Record player recommendations

[holliscx]

I had an epiphany recently that I need to listen to Gillian Welch's Revelator plus a handful of other favs on vinyl.

So, I'm looking for the Cannondale CAAD of record players. My best friend in Charlottesville recommends an Audio Technica player that he claims is the gold standard of entry level. His is hooked to a retro tube preamp paired to stereo Sonos 5 speakers, but for me he recommends going a cheaper route, the AT plus AudioEngine bookshelf speakers.

I live in a small apartment so sound will only need to be one room; no McMansion audio spanning multiple bedrooms.

I like simple clean aesthetics and I'm probably ok reaching for a nicer intermediate versus a budget entry level but I don't need bells and whistles apart from no-brainers.

Appreciate any suggestions: I was in a local Best Buy (Fnac ftw) recently with my son who saw a record player and asked me what it was when I realized we need crackling in our lives.

[Mark Kelly]

Don't go valve (tube in US) for entry level phono. Valve phono stages are exceedingly difficult to design well* and that means good ones cost way more than you are prepared to pay. TLF** based phono stages are much easier to design so you can make a decent one for chump change, so go there.

As for choice of TT, AT is probably a good choice for entry level. They are amongst the few companies still taking vinyl seriously.

FWIW I used to do design work in this space. One of the TTs I helped design now sells for $USD 100k and they promised to give me one. If it ever turns up I'll sell it to you for way less.



* Here's one of my efforts: http://www.nutshellhifi.com/mkelly/ There's probably about $ 1k worth of parts in that so it would retail for > $5k. It lso uses parts that are now totally unobtainable so if I did it again I'd have to change it.

** Old joke: transistors have three leads and blow up if you look at them wrong so valve designers call them three legged fuses.

[Peter Polack]

Belt drive turntables seem to dominate the market. They isolate the platter from the motor so you get less vibration, and ultimately less noise, transferred to the record needle and your speakers.

I don't like them because if you don't use them regularly, the belt eventually "takes a set" and the platter speed will tend to waver.

But like I said; they dominate the market so I guess changing a belt or even finding a replacement, must not be that big of a deal.

I'm a direct drive turntable guy and I haven't had a problem with my cheapo Technics turntable in 30+ years.

Once you iron out your belt drive/direct drive choice, next thing I'd want is automatic lift-off at the end of the record. I don't want to have to race over to the turntable when the side is done, suddenly awakened from my slumber induced from the sweet sound of vinyl, to save the needle from the label. Get automatic lift off.

You'll want a moving magnet cartridge. They have a higher output level than moving coil cartridges, and most amps/receivers that have phono inputs come with preamps for moving magnet cartridges. They won't work with the rarer, lower output moving coil cartridges. Forget that outboard phono preamp stuff-too complicated and only for audio snobs.

Yeah; the Audio Technica will be fine. Pro-Ject, Music Hall, and Rega are also popular brands. Some audio snobs are into that minimalist thing, as if auto lift off affects the sound...sheesh.

And get a cover for your turntable. Brushing dust off a turntable is a pain.

Speaking of brushes; you should get a brush to clean your record prior to playing it. Google the Discwasher brush. The few seconds it takes to clean a record before the needle drop will keep you from having to listen to that crackling.

[Marvinlungwitz]

I’d suggest taking your time and hunting for a vintage TT. There’s something to be said for the vintage vibe and style. I still have a Pioneer PL 707 from the mid 1980s, currently sporting an inexpensive but nice sounding AT VM 540 cartridge. (It’s a semi automatic with direct drive, but for me, the convenience wins out).

[rwsaunders]

You want another rabbit hole? Here’s a site that is focused on audio equipment and as a few have indicated, you can’t go wrong as a starter with a direct drive Technics that been maintained. After that, the sky is the limit.

https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php

[spopepro]

A direct drive technics is, in fact, probably the sweet spot of price and performance. The downside is that the older circuit boards are rubbish and the caps will need replacing. I can’t recommend them for anyone who isn’t a “make or fix audio gear” hobbyist.

Get a AT deck. Get a Schiit mani. Get some good powered bookshelf monitors and enjoy the music.

If you want to make a hobby of it anytime… well that’s a different story.

[GrantM]

I had an epiphany recently that I need to listen to Gillian Welch's Revelator plus a handful of other favs on vinyl.

So, I'm looking for the Cannondale CAAD of record players. My best friend in Charlottesville recommends an Audio Technica player that he claims is the gold standard of entry level.

I guess it depends on your definition of "entry level".

Rega is the Shimano of TT's, making excellent engineered plug and play tables in the UK for decades.
Their own forged aluminum arms exceed the standards of others costing many times more.
Simple, well made, sound great.

The P-2 is like 105. P-3 is like Ultegra.

https://www.rega.co.uk/products/turntables

-g

[Too Tall]

I guess it depends on your definition of "entry level".

Rega is the Shimano of TT's, making excellent engineered plug and play tables in the UK for decades.
Their own forged aluminum arms exceed the standards of others costing many times more.
Simple, well made, sound great.

The P-2 is like 105. P-3 is like Ultegra.

https://www.rega.co.uk/products/turntables

-g

I've been waiting for G. to say that. He put me onto Riga a while back. Good stuff.

[holliscx]

fwiw this is what AT recommends per the rec above for auto liftoff

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-lp3

Aesthetically this is my favorite though it's fine and not something I have to reach for necessarily

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us...ive/at-lpw40wn

The Regas are glossy and a bit expensive. I glanced at them and said meh but I'll look again; thanks for the rec Grant

[sk_tle]

I am also in the market for a new turntable. What is the consensus around the PRO-JECT turntables? They are sold in comparable price range as the mid and highend audio-technica stuff but with a more minimalistic look?

