DJ Turntable vs Entry Level Audiophile Turntable

ea25

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Hi All,

I am seriously considering buying an audiophile turntable to add to my current rig (pm6004, cd6004, kef q300). Having said that, I am not completely new to vinyl, have owned the Stanton STR8-100 decks for more then 10years now. However, as you all well know, there is a mountain of difference between the DJ and Audiophile world. For starters ,the fidelity coming out of the STR8s is crap compared to the cd6004. My ultimate aim is of course to turn that around; sq from audiophile TT > sq from cd6004 > sq from STR8-100 .

I thought of buying a TT within the £300 range (that is my budget right now). As you might have already guessed judging by my current equipment I tend to follow what hi-fi star ratings, so the Pro-ject Debut III is currently on the top of my list. The question I wish to put on the table is whether would I be better off buying an entry level audiophile TT or would I still be stuck with the same quality of the STR8s ?

Many thanks for your advise
 

Overdose

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ea25 said:
Hi All,

I am seriously considering buying an audiophile turntable to add to my current rig (pm6004, cd6004, kef q300). Having said that, I am not completely new to vinyl, have owned the Stanton STR8-100 decks for more then 10years now. However, as you all well know, there is a mountain of difference between the DJ and Audiophile world. For starters ,the fidelity coming out of the STR8s is crap compared to the cd6004. My ultimate aim is of course to turn that around; sq from audiophile TT > sq from cd6004 > sq from STR8-100 .

I thought of buying a TT within the £300 range (that is my budget right now).

I'd forgoe the pretence and get yourself a SL1210. Try with an Ortofon Blue cartridge.

Low maintenance, solid build quality and direct drive.
 

chebby

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Overdose said:
ea25 said:
Hi All,

I am seriously considering buying an audiophile turntable to add to my current rig (pm6004, cd6004, kef q300). Having said that, I am not completely new to vinyl, have owned the Stanton STR8-100 decks for more then 10years now. However, as you all well know, there is a mountain of difference between the DJ and Audiophile world. For starters ,the fidelity coming out of the STR8s is crap compared to the cd6004. My ultimate aim is of course to turn that around; sq from audiophile TT > sq from cd6004 > sq from STR8-100 .

I thought of buying a TT within the £300 range (that is my budget right now).

I'd forgoe the pretence and get yourself a SL1210. Try with an Ortofon Blue cartridge.

Low maintenance, solid build quality and direct drive.

... and it will cost about £400 - £700 depending on age, condition and marque. Show me a link to an SL-1210 in good working condition and good cosmetic condition for £300 or less (the OP's budget) with a cartridge - such as your Ortofon 2M Blue* - included. I would buy it myself!

Where is the 'pretence' (what pretence?) with a Rega RP1 or the OP's Project suggestion?

*The last time I looked, a new Ortofon 2M Blue was about £150 which, on it's own, is half the budget gone.
 

Overdose

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chebby said:
Overdose said:
ea25 said:
Hi All,

I am seriously considering buying an audiophile turntable to add to my current rig (pm6004, cd6004, kef q300). Having said that, I am not completely new to vinyl, have owned the Stanton STR8-100 decks for more then 10years now. However, as you all well know, there is a mountain of difference between the DJ and Audiophile world. For starters ,the fidelity coming out of the STR8s is crap compared to the cd6004. My ultimate aim is of course to turn that around; sq from audiophile TT > sq from cd6004 > sq from STR8-100 .

I thought of buying a TT within the £300 range (that is my budget right now).

I'd forgoe the pretence and get yourself a SL1210. Try with an Ortofon Blue cartridge.

Low maintenance, solid build quality and direct drive.

... and it will cost about £400 - £700 depending on age, condition and marque.

I've just picked up a mint mark II for £200. ;)
 

chebby

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Got a link for that? (Like the completed ebay listing or whatever.)

I' ve just looked at a mint boxed Mk II on ebay for £599. (Far more typical.)

If the 'bubble' has burst on good, not thrashed, SL1210s then I might start thinking about one again.
 
I'd expect your budget to need to double to get anyway near the Marantz CDP for overall sound quality.

Like chebby, certainly when I was looking last year, good Technics SL1210 decks were hard to find below c. £350. A Rega RP1 might meet your expectations, but I think you'd need to consider something like a RP3 or Michell TecnoDec - or to hit your budget, a used Planar 3 (or P3-24 if you are patient). There are lots of ProJect models too which I'm less familar with.
 

stevebrock

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I would challenge anybody to find a mint SL1200/10 for £200!

They are like rocking horse ****

As for the suggestion of an RP3, I second it....the difference in SQ vs. RP1 is signifacant and well worth the money!
 

floyd droid

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chebby said:
Got a link for that? (Like the completed ebay listing or whatever.)

I' ve just looked at a mint boxed Mk II on ebay for £599. (Far more typical.)

