Turntable advice

@waroftheants , look closely at the MoFi UltraDeck +. It has everything you are looking for in a tidy package. You would have to spend three times as much to do better. 

jasonbourne52

2,083 posts

07-16-2022 at 09:59pm 

Pioneer PLX1000 ($700) and a Hana SL mc cartridge ($750). This combination is competitive with other four-figure setups.

And you know this how?

Well within your budget, I’d have a look at the music hall mmf-7.3 with the ortofon 2m Bronze. However, this turntable is now up around $1899 (in Gloss black), $1999 (in walnut). I think this turntable provides a lot for your money. Pair it with a Tavish Design classic or vintage tubed phono preamp. I’m giving this opinion/advise based on my own experience/ownership. It is a great sounding combination.

I just set up my MoFi UltraDeck with Hana ML cartridge (upgraded from Hana EL). Like what I’m hearing so far! This combo fits your budget.
Other choices…Marantz with the included Clearaudio cartridge is a great combo. As well as Clearaudio Concept table that leaves you enough for a good cartridge to complement it.

Lots of choices for a phono amp in the $1500 budget as well. Tube or solid state. Fee examples…Sutherland is a very good choice in solid state with plenty of loading and gain settings. EAT E-Glo Petite has good rep in tubed units in that price range.

@waroftheants 

+1 on the SOTA recommendation.

Regardless of which turntable you decide on for best long term results spend your money on the table and tonearm. Don't get too wrapped up in the cartridge and preamp because you may make a few changes along the way.

I bought a refurbished SOTA Sapphire two years ago. I ordered it with an Origin Live Silver tonearm and an Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge. I did end up putting a SoundSmith on it a couple of weeks later.

You would have to call them to order. Their customer service is excellent. I got Donna Bodinet the owner when I called. She knows her stuff. Since it is a 55 minute drive from my driveway to their factory I picked mine up. I got to meet Donna and while I was loading my new toy up she told me my setup could handle any cartridge I could throw at up to around $3k.

A new Sapphire is $4k and a refurbished one around $3200. Add $1k for the tonearm. The Sapphire is a suspended table and can absorb a lot of vibration. It is also one of the two turntables certified by SoundSmith for their $9k to $17k strain Guage cartridges. You might need a better tonearm than the Silver.

The 2M Red was nice. I put it on my parents' old Sansui turntable. It could be upgraded to a 2m Silver or Blue... they all use the same pickup. I will recommend the Audio Technica VM95 series cartridges. Herb Reichert recommended the VM95E in two separate interviews with Steve Gutenberg. There are six cartridges in the series. The VM95SP is for 78rpm records. The other five are a conical VM95C, an elliptical VM95E, a nude elliptical VM95EN, a Microline VM95ML and a Shibata VM95SH. The cheapest is around $40 and the most expensive $199. They all use the same pickup. You could get a Microline and an elliptical for around $200. You could get all five...one cartridge and the other four replacement styluses for around $500. Set up one and just swap the stylus. Use a cheap one fore the records you are not sure of.

To start off I would suggest sticking to a moving magnet (MM) or moving iron (MI).  Moving coil can require special care and feeding. A decent MC cart starts out in the $500 to $700 range. Good MM or MI can be had for less. The VM95 series will allow you to see how different stylus profiles affect the sound. SoundSmith and Grado make moving iron cartridges.

Check out the Schiit Jotunheim. It can be ordered with a phono card. I am using one as a preamp. It is the only headphone amp in their lineup that has three inputs and handles XLR. It also has a quarter inch and a four pin XLR jacks for headphones. I liked it so much I bought a second one for my daughter to set up a system for her.

If you want to add digital you don't need a computer. I am using a Raspberry pi 3 with Volumio in my main system. I also have a Dayton Audio WBA31 I use in the bedroom with a Vali2 and Modi Multibit DAC. I think it has been replaced by the WBA51. You can also look into the Wiim. Both of those need to be used with an external DAC and if you go with the Jotunheim get a DAC with XLR outputs. The Bifrost2 or Modius will stack nicely.

Jumping in feet first and starting from scratch is never easy. Hope you end up with something you absolutely love. Don't forget to sit back and enjoy it.