How much to spend?

I'd say decent for many people starts around $500 without phono stage. Personally I'd place my own "decent" level in the $5000 ballpark. My current setup, where I don't have thoughts of upgrading, is a little over $30k for the turntable, tonearm, cartridge, and phono stage plus miscellaneous.
 
Consider option ability over fixed features in order to stair step upgrades down the road.


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The Marantz TT-15S1 seems popular in the $1500 range. Plenty of reviews on YouTube
 
The Marantz Serge mentioned really is a nice package, the table is actually a Clearaudio and I believe the cart is as well.

Not shopped in a while but I think you can get a Rega P2 set up for $1k or less. I like the Rega a lot, using a P3 for years before my current table. Both the P2 & 3 have a host of aftermarket upgrades that can be done as well.

Sota also has a nice table under $1k. Made in USA.

There's other in your range from Music Hall and the like as well.

So I think you can get a decent set up in that $1k range. I ran my Rega with Krell, then with Conrad Johnson, I was happy with it. I used the Elys 2 and then a Dynavector 10x5 which both were right around half the cost of the table.

All of the above are without an outboard phono stage.
 
Speaking of my Rega P3, at the time I was using CD players in the $3k range give or take. I could listen to the P3, whose sound was different, yet still enjoyable, or, on par with the CD players I used.

It wasn't until stepping up the digital that I felt like I had to step up the analog to keep up. Then I realized my LP's probably weren't worth spending beyond were I'm at now. I have a lot of Rock I collected in my younger years.

I personally want all my sources to be enjoyable to listen to. One reason I no longer have a tuner or cassette deck. If a source is lagging in performance compared to my other sources I just won't listen to it. So why have it.

Another real concern for you being out where no hi fi is, unless you have prior turntable experience setting them up, you need to look for one that is pretty much plug & play. If memory serves that Marantz is. My Rega was not.

You can buy a great table but if it isn't set up correctly, you wasted your money.
 
E.g. Clearaudio Concept gets you going in a first step. Available with in-house MM or MC system.


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all good suggestions in and around the price point you mentioned. My question to you is, are you starting out or getting 'back in' ? The reason I ask is if you already have a top notch digital playback and want something to play your old LP's from an earlier time, all well and good but if you have no LP's to start with I ask...... why ?
 
Mikado463 said:
all good suggestions in and around the price point you mentioned. My question to you is, are you starting out or getting 'back in' ? The reason I ask is if you already have a top notch digital playback and want something to play your old LP's from an earlier time, all well and good but if you have no LP's to start with I ask...... why ?
Click to expand...


VERY good question. I'm still trying to answer it. Thinking vinyl was going the way of the Oldsmobile and that my collection would take forever to get rid of on the net, I gave my vinyl away.

Man, I wish I hadn't done that now. Really dumb move on my part. But my wife was hounding me because of the amount room the LPs were taking up (we live in a small house with very little storage space). I had 8 - 10 cardboard boxes full of vinyl. Somewhere around 1000 to 1500 albums. And after some research I found they weren't really worth very much. Mostly '50s, '60s, and '70s rock and jazz. They were so heavy that shipping would have eaten up most of any prophet. So now I'm completely vinyl-less. I did rip all my CDs (maybe a couple thousand) to iTunes and put them all on an external HD. I'm now thinking I'll just do streaming and listen to ripped CDs. It would be rather expensive to start over from scratch with a new vinyl collection.

I do have an early '90s Technics quartz automatic DD TT (DD33) that's in mint condition but it likely has pretty average tone compared to current TTs. It looks like I'd spend about $1500 on a new TT before getting into decent tone territory. Not sure it would be worth it. OTOH, shopping for new and old vinyl would be fun.....for me. Not sure about the wife? I'm sure I could start another vinyl collection if I didn't get too carried away. But the cost:benefit ratio is a little weak. I dunno. Still gotta give it more thought.
 
thanks for answering my question and shedding some more light on the subject.

Perhaps, given that you say your DD33 is still in perfect shape, cartridge ? start out with it on some used Lp's and see if the magic is still there for you. If not , stop the bleeding before you get carried away.

If doing this for 'chits & giggles' is all you're after then $1000-1500 can certainly get you back 'in' but if you want to get serious then all that will buy you is a good cartridge ...........
 
I've had a Fluance RT-82 for over a year. It was $300 with an Ortofon Om10. Works great. It stops at the end of a side. My at120usb, also $300, has had no issues. They're not available, new, any longer. I use both tables and several different carts and stylus. The Fluance goes into the phono input of a Denon int. amp. The AT into a Rolls preamp then aux in. I like the Rolls even though a review of a Music Hall preamp showed it was a Rolls in a different box(it said Rolls on the board) said the build Q was sloppy. The Rolls $50, Music Hall $100 same board. I got mine for $15 used. Works great.

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A really good turntable costs minimum $8K for a Rega RP10 w/cartridge, that could justify the room a vinyl collection will quickly occupy not to mention the cost of all those records just sitting on shelves. I suggest upgrading your DAC. My Playback Designs MPD8 has saved me an amount equal to its cost in vinyl records I did not buy. I marvel at all the YT channels by vinyl guys and their 1,000s of records -- who has that kind of room? I like watching the videos by John Devore, 45rpm and others who do record reviews, but those records sound just as good streamed on a great DAC.
 
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