due time.
 
Out of curiosity, have people ranked tables on the continuum of euphonic to brutally honest/ analytic? I would want something in between.
 
Boogieman said:
Out of curiosity, have people ranked tables on the continuum of euphonic to brutally honest/ analytic? I would want something in between.
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I have never heard or seen a ranking since there are TT that are being modified like the old Garrard 301 and 401 that rival todays $10K + tables , not to mention different cartridges can influence the tonal quality of even the best under $500 TT system.
 
IMO Boogie, a decent $5-6K table will get you 95% of the way there. Or closer if you buy one used at that price point. After that it's mostly about what looks good to your eye and style (classic, modern, acrylic, massive, etc.). The biggest gains after that point are to bre made in the phono stage and the cartridge matching with the arm.
 
IMHO Boogie, you'd be better served by starting off down the Analog trail at a lower level. As others have mentioned, there are some great values at the 5 to 6k price range. Any of these tables can be easily sold at a later date as your personal tastes develop. Starting off with a 15k turntable is a little like giving an 18 year old a 911 as his first car......you don't want to end up around a tree, lol.
 
I have the AMG v12 and the Spiral Groove SG1.1 and the Clearaudio Innovation Wood. All can be had for $16k or less (used for first two and new for innovation). Biggest bang for the buck is Clearaudio which is upgrade able (can add a second arm and can buy the master reference bottom platter). The prettiest including the sound is the AMG v12. The highest performing most brilliantly engineered (IMHO) is the SG 1.1. I could happily live with any one of them. Bigger differences occur based on cartridge, cable, isolation, and phono stage.
 
Boogieman said:
Out of curiosity, have people ranked tables on the continuum of euphonic to brutally honest/ analytic? I would want something in between.
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I have a VPI Classic 3 with a Ortofon Cadenza Bronze.

DSC00989.jpg

And a Kronos Sparta with a Benz Micro LP-S (thinking about getting a ZYX Universe II).

DSC00993.jpg

To answer your question, its all about a synergy between the table, arm, cart - and let's not forget, the phonostage. I use a ARC REF2SE with upgraded tubes. In your budget, I would consider the AMG V12 with a Benz Micro LP-S or a VPI Classic 3 with a Ortofon or Lyra cart (and spend the rest on records).

I'm presuming you already have a phonostage? If the $16K needs to include the phonostage, then I would go with a VPI Classic 3, Ortofon Cadenza Black and a Manley Chinook or Zesto phonostage.
 
Mike said:
I have a VPI Classic 3 with a Ortofon Cadenza Bronze.

View attachment 7101

And a Kronos Sparta with a Benz Micro LP-S (thinking about getting a ZYX Universe II).

View attachment 7102

To answer your question, its all about a synergy between the table, arm, cart - and let's not forget, the phonostage. I use a ARC REF2SE with upgraded tubes. In your budget, I would consider the AMG V12 with a Benz Micro LP-S or a VPI Classic 3 with a Ortofon or Lyra cart (and spend the rest on records).

I'm presuming you already have a phonostage? If the $16K needs to include the phonostage, then I would go with a VPI Classic 3, Ortofon Cadenza Black and a Manley Chinook or Zesto phonostage.
Click to expand...

I can attest to wonderful synergy of Benz LP-S and AMG v12 - with arc ref2se if is warm transparent and wide open.
 
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