Another turntable

A few years ago I was in the same position as you are now. I had a TW Raven GT SE with the AC platter and Black Night battery PSU. This PSU gave me lots of trouble, even after returning it twice to the manufacturer for repair. So I decided to sell it. I know I’ll be at the receiving end of demeaning comments from certain folks here, but I decided to try my luck with an old Micro RX-1500. Even in it’s basic form with aluminum platter the sound was surprisingly good. This made me decide to upgrade the table with stainless steel platter, copper mat, R-15 mass loaded feet and brass outer flywheel ring. I also had the motor drive fully refurbished. There’s plenty of space for up to 4 tonearms. The required gunmetal armboards are fairly easy to find and there are 1 on 1 replicas as well. In this fully dressed up version the RX-1500 runs circles around the TW, no comparison. Very important part of this outcome has been the use the SF-1 Kevlar belt. String drive will be equally good, but don’t use the standard rubber belt.

Of course the Micro can be easily dismissed as ‘old school’ technology, but I haven’t regretted this backward step for a micro second. It has secured itself firmly as my proverbial ‘last table’. And with your budget you can easily stretch to an RX-5000, assuming your rack can handle the weight.

The RX-1500 was sold in fairly large numbers in the EU, so 220V versions are not that rare although prices are steadily on the rise. The RX-5000 is much harder to find in EU voltage. Of the really big air bearing models like SX-8000 mk II only a handful 220V versions were apparently imported. If offered at all, your 20k budget won’t be enough.

Another option might be to check www.micro-seiki.nl or www.db-tribute.nl and look for The Tribute. This is a meticulously built one-on-one replica of the RX-5000 that can be sold together with a newly designed motor drive made by Dereneville in a chassis similar to the RY-5500 motor drive. Should be easily possible within your budget. On this site you will also find some of the add-on accessories, like the copper mat and even a replica of the HS-80 flywheel. The guy who runs this business is great to deal with, a real fanatic when it comes to quality and very customer friendly.

unfortunately my Finite Elemente Pagode HD Wallmount can’t handle the total weight of the Tribute, otherwise this would surely have been my ‘last table’.

FYI, currently on audiomarkt a Simon Yorke S7 offered for sale at €13k, complete with 9” tonearm and Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk II from a reputable German dealer. I’m not affiliated in any way, just noticed it while browsing. Could be your ‘last table’……