Getting a new turntable for christmas

[admin_exported]

Hello everyone,

i'm getting a new turntable for christmas and looking to get a bit of advise as to what to change to

currently i have a goldring lenco gl75 with a shure pick up i have around three hundred pounds to play with

so it will probably have to be a budget turntable i have been looking at the project debut 3 but with an ortofon 2m red cartridge

is this a good combination and what else would you recomend would be a good choice.

i listen to mostley rock and metal some country and soul and pop

any advise would be appreciated

 

[lindsayt]

Why not upgrade the Lenco with a better arm / cartridge / plinth / bearing modification / phono amplification / support / arm service / turntable service?

 

[Anonymous]

i'm quite happy with the way my lenco is apart from needing a change of cartridge it runs fine and sounds good and i use it for transfering vinyl to my computer and onto i tunes ect

the new turntable will be attatched to a simple amp and speaker set up in my livingroom.

 

[chebby]

... i have around three hundred pounds to play with...

Pro-ject Debut Esprit. £335

 

[matthewpiano]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

 

[CJSF]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

I'd go with that . . . and then treat yourself to a bonus £15 worth; SMR/Tech Sub Platter damping kit, the best £15 you will spend . . . I kid you not . . . search on fleBay.

See:

http://www.whathifi.com/forum/turntables-and-lps/raincloud#comment-2675900

post #2 . . . !

CJSF

 

[lindsayt]

i'm quite happy with the way my lenco is apart from needing a change of cartridge it runs fine and sounds good and i use it for transfering vinyl to my computer and onto i tunes ect

the new turntable will be attatched to a simple amp and speaker set up in my livingroom.

In that case, why not buy another Lenco?

Or if you fancy something different, buy a 1970's to 1980's Japanese direct drive. Something that would have been at the top or towards the top of their product range. Lots of different models from lots of manufacturers to choose from.

 

[MajorFubar]

currently i have a goldring lenco gl75 with a shure pick up i have around three hundred pounds to play with

Don't take ths the wrong way but what exactly is wrong with your GL75 that you think a new £300 TT will better? IMO the only thing wrong with a GL75 is the arm. And by 'wrong' I don't mean it was utterly naff, but let's say it wasn't the best part of the TT. With a better arm I'd bet a GL75 would compete very well with many new TTs, so long as it's not worn out. It was very well engineered, and with analogue audio devices, engineering is where it's at.

Again, just my opinion...others may disagree.

 

[Anonymous]

Theres nothing wrong with my lenco it's very good i just want a new turntable for my living room

as stated before i use my lenco to transfer my vinyl to itunes and cd's ect which is set up in another room

i dont want to be lugging my heavy lenco from one room to another

when i got my lenco it wasn't in the best of states and i have had it restored back to health by a friend of mine

most of the ones i've seen on e bay arent the best and don't want to go down the road of buying another one and then

spending a fortune fixing it up so i've decided to opt for a brand new one.

 

[MajorFubar]

Ah fair enough...like I said, no offence was intended, hopefuly none taken. The old GL75s are suprisingly good TTs.

Good luck with your quest 🙂

 

[John Duncan]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

+1

http://www.lintone.co.uk/special-offers/rega-p3-24v-turntable-black-2307-148-3272.php

Nothing better at the price.

 

[chebby]

Nothing better at the price.

Gloss white or gloss yellow, brand-new P3-24 (with TT-PSU included) for £349...

http://www.moorgateacoustics.co.uk/new-end-of-line/rega-research-p3-24-colour-turntables-2118235-169904-710496.php

... looks like it might still be a recent/current offer.

Rega yellow is highlighter pen yellow. Nothing too subtle. Lovely 🙂

The TT-PSU alone is worth £150. Bargain.

 

[lindsayt]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

+1

http://www.lintone.co.uk/special-offers/rega-p3-24v-turntable-black-2307-148-3272.php

Nothing better at the price.

Nothing better at the price?

Nothing?

Oh, I get it. Is this some game where we're pretending that all those Japanese direct drive turntables on eBay don't exist?

We can also play the Top Gear Challenge Game. Would anyone here like me to buy a random sub £200 Japanese direct drive turntable which I would then take to anyone's house or to any dealer to compare against any other turntable including the Rega P3-24? Just so that we can establish whether the Rega P3-24 really is the best turntable you can buy for £299?

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Lindsayt I think he means new.

Iagree with you about Japanese direct drives but get the feeling they weren't too popular in the UK, which had a thriving cottage industry, after all.

 

[matthewpiano]

OK lindsayt. What is it that you've got against Rega turntables?

 

[John Duncan]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

+1

http://www.lintone.co.uk/special-offers/rega-p3-24v-turntable-black-2307-148-3272.php

Nothing better at the price.

Nothing better at the price?

Nothing?

Oh, I get it. Is this some game where we're pretending that all those Japanese direct drive turntables on eBay don't exist?

We can also play the Top Gear Challenge Game. Would anyone here like me to buy a random sub £200 Japanese direct drive turntable which I would then take to anyone's house or to any dealer to compare against any other turntable including the Rega P3-24? Just so that we can establish whether the Rega P3-24 really is the best turntable you can buy for £299?

