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£500-£1000 Turntable suggestions plz

How about an Avid? The Ingenium might well be available within your wider budget, or possibly a Diva, and is pretty simple. Will see off an RP3 and a Clearaudio, imho.
 
How about an Avid? The Ingenium might well be available within your wider budget, or possibly a Diva, and is pretty simple. Will see off an RP3 and a Clearaudio, imho.
You've carried out a direct comparison?

I've heard a couple of Avids, which persuaded me to buy an upgraded Cleauraudio Emotion.
 
My usual recommendation is an idler, Lenco easily affordable, Garrard 401 you'd need to be lucky. You also need a bit of DIY at that budget.

Your requirement of fuss free I'd recommend a 1210 +arm of choice. Rock solid and fuss free :D I've heard then with Jelco, Rega and Roksan's all very musical.
 
I've heard the Avid, the Clearaudio and the Rega, but not all together, so not a back to back comparison, but my recollection is enjoying the Avid the most.
 
shame I have just sold my Michell Gyro with Orbe upgrades and HR power supply for £800 in the classifieds these are lovely turntables and very easy to set up, also simple change on the belt for 45rpm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69508926@N05/15233878438/
My LP12 will also be put up for sale this week
My Pioneer PLC590 and Garrard 401 are my favorite turntables at the moment
Alan
 
IMO Lp12 while sounding great is not exactly plug n play and maintenance free

You"ll need a proper rack for it to perform optimally..therefore a number of added costs in the longer term to consider and not even started on the upgrades list..

I guess if you are technically inclined to perform tt tweaks then it should work fine..
 
I can heartily recommend a 2nd hand Nottingham Analogue deck. You should be able to get an excellent Spacedeck and arm for your budget. Plug and play simplicity coupled with a fairly neutral turntable/arm combination. I Love Rega decks but I don't think you would get the bang for buck when compared with a NA.
 
Wow thanks for all the replies everybody. The main thing worrying me about the Linn is buying one off ebay for £400-£600 (so definitely at the bottom end of their value) and finding I've bought little more than an expensive box of spares, then being unsure what's wrong with it or what to do about and it just turning into a money pit. Been stung too many times & starting to think most of ebay is full of people selling broken stuff that they really should throw away. Similarly I've not heard a decent LP12 to compare it to so also worried about forever wondering if what I've bought is even any good or not!

Thorens TD-320 MKII.
Very, very good drive and great arm.

That's a bit different! The prices of Thorens' & Ariston RD11's is tempting. Does this make them better value than the Linn because they're less desirable and sought after second hand or is it false economy because the linn can (in theory, and by throwing a shed load of money at it) be made to perform at a level that's far above what the alternatives discussed here can be upgraded to.
I've also seen lots of affordable Lenco's (flea-bay, again) and do have fond (rose tinted possibly) memories of a Lenco deck making some nice sounds through a Rogers Cadet many years ago at a friends house which has got me looking at them. Only ever see them with the stock arm. Is it any good and is it worth it / possible to change (improve) on what's there as standard.

Like I've said I'd rather buy 2nd hand however I live in Plymouth and I don't think anyone in this city has a decent hifi system because there's never anything for sale 2nd hand here. Id travel to a dealer for a properly set up LP12 at right price but would transporting it home mess it up again?
 
I bought a cheap early model Linn without an arm and have slowly been bringing up to the level where the sound is good enough for me to stop. I changed the original power supply for a serviced Valhalla, changed the springs, lubricated the motor and spindle, then managed to find an Akito.

The Akito was the expensive part since it needed replacement bearings, so sent it to Audio Origami who did a great job. All up I've probably spent the initial cost (400€) again on getting it to this level, but it's worth it.

Setting up isn't as hard as it sounds, especially since there are complete instructions on the Linn forum.

As to the Lenco, had one of those, too. It isn't a turntable I like, and preferred the Thorens and Linn to it. Build quality isn't great, but support is. I think I'm right in saying some arms can drop right in - lencoheaven will have the details.
 
I've stuck Helius Scorpio in a re-plinthed Lenco L75. I really like what it does. Drop in too with the original collar.

I'd have it above the belt drive decks I've had (TD125, RD80 , 775SM, Manticore) but I like what idlers do.

Linn arms also the same geometry but slightly more work sorting the collar.
 
I bought a cheap early model Linn without an arm and have slowly been bringing up to the level where the sound is good enough for me to stop. I changed the original power supply for a serviced Valhalla, changed the springs, lubricated the motor and spindle, then managed to find an Akito.

The Akito was the expensive part since it needed replacement bearings, so sent it to Audio Origami who did a great job. All up I've probably spent the initial cost (400€) again on getting it to this level, but it's worth it.

Setting up isn't as hard as it sounds, especially since there are complete instructions on the Linn forum.

This is rather encouraging to hear! The emporium have got a couple of LP12's, one with a slightly rough looking hand painted plinth & mission 774 arm for (iirc) £600. Its been for sale for a while so wondering if they're open to offers, or able to come up with something similar within the same price bracket.
 
Wow thanks for all the replies everybody. The main thing worrying me about the Linn is buying one off ebay for £400-£600 (so definitely at the bottom end of their value) and finding I've bought little more than an expensive box of spares, then being unsure what's wrong with it or what to do about and it just turning into a money pit. Been stung too many times & starting to think most of ebay is full of people selling broken stuff that they really should throw away. Similarly I've not heard a decent LP12 to compare it to so also worried about forever wondering if what I've bought is even any good or not!

DON'T buy one on ebay unless you can pick it up yourself from the seller. It will surely arrive in pieces, as mine did.:mad:

jeff
 
The best sound I've ever heard from a TT was an LP12 in an all Linn set up, monoblocs, speakers, the lot, except for the phono stage which was an Audiolab, probably the best sound I've ever heard from a Hi-FI system full stop.

The bass actually winded me, thought I was having a heart attack, the guy had just spent about £16k on it having upgraded from another Linn system.

The LP 12 was an old one though, about 1984-ish I think the guy said but the arm was a top of the range Linn arm or near it, looked amazing too, the TT goes to the Linn factory, which is just up the road from the owner, every year for a service and has new cart installed at each service.
 
Go for a Technics /Audio Technica/Soundlab) deck. We used Technics a lot in Hospital Radio and they sound great, can also take a lot of hammer, are fuss free and low maintenance.

Regas are not bad but the Linn was a never ending drain on my pocket and time.
Yes, the Linn did sound the best, mostly in image terms, but only when firing on all cylinders, which wasn't all that often. To add insult to injury it smeared tonal colour by slightly homogenizing the sound. Never was there a turntable which needed so many excuses.

Also bear in mind that the twin evils of scratches and surface noise are often made worse by so-called high-end record players. Project Debut Carbon gives you a good idea of what was on the master tape but you will need a sympathetic cartridge to keep the clicks and pops at bay.
 
Little mention so far of the Michell Gyro with Rega derived arm.

I don't think you can go far wrong with that and new it's within budget though even better vfm second hand (though don't get one that's really old and way off current spec)
 
Buy a base model LP12 and then spend a small fortune trying to make it sound better because it wasn't good enough in the first place? Strange. I'd be a bit suspect. Buy a plug and play by Project, Rega, Clearaudio etc. They generally have very good arms and a good cartridge. Job done.
 


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