I recently purchased a Dr Feickart Volare with an Origin Live tonearm, with after a very long and careful process. This is a second turntable in my home, the first being a Spiral groove. Having such a special tt, and buying a second table without breaking the bank was difficult. Very little would compare to the SG. I believe the Dr Feickart line was a great choice. The Volare uses lots of the same Feickart build quality for a fraction on the cost as there highly regarded Blackbird, Firebird, and Woodpecker. German engineering as we know they know how to build great products. I think in your budget, that would be an excellent choice without feeling the need to upgrade in a cpl years after the bug really sets in. I also considered a Sutherland phonostage, and had a very nice conversation with the owner. Though it was in my top three, and also highly regarded. Also the Herron, and Manley Chinook. It took 3 phonostages before finally feeling satisfied . I think you would be very happy with those choices. On a side note, Kat the turntable specialist at Upscsle Audio recently purchased a Feickart Volare for herself. That speaks volumes, or at least to me. Good luck and enjoy. Also, you are lucky to take this journey with your wife.
Substantial Upgrade
Longtime lurker, first-time poster: My wife and I got into vinyl about five years ago and have been steadily collecting records ever since. We love spinning records, and listen to a lot of jazz, pop, and classical music. We started modestly with an AT LP120, and are lucky to have a friend who just happened to have a pair of Totem Rainmakers sitting in his garage collecting dust, which he gave to us, along with a TSC sub and all cables. We have decided it is time to invest in our own system.
I've done a lot of research and read numerous threads on this topic here and elsewhere, and we've narrowed our choices down to two tables: the Rega P6 (in the $1500 price range) or the Feickert Volare (in the $3500 bracket). Either table I'll be getting the Hana ML. For phonostage, we've narrowed down to the MoFi UltraPhono or the Sutherland KC Vibe mk ii. I'm hoping I can solicit opinions here on these choices and, in particular, whether the Feickert is going to make a difference for our use case. Finally, I recognize that the speakers might be outclassed by these upgrades, but we are separately planning to move in the next year and I want to wait and see where our new listening room is going to be before investing in new speakers.
Thanks in advance.
I've done a lot of research and read numerous threads on this topic here and elsewhere, and we've narrowed our choices down to two tables: the Rega P6 (in the $1500 price range) or the Feickert Volare (in the $3500 bracket). Either table I'll be getting the Hana ML. For phonostage, we've narrowed down to the MoFi UltraPhono or the Sutherland KC Vibe mk ii. I'm hoping I can solicit opinions here on these choices and, in particular, whether the Feickert is going to make a difference for our use case. Finally, I recognize that the speakers might be outclassed by these upgrades, but we are separately planning to move in the next year and I want to wait and see where our new listening room is going to be before investing in new speakers.
Thanks in advance.