"I've decided to opt for a brand new one"

 

[plastic penguin]

Rega RP1 Performance or, better still, look up moorgate acoustics who still have run-out stock of the P3-24 at £299.

+1

http://www.lintone.co.uk/special-offers/rega-p3-24v-turntable-black-2307-148-3272.php

Nothing better at the price.

Nothing better at the price?

Nothing?

Oh, I get it. Is this some game where we're pretending that all those Japanese direct drive turntables on eBay don't exist?

We can also play the Top Gear Challenge Game. Would anyone here like me to buy a random sub £200 Japanese direct drive turntable which I would then take to anyone's house or to any dealer to compare against any other turntable including the Rega P3-24? Just so that we can establish whether the Rega P3-24 really is the best turntable you can buy for £299?

"I've decided to opt for a brand new one"

Are you entering the vinyl arena, JD?

 

[MajorFubar]

He's quoting the o/p in post #8 on the previous page.

 

[plastic penguin]

He's quoting the o/p in post #8 on the previous page.

Ah, right.

 

[lindsayt]

OK lindsayt. What is it that you've got against Rega turntables?

The sound quality for the price paid for them. This applies either new or 2nd hand.

The main sonic fault is that they sap too much of the dynamics out of the music when compared to other record players you can buy for less money.

BTW when playing my Top Gear Challenge Game, one of the challenges is to do nothing to the turntable that I would buy apart from fitting a cartridge to it. To see how it compares to a new turntable for ease of set-up and for for fuss free ownership. The OP and indeed anyone else is more than welcome to buy whatever they desire, including brand new record players.

I think it would be interesting to compare brand new (British belt drive) to vintage 2nd hand (Japanese direct drive) to see how they compare for: ease of set-up, short-term reliability, long term reliability, looks, technical measurements, sound quality.

Is there anyone who's up for my Top Gear Challenge?

"Let's have a look at what you could've won."

 

[MajorFubar]

I think it would be interesting to compare brand new (British belt drive) to vintage 2nd hand (Japanese direct drive) to see how they compare for: ease of set-up, short-term reliability, long term reliability, looks, technical measurements, sound quality.

You missed a few very important criteria on which your old Japanese DD TTs would score nil poi, particularly if bought privately: twelve month warranty (at least); guaranteed not been tinkered with and 'modified'; guaranteed to be absolutely pristine and boxed (if it isn't, get the dealer to exchange or refund); isn't 30+ years old with unknown wear and tear; if it dies the day after you buy it you can take it back to the dealers for an instant replacement or refund instead of slapping it on ebay as 'broken spares or repair' and hoping to get a few quid back.

Replace £xxx with any figure you want and often 2nd hand can potentially get you a better TT/CDP/amp/whatever, but there's a lot to be said for the security of buying new 🙂

 

[chebby]

Sellers are catching on to the demand for nice old DD units (example here) and £200 may not get you a lot nowadays unless you snag a BIN bargain from a seller who hasn't realised the trend.

However there are some nice classic belt drive bargains for under £200 🙂

 

[plastic penguin]

Sellers are catching on to the demand for nice old DD units (example here) and £200 may not get you a lot nowadays unless you snag a BIN bargain from a seller who hasn't realised the trend.

However there are some nice classic belt drive bargains for under £200 🙂

Take it you didn't gamble on the Thorens, Chebby?

 

[matthewpiano]

Sorry, but give me an RP3 over that PL-71 any day.

 

[lindsayt]

You missed a few very important criteria on which your old Japanese DD TTs would score nil poi, particularly if bought privately: twelve month warranty (at least); guaranteed not been tinkered with and 'modified'; guaranteed to be absolutely pristine and boxed (if it isn't, get the dealer to exchange or refund); isn't 30+ years old with unknown wear and tear; if it dies the day after you buy it you can take it back to the dealers for an instant replacement or refund instead of slapping it on ebay as 'broken spares or repair' and hoping to get a few quid back.

Replace £xxx with any figure you want and often 2nd hand can potentially get you a better TT/CDP/amp/whatever, but there's a lot to be said for the security of buying new 🙂

You may think that I missed the criteria of guarantees. I don't think I did.

I mentioned short-term and long term reliability. It's quite possible I could lose my Top Gear Challenge Game if my tt failed to work when we compared it against a new one. But hey, it's only a game.

If the tt that I bought worked fine for the first year and for the next 5 to 10 years then that would make a guarantee superfluous.

I have already bought over half a dozen 30 plus year old hi-fi components that have worked fine since I bought them over a year ago - well over a year in some cases. I have a good track record here. Would you like me to list these items? Would you like to come to my place to look at the engineering quality of these items so that you can assess the likelihood of them still working in the year 2050?

If I bought a tt that failed in my first day of ownership that was described as fully working I would get straight onto the seller / paypal for a full refund. Generally with 2nd hand hi-fi equipment if it works fine when you first get it, it should keep on working.

Wear and tear? Well engineered turntables will last a lifetime. They are not highly stressed items. They are not left outside in the rain and exposed to corrosive materials. They do not have combustive chemical reactions going on inside them.

For £299 it's possible that I could buy more than 1 well engineered Japanese dd turntable. To hedge my bets.

Ideally 50 or more of us would buy a vintage dd Japanese turntable, run them for over a year and then pool our experience to quantify how important guarantees are for these items.