Best tt under $500 ?
- Thread starter Jimii
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reubensm
Well-Known Member
Both are great, however feedback from friends tend to tilt the balance in favour of Pro-Ject. If you are a bit more adventerous at your price point (and a little lucky too), you can pick up a vintage master piece (Thorens or Garrard) and tweak it for results much better than what you can expect with your current options.
Hi Reubensm
I had a Bang and Olufsen Beogram 1700 which was really good. I just didn't want to get it fixed. I know some of the vintage stuff is really great but I don't want all the headaches associated with it. I have never personally heard a Thorens in person but the name pops up everywhere. Can you please tell me what makes it so much better. I heard the Pro-ject Debut 3 and liked it alot. The Debut Carbon has quite a few upgrades over the Debut 3. How much would one have to spend to get a good Thorens and tweak it to be really good? How much better are we talking %wise. Maybe it is worth it. I'm still exploring my options. Thanks
I had a Bang and Olufsen Beogram 1700 which was really good. I just didn't want to get it fixed. I know some of the vintage stuff is really great but I don't want all the headaches associated with it. I have never personally heard a Thorens in person but the name pops up everywhere. Can you please tell me what makes it so much better. I heard the Pro-ject Debut 3 and liked it alot. The Debut Carbon has quite a few upgrades over the Debut 3. How much would one have to spend to get a good Thorens and tweak it to be really good? How much better are we talking %wise. Maybe it is worth it. I'm still exploring my options. Thanks
a.kr.sriv
Member
I am considering getting either a Pro-ject Audio Debut Carbon or a Rega RP1 tt. Which is better ?
So which one did you get?? And from where(if u r from india, that is)??
Srivastava
john_k_antony
Well-Known Member
I also had to choose between Project Debut III and Rega RP1. I chose Project Debut III because I was told that RP1 is slightly towards the brighter side. I am happy with Debut III. I did some upgrades to the TT after I got it. The stock Cart OM-5E was just okay. I upgraded the stylus to OM30. That significantly reduced the surface noise and improved the trackability. I also got SpeedBox and AcrylIt platter. Over all pretty happy with the table and upgrades .
-John
.-John
Tough question. But I guess it boils down to these vintage turntables being built like tanks and with high precision finishing of the moving parts. BUT they need proper plinth, a good tonearm, a good cartridge, a good phono preamplifier, .... You got the drift. The setup will need a fair amount of optimising, and therefore some amount of understanding of the mechanicals and electricals (which is a good thing, actually). It is almost impossible to buy a completely ready system off the shelf if one wants one of these vintage 'tables. And they are not cheap anymore.
you could very safely go for a technics SL 1210 from https://www.emporiumhifi.com/shop/c...MQB069oJ3FeVMBMCHoJZExptKfyQ&shop_param=cid=&
https://www.emporiumhifi.com/shop/a...eVMBMCHoJZExptKfyQ&shop_param=cid=17&aid=211&
https://www.emporiumhifi.com/shop/a...eVMBMCHoJZExptKfyQ&shop_param=cid=17&aid=211&
kuruvilajacob
Well-Known Member
None of the new gen players can match a properly modified Garrard, Lenco or thorens. As rightly mentioned by jls100 , you can't get one vintage player fully intact unless it is bought after modification by the seller which is very rare as modifying a vintage player is not an easy task but if someone really puts in the effort, the end result will be very satisfactory.
john_k_antony
Well-Known Member
Sorry about OT. The following TTs are way above OPs budget. But how about the new gen ones like VPI Scout and ClearAudio Concept MC? I have read rave reviews on both the TTs in lots of online forums. Yet to hear them though. But planning to audition them soon.
-John.
With all due respect, I think the above statement is a gross exaggeration. There is no doubt that the great vintage players, if properly modded and revived now, can still be very good. But there is no reason to completely ignore the new players. I hope you are speaking only of the budget level new generation players.
Regards.
Quite a lot of options in this price range. One cannot go wrong with Technics SL-1200 Series. & If you ever feel that this is not the one for you, it can be sold within hours of advertising easily for the money that you paid for it!
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Agree to quite some extent with Asit. But also to the point that while comparing options, we have to consider the same price range. Comparing two TTs in different price segments is like ...umm...as Reuben had once famously said that its like comparing Maruti 800 to a Rolls Royce! There are still great new tables available like Rega & Pro-jects but the price are significantly higher starting at @ about 20K ( & higher). I got this quote (pls see the attachment) from Nova Audio for Pr-ject TTs 2 months back. The cheapest was 'Essential' @17,800 + Phono and the Debut-III was @ 22,800/- + phono.
By spending 5-6K you can get a good vintage TT like a Technics or other such TTs which have stood through the test of time & made their reputation. Add 5-6 K for a Decent cart too. So you have a great player in the Range of about 11K, so works out to be cheaper. If you buy any new TT for less than 15K, it will be mostly plasticky, Will have a very basic Cartridge (some might not be upgradable too) and quality of moving parts is likely to be less sturdy than their vintage counterparts & As long as these differences are there, there will always be a Vintage vs. New TT comparison. Good Old tables can on an average can weigh anything over 7-8 Kgs while new entry level TTs are in the range of 2-3 Kgs which speaks about the ruggedness in itself. Cartridge upgrades in vintage TTs are a cakewalk and may be undertaken all life!
But its all about the mindset of the buyer, there are people who will look for TTs with tank-like builds to last a lifetime with proven reputation of decades & of course the nostalgia associated with it, and there will be guys who would settle for nothing short of a brand new shining, Never used first owner TTs which is ready to play the moment its out from the box!
I went the vintage way and am glad that I did!
Thanks for reading,
Saket
By spending 5-6K you can get a good vintage TT like a Technics or other such TTs which have stood through the test of time & made their reputation. Add 5-6 K for a Decent cart too. So you have a great player in the Range of about 11K, so works out to be cheaper. If you buy any new TT for less than 15K, it will be mostly plasticky, Will have a very basic Cartridge (some might not be upgradable too) and quality of moving parts is likely to be less sturdy than their vintage counterparts & As long as these differences are there, there will always be a Vintage vs. New TT comparison. Good Old tables can on an average can weigh anything over 7-8 Kgs while new entry level TTs are in the range of 2-3 Kgs which speaks about the ruggedness in itself. Cartridge upgrades in vintage TTs are a cakewalk and may be undertaken all life!
But its all about the mindset of the buyer, there are people who will look for TTs with tank-like builds to last a lifetime with proven reputation of decades & of course the nostalgia associated with it, and there will be guys who would settle for nothing short of a brand new shining, Never used first owner TTs which is ready to play the moment its out from the box!
I went the vintage way and am glad that I did!
Thanks for reading,
Saket
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reubensm
Well-Known Member
I can swear by Technics direct drives with the S-arm. They are hard to beat.
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