Turntable recommendations: £300-500 (sans arm & cart)

I remember somebody on this board recently had a Townsend Rock with a knacked bearing.

I it is for sale buy it (only if it has the trough and paddle), have it fitted with a new bearing and serviced, put an RB300 or similar on it. All for under £500.

IMO the best you would get for £500 notes.

If I was in UK I would.

Ken

 

Now that I agree with, but it just ain't easy!

Dunc

 

Never even heard of a Technics SP 10. If you prefer it, then jolly good.

I have heard a reasonably wide selection of good TTs. I prefer my modified pre-cirkus LP12/Aro/Avondale PS/Prefix/Epona PPS/ESCo Troika on phase 11 Mana to anything else, and it certainly knocks CD for six.

 

Now thats a mouthful!

 

Ninja is shorter!

 

like a turtle!

 

Yes a mutant hero.

 

Sounds great!

 

I dont have a TT...yet.......and Im trying to avoid all temptation for the moment but I notice the clearaudio stuff never seems to get a mention yet it gets decent write-ups. FWI, from what I have listened the Roksan at around £800 new sounded pretty dam fine EVEN with a SS amp!!

 

a teenage one?

 

a teenage amp?

 

Its the same kind of difference you get between a gyrodec and a technodeck.

You can upgrade a gyrodec with orbe platters, change motors etc until you have an Orbe. With the technodeck - good as it might sound - you have a technodeck.

The Interspace can handle bigger platters and other upgrades that make it upgradeable. As far as Im aware the Horizon is a fixed upgrade platform like the technodeck.

Thats the reason I'd stretch to get a gyro, or an interspace for example instead of going in lower in the range (if you can).

I'll look out for some interspaces. I can normally find one ! (?)

NB Those garrards I posted are all at the emporium. He has LP12's aplenty too. The only NAS he has in right now is the hyperspace which is too much cash..

 

erm... cant find one! sorry! oops

 

Chaps

I have a restored Garrard 401, mounted in a Loricraft plinth. It also has a Loricraft PSU and a Naim Prefix. The arm is a Naim Aro with a Dynavector 17D2MK11 cartridge.

I once lusted for a Ninja (which is superior to any LP12) but no more. The 401 is just what a TT should be. I have heard the very same Ninja that Bub owns and coveted it but the 401 has changed all that.

I recommend you all go down the 401 route. It really is an excellent TT.

Regards

Mick

 

Yes, it does have that effect on people.

 

This might be useful, there will also be a part 2 to this restoration project too:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/garrard/301.html

Been thinking of doing a 301/401 project myself as I really need a TT.

 

A local dealer (Technosound, Milton Keynes), has a Pro-Ject RPM-4 for £199.00. This deck is complete and ready to go, it's a second-hand trade-in I think and it looks perfect.
They also have a Pro-Ject RPM-6 (new), on special at £399.00 but I think that does not include a cartridge,...but then you can always haggle a deal with them.

 

thats a five minute walk from my house!

let me know if you want me to look at it/them

 

Just posted a reply on the Pink Triangle thread I started in PFM - thought I'd copy/paste a bit of it in here as it sums up what I'm hearing just now.

To make a long story short, I took home a couple toys to play with over the weekend: Gram Amp 2 and 2SE, Project Phono Box SE, and a 2nd hand Sumiko Blue Point (not the special, but it's got an interesting modification whereby a solid chunk of aluminium is used to attach the mounting screws). Anyway, the Sumiko has proven to be the big revelation, and my suspicions that my Ortofon 520 was holding back the rest of the kit were entirely correct - the Sumiko is so much better it's not even funny! This is what I posted in PFM by way of progress report:


And god damn if that Sumiko doesn't sound goooooood! The Ortofon was REALLY holding things back! Soooo much clearer and more stable and sweeter and much more depth, and ooooooohhhhhh... As it is, with the Pink and the Sumiko into the Gram Amp 2SE things just sound luuuuuverly! Sooo much better than my previous combo (Planar 2, Ortofon 520, MF X-LPS)! I'm one happy bunny!

(Just thought I'd mention also that the Blue Point is a joy to setup and use, as Sumiko are clearly aware of the frustrations of aligning and cueing cartridges. The stylus guard has a marked line denoting the lateral position of the stylus in the cart, and the pivot point of the stylus guard marks the axial position of the stylus, so getting it positioned on the cart alignment chart thing is a breeze, and then aligning it is just as breezy an the sides are perfectly straight and parallel - in stark contrast to the Ortofon and many, many other carts out there. Bravo Sumiko!)

Anyway, I'm almost definitely going to shell out for the Pink and the Sumiko - now I just need to work out if the Gram Amp 2SE is worth the extra 75 quid over the straight 2.... And may try the Project Phono Box SE if I can be bothered... but probably not!

Dunc

 

nice one dunc!

are you tempted to try the sumiko and gram amp on the rega 2?