"Maybe because of the nostalgia"
Get a Fluance. Satisfy your curiosity. It's enough for what you have.
You'll get endless recommendations that will have you more involved than necessary.
Vinyl somehow has piqued my interest.
I never ventured into the world of vinyl personally. At 52 I have gone from cassettee to cd and end at streaming... and I am starting to miss actual media in hand, thus my interest in getting a cd transport, and now vinyl has made its way into my interest. Maybe because of the nostalgia of it - much like CD - a time in history that I don't want to disappear into the ether and be forgotten.
With that said - I would like to dive in - and get a vinyl player - but I have NO idea where to start and what brands to focus on - that would also include tonearms and cartridges. I could hit up chatgpt - but what fun is that...
I know a few brands that seem to put out decent products that I would probably be happy with - given my current system - which I will be migrating to a 2ch system this year but for now I have what I have:
marantz 7704 preamp
b&w cdm9nt towers
cambridge mxn10 and dac200m
kimber 8tc speaker cables
I would like to get some recommendations for a 'decent' vinyl transport. Nothing crazy expensive. I am talking less than 1k to 2k all in... that means player, cartridge, tonearm etc... much less if that is possible.
Just something I can listen to and it doesn't suck. So really the only restricitions I have are budget, and placement of gear -- has to go in a cabinet with the rest of my gear -- I no way to display it on a top shelf of some furniture etc...
Is there a sonic difference between them? Everying in audio seems to have its own character - so is it the tonearm and cartridge that 'matter' more than the thing that spins round and round? :)
Technics, Rega, Fluance, Music Hall, Pro-ject -- I am sure I am missing a lot on this list...
Is there a sleeper that punches way above its price point?
Thanks in advance.
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My last hiatus from vinyl was about 15 years ago. Instead of dumping my records I sold the table with the notion that it's a lot easier to buy a new turntable than hundreds of records... I bought a new table in 2021, just traded it toward a better one. My biggest mistake was giving away some great LPs when CDs came out. I got back in 15 years later and when one of my kids broke a $400 stylus I needed to pack it up for a while again.... that was around 2010. I rarely buy new records , most are not that great. I much prefer finding mint to Ex condition used locally. VG condition if its scarce Generally speaking I do not and could not recommend vinyl because I don't know anyone with a decent stereo worthy of a good table. Like Audphile1 I also got my digital side to where it was pretty good sounding, really good but sometimes I just prefer the LP version , so I upgraded my table. Cartridge is next. Some have mentioned Fluance but personally I would go with a U-Turn
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Just a quick mention on my U Turn. When I received it the stylus was broken and the tracking counterweight’s dial had popped off. I’m guessing rough UPS handling. I immediately contacted U Turn and they were awesome. Super quick response and they quickly shipped out a new cartridge and weight. I offered to send the old parts back but they declined. Their customer service was very personable and top notch. They’re a newer, smaller company and were great to deal with. Just thought I’d mention that since customer service these days seems to be hit and miss. |
I like @tablejockey recommendation to get a Fluance and you can have it packaged with nagaoka or ortofone. But then again check prices for the albums you like. It’s not a cheap adventure. @oddiofyl I sold my MoFi Ultradeck with Hana ML few years ago. Got my digital to where I want it and just picked up a new vinyl setup 2 months ago. VPI Prime X, Hana ML and Whest Two.2 phono stage. I have to say it’s pretty incredible and I’ve been enjoying it every day. Like you I kept the records so I have a couple f hundred albums to go thru. |
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