First was a cheap plastic thing I got when at University in the early seventies to go with my integral cassette player and speakers.
The second was a Garrard SP25 that I bought from a friend.
Then came a Thorens TD166 that I customised with a Haddock arm and later passed on to my brother.
In 1982 I got a Linn LP with Basik arm that got upgraded eventually to Klimax level. It gave me many years of excellent service until I traded it in 2019 to focus on digital.
There followed five years without a turntable, until regret set in when I saw how much my sons and friends were enjoying vinyl. In 2024, I gave in and bought a second hand Klimax level second hand LP12 that someone traded in with my dealer for the same reasons I had. This was clearly so much better than my previous one, as things had moved on with the Urika II, Karousel and Radikal 2. That LP12 was put in a shiny new black plinth to satisfy my wife’s sense of aesthetics. I am happy with this LP12 and have so far resisted any temptation to get Bedrok, the new Klimax Radikal or Keel SE. That is not difficult because of the expense and the fact the my turntable already sounds fantastic without them.
