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Turntables from 1-10: Personality 8.5 Beauty 12

This thread could be interesting for any components, but I write as I am thinking of adding a turntable to my system.

In the end, I might not use it very often, but I love the beauty of turntables, if only as a conversation piece for my missionary work with non audiophiles.

Obviously, I want it to sound very good too but I might get more pleasure per dollar per hour of usage with an unusually gorgeous turntable. I need to keep the budget to < $10,000 retail.

Could anyone recommend a particular VPI model? The HRX is obviously gorgeous, but I imagine the less expensive ones look great too and much of the same performance as their top of the line?

How about the Michell Gyrodec SE? Is it as gorgeous as it looks in pictures? Oracle?

Obviously the dowdy LP12 is out, as are the mdf Regas and others.....

Thanks for any ideas.
cwlondon
patrickamory
193 posts
 
I'm pretty blown away by Peter Clark's blue Redpoint that he showed at CES this year.
docsavage
109 posts
 
I have to agree with Dan And Raul on this one. Thom's Galibier tables are great to look at but more important they also have amazing sound.
clio09
3,346 posts
 
Many excellent suggestions. In any case I will throw out the SOTA Nova or Cosmos TTs as new production options not yet mentioned. However, some vintage tables that I have seen of late sure look great. The Merrill Heirloom is really nice from a simplistic perspective, and some of the higher end Micro Seiki tables (wood plinth and RX series) are real lookers.
ducatirider
111 posts
 
For sheer beauty it has to be the La Luce line from Judy Spotheim. Apparently they sound great too. I also think the Acoustic Solid in polished aluminum finish is quite visually appealing. Definitely not retro looking but neither is the HRX.
hals_den
77 posts
 
I reluctantly bought a Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4002 from a client and after replacing the cartridge with a Soundsmith SMMC20EN and repairs I have a beautiful and sleek automatic linear tracking turntable that I'm quite pleased with. I know a lot of audiophiles thumb their noses at automatic and linear trackers but I believe the advantages should be considered. They include ease of set up, great tracking with 1 gram VTF, and the convenience approaching a CDP.
I have had the 4002 for almost a year and appreciate it more and more. It's prominently perched on a wall shelf in the living room, has a high WAF factor, and a low profile that I appreciate more after seeing so many massive platter turntable where the platter has a comparitively high profile. Living in California has exposed me to the principles of fung shei and I have developed an appreciation for low profile designs.
The 4002, cartridge, and repairs cost about $600 which was a lot less than I was ready to spend.
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