Best turntable for the buck

@bassdude You don’t have to break the bank on a cartridge to get the G sounding killer. I’m running mine with a Grado Gold3. Sounds stunning.

I probably went a bit overboard on my phono stage- a Sutherland Duo, but my goal is to build my last system. I’m in a good place.

@rvpiano If you do, Music Direct has the all black 1210G in stock.

My wife didn’t get it- until she heard it.

There is a glaring omission from the recommendations- the Technics SL-1200/1210 G.

I’m a former Rega and Sota owner. I see the recommendations for the exact same Sota that I owned and just cringe. I hated mine.

The Technics offers everything I value, incredible sound quality, amazing build quality, it’s easy to set up and won’t go out of adjustment. I’ve bought my last turntable.

@bassdude I’ve seen that video and it’s spot on.

I actually tried to be kind to my wallet and started with the GR. It is noticeably brighter than the G, and doesn’t have the low frequency extension of the G either.

The G is worth every penny and then some.

@mr_m Setup issues are the standard response when someone doesn’t like something. I used to be in the business and have set up hundreds of turntables.

Over the years, I found myself using it less and less until it dawned in me that it was just a dust collector. I found myself staring at my album collection one day and realized I hadn’t played a record in 6 months.

I bought a cheap turntable just to see if it was the turntable or me. It was the turntable. I used that cheap table more in one year than the SOTA in 10. I gave that turntable away (a Pioneer PLX-1000) to someone new to the hobby.

Then a Rega P3, then 4 or so years with a MoFi UltraDeck. Finally a couple of months with the Technics SL-1210 GR and a few weeks with the G.

Looking back I could have purchased an original 1200 back when I bought the SOTA. Do they sound like the G? Nope, not even close. But I’ve done on air radio work so I know them well. I would have had a better/more reliably consistent table for much less money. It’s likely that I wouldn’t have quit playing my records. But it all worked out in the end. Luckily because of folks on the internet I was able to rid myself of the SOTA quickly and for a good price (for me- the buyer, not so much.)

If you like yours, great. But at $4k there are lots of options. I personally think SOTA should be approached without rose tinted glasses and with caution. But that’s just my opinion.

$4k is completely realistic. A few here (including me) have mentioned the Technics. It’ll do what you want. Also easy to set up and use. It’s maintenance free and built like a tank. It sounds amazing.

Music Direct offers a 60 day home trial. You’ve really got nothing to lose.

@rvpiano You’ll like that! Congratulations!

Ron Sutherland really knows his stuff. I had an Insight for a few years and stepped up to the Duo.

The people at MD are pretty awesome too- it sounds like they listened to you and actually brought you in way under budget.

@rvpiano

The importance of a high quality phono stage is often ignored.  The phono preamp may have the toughest job on all of audio- amplification of a tiny signal while adding as little noise as possible. On top of that it needs to provide accurate RIAA equalization.

Ron Sutherland really knows his stuff. You’ve bought a very high quality unit that should satisfy for many many years to come. It’ll also easily keep up (or ahead of) improvements in the rest of your playback chain, should you decide to upgrade in the future.