Should I keep the Turntable or sell it?


I’ve been back and forth on this decision for about a month, and the more I learn, the harder this decision gets.

Backstory: I won the brand new Cambridge Audio Alva TT turntable in an online contest in mid-May, and while it sounds great, I decided to list it for sale a couple weeks ago. I’ve always wanted to try out a Rega P6 or P3 with a really nice cart, because I feel like I’m not getting enough out of my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon. Prior to winning the Alva TT, I switched the Red Ortofon out for the Blue, and there was a great improvement in sound quality. But after comparing the Pro-Ject to the Alva TT and hearing what a $1700 turntable can sound like, I definitely am interested in exploring more high fidelity turntables. The issue is that I feel like I prefer the sound of tubes over solid state, and the Alva TT uses an integrated Alva Duo phono preamp for the RCA out, and their own DAC for the Bluetooth out if I want to go that route. I don’t have a ton of experience with tubes, and maybe it’s just the “cool factor” I actually like and I’m just having a placebo effect.

So I decided to list it for sale to try and get a Rega, because I heard so many great things about them. But over the last week or so, I’ve learned more about the Alva TT and how it uses Rega’s famous tonearm. I looked up the cart and it is listed at $500 separately, which is probably why it sounds better than the Pro-Ject w/ Ortofon Blue. I’ve also read on these boards about direct drive being better than belt, which the Alva has as well. It also has the added bonus of Bluetooth that go directly to my KEF LS50 Wireless, but I would most likely just use interconnects.

So I would love to get some advice from you all. I’ve gone back and forth about keeping the Alva or selling it, along with my Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, and buying/trading for something like a Rega P3 or P6. If you had my first world problem, what would you do?
bignamehere

Showing 6 responses by lewm

Don’t buy new from foreign dealer on eBay.
And BPS is not the best option, to put it as diplomatically as I can.
Cartridges mate with tonearms, not with turntables.  You can use any cartridge you like with any turntable, so long as the tonearm is a good match to the cartridge.  And the matching only starts with determining the resonant frequency.  Beyond that, there is a certain black art to a synergistic matching of tonearm and cartridge. A lot of trial and error.  But you'll only preceive "error" if and when you have implemented a few different tonearms with the same cartridge.  You don't have to go that far to enjoy analog, but it's a fun journey if you do.


Just to keep the facts straight, let me repeat that coreless motors in direct drive turntables are not new.  Dual is probably the only company that can claim the invention, since Dual was the first company to market a coreless motor DD, back in the 60s, I think. In the late 70s and early 80s, Kenwood, Pioneer, Yamaha, and Victor all marketed DD turntables with coreless motors in their top end models.  I know that Kenwood was actually sued by Dual for the design of their coreless motor, and they were forced to change some aspects so as to avoid a conflict. Nevertheless, all of those motors look very much like the old Dual motor, if you take them apart. (I have had the Kenwood L07D motor and the Victor TT101 motor completely apart, so I know they are pretty much the same inside, except the L07D motor is a bit heftier.) 

None of the vintage Technics or Denon turntables, on the other hand, used coreless motors.  One drawback of the coreless motor for DD is that it is difficult to make them with high torque while also keeping the size down to what is practical for fitting into a turntable.  Moreover they tend to run hot.  The Pioneer Exclusive P3 motor is probably the highest torque coreless motor made in those days, and it falls short of the massive iron core motor in the SP10 Mk3, in terms of max torque. Technics never marketed a turntable with a coreless motor until this latest generation which includes the SL1200GAE, G, and GR, and the SP10R. I would bet that if you did an autopsy on one of their new coreless motors, you'd be looking at a Dual-type design.

I am not one who claims that belt-drive turntables are "bad". I do believe that on a dollar scale, you can get more for your money at a lower price point with DD or idler.  I've certainly heard some great belt-drives that I would be happy to own, like the Doehmann (forget the model name; the one with the built-in air shelf) and the Walker Audio, to name just two. I owned a SOTA Star Sapphire Series III (vacuum platter) and a Nottingham Hyperspace before going to idler and DD.  For sure I prefer what I now use to either of those two.

There are several "modern era" DD turntables about which I know nothing.  For example, the Grand Prix Monaco, the VPI (I do know it uses a patented "Thingap" motor which attempts to do away with cogging by employing sort of a continuous iron core as a stator), that DD that comes from the US West Coast; I forget the name.  The Brinkmann Bardo uses a Dual type motor for sure.
Take a deep breath and keep what you’ve got for a while. The foregoing conflicting bits of advice should be reason enough to take it slow. With all respect to Chakster, I am really rather surprised at some of his pro-Technics opinions, because in my own equally worthless opinion Chakster owns at least 3 DD turntables that I would place at least equal to or better than SP10 mk2, namely Denon DP80, Victor TT101, and Luxman PD444. But his basic notion that the low end of the new revised SL1200 series is a good way to go, if you’re restricted to only the new (vs vintage), I do agree with. One strategy would be to sit tight and look for a DP80, which can be had for about half the cost of a new SL1200GR if that’s the $1700 version.
Why the fascination with Rega?
i’d say stick with what you have for at least several months before you jump to something else. Also, and this may be unfair criticism, there are some who claim that the low end to mid level Rega tt’s tend to run “fast”. That can make them sound lively, which is good for sales. I hasten to add that I have no personal knowledge of this putative issue. Anyway you’ve got nothing to lose by waiting and listening.