A trip down turntable memory lane...

[davedotco]

Maybe certain posters need to remember that not everyone on here has unlimited budgets. Whilst most upgrade eventually, some may have to downground. My Nottingham Analogue is consigned to history but I'm happy enough with its replacement for the time being. There are always better, more expensive options out there and perhaps the bulk of us that either can't afford to buy them or simply haven't had the opportunity to hear the undoubted benefits of such models should be allowed to enjoy the shortcomings of our particular models in ignorant bliss. ;-)

In all my years as a retailer I never considered keeping my customers in ignorance. It was always the mantra of the shop that we were prepared to explain what we said and furthermore to 'prove' what we said by comparitive demonstration.

This enabled our customers to understand why they were buying what they did, and trying 'better' components helped to provide some kind of reference. Sure many were prepared to go so far and no more, but they at least understood that they were getting great value for money and that they could improve if they wished. We always considered that important.

Sorry to pounce on your post like this, I'm sure your 'ignorance' quote was not deadly serious, but I think this is important.

If the vinyl revival is to continue beyond the short term hipster fashion statement that currently drives it, then it is important that real vinyl enthusiasts have a decent idea of what it is all about, which means understanding what is actually possible from A vinyl record.

OK, rant over, soapbox but back under the stairs and appologies to anyone who finds all this a little too earnest and arrogant but even to this day the very best systems I have ever heard have all been vinyl based. I have done this journey and while never getting to the very highest level, I have at least got close and am more than happy to encourage enthusiasts to travel the same path, whatever their budget.

 

[thescarletpronster]

Perhaps the word 'best' in the article title is too vague. I'd imagine it was used to in the sense 'best for their market'/'best at their price point' for all measures of performance from a user point of view - not purely in terms of sound quality with no reference to price of anything else. A list of the best turntables from that one point of view in isolation would be interesting, but it would likely be a totally different list and with a different purpose.

 

[matthewpiano]

Got to say I think Rega turntables are over-rated. My PL12D sounds every bit as good as my RP3, and in some respects actually better and more enjoyable... and that's with a £26 Audio Technica AT95e cartridge. I don't actually think turntable manufacture has moved on, certainly not at the affordable end of the market.

As for the Technics, it is a super deck and beautifully built. In terms of ruggedness, build quality and speed stability it shows the affordable Regas up comfortably.

 

[davedotco]

The Planar 3 was, all things considered, the best Rega player, at the time it stood up well against mass market competition and its very simplicity made it a winner. The Planar 2, despite it's popularity, was never remotely in the same class, in fact the Dual 505 was a more coherent, enjoyable player than the 2.

I got my first Pioneer in the very early '70s, I was still at university and the PL12ac was a pretty rare beast, complete with dangling weight and thread bias compensation. At around £30 the player was good value and probably a bit more substantial than the PL12D that followed, despite it's runaway success. It spawned a whole family of players, including the direct drive PL51 and PL71, both of which were awful.

The huge number of 'me too' players from the major manufacturers were, in the main, equally bad and, to my ears at least, even the 'flagship' models from Denon, Micro Seiki, Technics and the rest were no better.

The sheer mediocrity of these players paved the way for the Dual 506 and a year or so later the all conquering CS505. Not the best player in hi-fi terms, the sheer coherence and 'musical' ability simply blew away the competition.

Along with the Nad 3020 and, in my case early AR18s speakers, it provided a starter system of real ability, one that was, for the first time, demonstrably better than the rest.

 

[matthewpiano]

Dual made some cracking decks. I had a CS503-2 at one time and even though it was lower in the range than the 505, it was still a very musically entertaining player. I wouldn't rule out a CS505-4 at some point, though I'm in no rush to move on from the PL12D. The worst turntable I've ever had was an 80s direct drive Sansui - the P-D15. Terrible bit of kit with the T4P plug-in type cartridge and appalling build quality.

Most of the currently made turntables don't really interest me.