Help with TT ideas for my first TT


Hi All,

I have been reading alot of reviews and searching around for my first TT.  ALot of recent recordings that i want are basically only coming out on vinyl or super crappy mp3.  I have an Aaron integrated amp, with some custom built SB Acoustic Monitors (Bromo).

I am looking at the marketplace in the 1 - 1.5k range and see I can find alot of different solutions and wanted to get peoples thoughts:

Marantz tt-15 - Seems like  bargain at 1500, but difficult to setup
Clearaudio Concept - good reviews, bumps against the magnetic arm (Cement floor at my place)
Music Hall MMF 7.3 - Seems like a great solution
VPI Cliff Wood
Pro-ject X1 or X2 - Have read some reports of motor noise
Rega Planar 2 or 3 - Seems to be they are what they are

With such a crowded field how do people choose?  I live in Central Mass, and dont have alot of options in terms of auditions so would love to get peoples thoughts. 
kro77
@kro77 

I wish I could add More to help


Usually the local Hifi shop has a name that cleans records and returns them as a service 

maybe there is a guy you can mail them to and try a super cleaning ?

stylus SHAPE , I thinks makes a difference too?

back in the 70’s , all were spherical/ elliptical that we could afford and MAYBE the sharper stylus goes to uncharted vinyl 

I’m a virgin too, on this stuff

good luck 

jeff
This voyage is a fun one @kro77  Glad your enjoying it. In three years, I'm at 3 TT's, two of them vintage. 6 vintage arms. 14 vintage carts. I love this ride! Vintage tubes are nice to add too. 
Watched Youtub on how to clean records and I was doing it wrong.  Definitely cleaned up the sound quite a bit.  I found place near me that is a vinyl specfic shop so will see if they have that service. 

@knollbrent  14 carts how do you find time to change them so many?  Changing my carty one time made me think i did not really want to do it any time soon.

Rolling tubes sounds like fun, as is cable rolling.  I have been playing with different cables and cords as of late with DIY stuff and finding it to be much better than the supposed good stuff I had from the store.
@kro77 each cart has it's own flavor. Most of my carts have been aligned for certain arms, but once you get the hang of it, adjusting to a different arm isn't that difficult. Mine have all been aligned by my Japanese time traveling friend. At the moment, I just use my TechnicsGR but Luxman is ready and my Victor TT101 is on JP's bench getting adjusted. It was just 3 years ago that I started this journey. It was destiny.