If the 'bubble' has burst on good, not thrashed, SL1210s then I might start thinking about one again.

Gumtree Belfast. 1 month ago , still for sale ,who knows ?. Mint condition , little use (according to the seller ) 195 quid.

No you wont ,too many wires ,too much dust :p
 

chebby

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floyd droid said:
No you wont ,too many wires ,too much dust :p

You've forgotten the second/spare room system I am (slowly) building.

Little JPWs on the wall (taking up no floorspace), Denon CEOL Piccolo (very small).

I might have just a little space left over now i've ditched any ideas of a 'classic' amp and seperate DAC + ATV.

(And I still have almost 100 LPs - in excellent condition - that I haven't got around to selling yet due to ... umm ... laziness.)

I must admit that a minty, serviced, Technics SL10 (or SL7 or SL15) would be hard to resist, especially as P mount cartridges are still made.

My idea of a 'mint' SL1210 turntable would be where I am the first one to peel the protective plastic film off the lid. So I am probably too 'picky' to ever get one for £200.

This one gets close to what I mean.

[EDIT] I will get over it though. I have had these vinyl 'urges' a few times now and they are getting less intense each time. So you are probably right, and I probably 'wont'.
 

ea25

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Thank you all for your amazing input.

So what I'm deducing from the chain of comments is that for the time being I'm still better off with my cd6004 considering my limited budget.I'd discard the idea of buying the SL1210; although I remember playing those techno tracks back in the days on these decks and being a very good all rounder TT, the least I want is another DJ turntable. I'd consider the RP1 although I read somewhre that the Debut is more upgradeable.

I believe that my best option right now is to save up a little more and stretch my budget so I'll surpass the quality of my CDp
 

floyd droid

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chebby said:
My idea of a 'mint' SL1210 turntable would be where I am the first one to peel the protective plastic film off the lid. So I am probably too 'picky' to ever get one for £200.

This one gets close to what I mean.

Unless he has sold them all Dave Cawley @ Sound HIFi bought a load of even minty minty minters, brand new in the box jobbies when the end of SL12s was announced ( he probably got the nod long before).

SP10 would be nice but I've run out of kidneys. Nice little MK3 on the bay, a mere snip at 5400 of your finest , he's avvin a larf.

Did notice a while back that you tracked down the JPWs , all comes to he who waits eh.

Sorry to veer off topic Mr OP.
 

lindsayt

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chebby said:
I'd forgoe the pretence and get yourself a SL1210. Try with an Ortofon Blue cartridge.

Low maintenance, solid build quality and direct drive.

... and it will cost about £400 - £700 depending on age, condition and marque. Show me a link to an SL-1210 in good working condition and good cosmetic condition for £300 or less (the OP's budget) with a cartridge - such as your Ortofon 2M Blue* - included. I would buy it myself!

Where is the 'pretence' (what pretence?) with a Rega RP1 or the OP's Project suggestion?

*The last time I looked, a new Ortofon 2M Blue was about £150 which, on it's own, is half the budget gone.

Have you heard of something called ebay? Put "technics 1210" in the search box to see what comes up. Loads on offer. You could buy two of them and sell the one you don't want. Or, plucking one offer out - almost at random - you could buy this Mk2 for £100, buy a new Denon DL-110 cart for £130, plus half an hour with some elbow grease to clean it up: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technics-SL-1210-Turntable-/190814857190?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Turntables&hash=item2c6d73a7e6

I'd take a 1210 with DL-110 over a Rega RP1 any day.

There are lots of other decent 2nd hand direct drives about apart from the 1210 for £300 ish, such as the Pioneer PL71, Sony PSX 6750, Kenwood KD 990 etc etc etc.
 

chebby

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lindsayt said:
Have you heard of something called ebay?

No need to be patronising. I have had much success buying and selling on it.

lindsayt said:
Put "technics 1210" in the search box to see what comes up.

Ahh... that's how it works. Thanks.

lindsayt said:
Loads on offer. You could buy two of them and sell the one you don't want. Or, plucking one offer out - almost at random - you could buy this Mk2 for £100, buy a new Denon DL-110 cart for £130, plus half an hour with some elbow grease to clean it up: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technics-SL-1210-Turntable-/190814857190?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Turntables&hash=item2c6d73a7e6

You always have a knack of picking them don't you? The guy got his first negative this afternoon for cancelling his sale of this item (from under the winning bidder) and then trying to relist it for more money.
 

lindsayt

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chebby said:
lindsayt said:
Have you heard of something called ebay?

No need to be patronising. I have had much success buying and selling on it.

So then Chebby, why did you ask for someone to provide a link to a working, clean, 1210 with cartridge for less than £300 if you are so familiar with ebay and a couple of minutes on it yourself would have provided you with the examples you were looking for in your earlier post?
 

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