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Most hyped turntable, tonearm, and cartridge?

Which turntable, tonearm, and cartridge do you think are most hyped?

One of my friends who owns Garrard 301, Thorens 124 and EMT ?? told me that those three vintage turntables are as good as one can get for the price points, beating most modern turntables costing under $10K. However, I've also read that Garrard 301 is over hyped.
My friend also insists that Ortofon RMG 309 tonearm and the original SPU Silver Meister (not MKii) are best for Garrard and Thorens. I wonder whether the Ortofon arm and SPU cartridge are over rated. 
Your thought?
ihcho
wturkey's avatar
wturkey
871 posts
 
chakster. That Nakamichi is something else. WOW!
lewm
14,728 posts
 
Ihcho, I don't think you are a deliberate troll, but the kind of question you ask has no factual answer and is only a call for opinions on a subject that is probably for vinylphiles only a little less provocative than questions about Trump or religion.  You can see the battle lines forming already after only 8-10 posts. Ask yourself, what do you hope to learn from this thread that could possibly benefit you? I can't think of anything.
clearthinker's avatar
clearthinker
1,582 posts
 
As regards Garrard 301 there is a factual answer.
An idler wheel taking motor noise and vibration directly to the platter is clearly a bad design.  All this noise and rumble for $20,000 is just a big laugh.  Afficionados are kidding themselves.
Yes time does move on in 70 years but all the 200kg bling tables with 30kg platters and costing up to $250,000 are over-hyped too.  You don't need all that to spin an LP quietly at a constant speed.
rushfan71's avatar
rushfan71
316 posts
 
For me, if I had 10k to spend on a turntable and arm, I like the VPI Prime Signature with their Fat Boy gimbaled tonearm. (Just over 9k)
I have a 1983 Technics SL 1200 MKII with a few of the KAB mods.
It doesn't compare to my Super Prime Scout.
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
You could try at least Technics SP-10 mk2 without any mods, this is high-end Technics. Their SP-10 mk3 is ultra high-end.
The new one is SP-10R (drive about $7k) and SL-1200GAE turntable ($4k).

Even $900 SL-1200 mk7 is completely different turntable comparing to your old $400 hi-fi SL1200 mk2 @rushfan71




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