[spopepro]

I am also in the market for a new turntable. What is the consensus around the PRO-JECT turntables? They are sold in comparable price range as the mid and highend audio-technica stuff but with a more minimalistic look?

Pro-Ject makes all kinds of decks in many different styles and prices. I think parts/production-wise they are pretty good.

Generally tho... I tend to trust companies that have a design philosophy and stick to it, instead of trying to be all things to all folks. I had this issue with VPI when I was shopping for an upgrade to my P3. VPI's work is great, but they make statements about THE RIGHT WAY TO DO THINGS and then release a new turntable that goes directly against that. It ends up feeling like they are chasing marketing and trends and not improvement through engineering. I feel better (although, I'm admitting, this is about trust and feeling and not about something more objective) with folks like Nelson Pass (Pass Labs, First Watt) and Rega who stake their ideas and work their designs within those constraints.

Mark would know waaaaaaay more about this than me, but there's two ways you can go with turntables. The goal is to have a non-resonant, perfectly stable, constant speed device that *only* moves the (zero mass of course) stylus enough to create a signal. Reality, of course, is that all the parts interact with each other in negative ways. One philosophy is to make very simple, low mass systems that react quickly so the negative stuff doesn't persist (this is what Rega believes). Another approach is to make very heavy, powerful systems that overwhelm the negative stuff. If you look at the phono stage link Mark posted you can see an example. That looks like a garrard 301 set in a heavy laminated wood plinth with a looong arm (even though the article talks about a thorens with a linn arm). Even better imho would be to put it in a kitty litter epoxy composite plinth.

That was too many words to say... the couple of pro-ject decks I've listened to were good, but I personally would go (and did go) a different direction. But if the price and aesthetic are a match, it will probably bring you lots of enjoyment.

[Mabouya]

U-Turn gets good reviews, can be customized in a number of ways, and are assembled in Woburn, MA:

https://uturnaudio.com/pages/turntables

[Bob Ross]

Some quick off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts after reading through this thread:

-- I have never heard a direct-drive turntable where I couldn't hear that it was a direct-drive turntable. Once you know what to listen for it's impossible to miss that signature sound. Belt drives FTW.
-- that being said, OP asked about "the Cannondale CAAD of turntables" ...and I'd agree that a Technics direct-drive TT probably meets that description perfectly. Hey, it won't kill your children, it'll last forever, and if you crash in a crit -- or whatever the home hi-fi equivalent of that is -- you can afford the repair/replacement without feeling gutted.
-- I like Pro-Ject turntables, they are a good value, punching well above their weight class. As are Music Hall. Probably because they both come out of the same OEM factory in Europe. Also check out EAT (European Audio Team) for another contender in that same price/performance space.
-- Never heard of U-Turn before, but if they're made in Woburn they're made by real salt-of-the-earth blue collar Americans, which some people put a premium on.
-- regardless of what turntable you ultimately buy, remember that transducers are the business end of the pointy audio stick; the phono cartridge you select will have far more impact on how your records sound than the mechanical platter-spinning device.

[sk_tle]

What about the offering from Denon, Sony? I must say I have been rarely deceived by their mid/high end hardware.

Sony is offering only one model, the belt driven PSLX310BT. Initially I wasn't sure I would see any use in the bluetooth functionnality as playing records is mostly something I dedicate to the living room but I could very well using it with my noise cancelling Bose BT Headset as I live in the city with single-pane windows. That + noisy daughters.

Denon has a bigger range. If I didmiss the entry offering we have the DP-300F, DP-400 and DP-450USB, all belt driven.

[Mark Kelly]

Rega is the Shimano of TT's, making excellent engineered plug and play tables in the UK for decades.
Their own forged aluminum arms exceed the standards of others costing many times more.
Simple, well made, sound great.

I agree but then I disagree: for their arms, the analogy is apt, they make superb arms that outperform items costing a great deal more.

For TTs it's more like bike frames than components: some like steel, some think its time passed decades ago and prefer modern materials; similarly some like Rega TTs, some hate them. I am in the latter camp in both cases.

[robin3mj]

I have one of those U-Turns on order now. Upgraded the needle and platter, and built in pre amp. I’ll let you know how it sounds when it arrives. Will be connected to an AudioPro speaker.

[holliscx]

Sony is offering only one model, the belt driven PSLX310BT.

I like the look of that Sony not knowing anything about it or overthinking. Will research.

[spopepro]

What about the offering from Denon, Sony? I must say I have been rarely deceived by their mid/high end hardware.

Sony is offering only one model, the belt driven PSLX310BT. Initially I wasn't sure I would see any use in the bluetooth functionnality as playing records is mostly something I dedicate to the living room but I could very well using it with my noise cancelling Bose BT Headset as I live in the city with single-pane windows. That + noisy daughters.

Denon has a bigger range. If I didmiss the entry offering we have the DP-300F, DP-400 and DP-450USB, all belt driven.

Not sure about that sony arm, but i'm just going by looks here.

I haven't heard or touched any of the denon TTs, but the DL 103 is a stellar cartridge at an unbeatable price. It's too bad they don't offer it on any of their packages. I would trust them as a company to know what they are doing.

[72gmc]

That U-turn site is tempting! I’d have to steal my records back from my brother …

[rwsaunders]

This fellow is in my hood, so if you’re looking for a repair or a rebuilt item, I’d be happy to facilitate.

http://galaxieelectronics.com/