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Your final turntable

DavidS

pfm Member
With the advent of cd I thought I would push the boat out and purchase my 'final' turntable.

I replaced my trusty Rega planar 3 with an LP12.

Nearly 20 years later following lots of 'upgrades' I replaced this with a WT Amadeus , sure this would be my final tt.

This didn't last long as I returned quickly to an LP12 and surely this was it for life

Got fed up fiddling with the LP12 and purchased a Rega P9 and was set for life.

Purchased a WT Simplex2 out of curiosity.

Returned to the P9 , waiting for the new Rega P10 as my final tt.
 
Garrard 401 for me. Notts Omega Point arm. Omega is of course "the end" and so it is for me. I've had the arm for over 20 years and it has seen off Ittoks and SMEs, the 401 likewise, which I have had in its current form for about 8 years, is a better deck than any of the 4 x LP12s I have had.
 
I’ve similarly been around the houses turntable wise and I think I've ended up with a ‘65 TD-124/II as my final deck, at least for as long as I’m happy to service it now and again (which vintage idlers do need). As far as hi-fi in general is concerned I’m sure I’ve now stopped chasing tiny incremental upgrades and I’m more comfortable running classics that look and sound great even if they are not in the absolute cutting edge of performance. These days I play way, way more digital than vinyl, but whenever I spin up the 124 with its period-correct 3009 and a nice Nagaoka MM it is not humiliated in the slightest by the very nice digital front end (inc an apparently £2.6k DPA DAC).

FWIW I’m sure I could be very happy with another Linn too (I rather fancy a really old red button one with a Grace arm), though I can’t see the 124 going anywhere and it is far less fussy about placement.
 
David, I guess the answer is obvious but I'll ask anyway - so you didn't get on with the WT decks?

The reason I ask is I haven't seen many posts on moving from WT back to Linn, or other decks for that matter
 
David, I guess the answer is obvious but I'll ask anyway - so you didn't get on with the WT decks?

The reason I ask is I haven't seen many posts on moving from WT back to Linn, or other decks for that matter
Isolation issues I think.
 
Hopefully the Dais will be my final turntable, though I do fancy a 'classic' perhaps another Thorens or perhaps a Garrard.
 
Committing to a final anything seems like too bold a move for me . I am happy with my Techy but who knows what will be around the corner waiting to empty my wallet .
 
I've gone Mantra, Xerxes, LP12, back to Xerxes, ...long gap..., Project Classic ( original 2.9 ), another Mantra. Arms and cartridges changed as well of course.
Last Mantra currently in a box. Maybe one day it will come out to play but I can't see myself replacing it for anything superior.
LP collection has also dwindled, just a few hundred remaining and those unbeknownst to me until much later, had their storage arrangements upset so are now of very questionable playability.
If I chose out of the above now, I'd probably have the Project back.

2.9%20project%202012.jpg
 
My Heybrook TT2 S2 (nearly 30 years so far)

My days of chopping and changing kit hasn't arrived yet.
 
With the advent of cd I thought I would push the boat out and purchase my 'final' turntable.

I replaced my trusty Rega planar 3 with an LP12.

Nearly 20 years later following lots of 'upgrades' I replaced this with a WT Amadeus , sure this would be my final tt.

This didn't last long as I returned quickly to an LP12 and surely this was it for life

Got fed up fiddling with the LP12 and purchased a Rega P9 and was set for life.

Purchased a WT Simplex2 out of curiosity.

Returned to the P9 , waiting for the new Rega P10 as my final tt.
How many cars have you had. Jokes aside I changed my LP12 some 7 years ago for a SME Model 10 with a V stereo arm and V arm fitted with a mono cartridge. Never felt the need for anything else bliss.
 
How many cars have you had. Jokes aside I changed my LP12 some 7 years ago for a SME Model 10 with a V stereo arm and V arm fitted with a mono cartridge. Never felt the need for anything else bliss.
Ditto here. I replaced my LP12/Ittok/troika some 7 years ago and never looked back. What I have now is light years ahead of the Linn kit although to be fair it cost a lot more. I think mine is less common in the UK SG2/Centroid arm and XV-1s cart. Unless the record is faulty there is silence between tracks and run in/out grooves and that was uncanny at first. I can't see me ever changing this unless I break something. Even my youngest surprised me and asked if I would leave it to her after I've gone to that great gig in the sky. No she didn't want the money just the kit!

Cheers,

DV
 
Been through 2 x LP12 and 2 x Xerxes plus a P9 and a RP10. The Regas are excellent turntables. I then heard a PL71 at the home of the bete noire of the UK hifi manufacturing industry. The very same tt is now at Stemcor Towers along with another one I picked up for less than the price of a Sabbath vertigo swirl in very good condition.

Can’t see me changing anytime soon but I would love to hear the forthcoming P10 through an all Rega system. If a Phonosophie P3/Aro/Armageddon became available at a sensible price then I would be tempted to raid the piggy bank but they are rare as hen’s teeth.
 
Been in and out of vinyl since 2011, had an SME 10/V/Benz Ace S for a while, then sold it all. Few years later had another look, and started with a Rega RP1, quickly replaced by another SME 10 but with a 312S/Miyajima combo. Had problems with that, so changed to an Ortofon Per Windfeld which I didn’t really like. So got fed up and chucked it in again. Some time later thought I’d try out an AT LP5 and a Nagaoka MP500 which was good but didn’t last long. After that, got a Pro-Ject The Classic which was supposed to be a keeper. Again, didn’t last long before I went spendy again with a 301 setup. More problems with that setup (arm mainly) led me to a (hopefully easy to live with) Rega P8/Apheta 2 bought earlier this week. Just need a good MC phono stage now!
 
Cannot see me moving from an LP12, if I had a windfall I would like to try an SME 10 or 20 but not sure I could really be bothered, most of my new music is on CD these days. I've come to the conclusion that my system is good enough so once I've gone active with ATCs (if I like them) I will be done.
 
I must admit, I love turntables. It's what I have been brought up with I guess. Currently, I have five of them:

  1. Garrard 401/Loricraft Skeletal Plinth/Naim Aro/Prefix/Dynavector XX2mkII
  2. Lenco 88/Hybrid Slate-Aluminium Plinth/Zeta/DV20XL
  3. Michell Hydraulic Reference/Naim Aro/Linn Troika
  4. Linn LP12/Kore/Lingo/Audiomods Classic/Metal bodied Denon 103.
  5. Stanton ST.150/Rega RB202/Carbon
I have to stop myself buying more of the things TBH! They're all good in their own way, but WRT the final turntable, I really don't know!
 
Kuzma stabi s 12", lp12 platter, subplatter and bearing, optical tachometer DC motor controller.

Sme10/v, lp12 aro, rega p5 r700, goldring g99 sme 3009 all in past ten years.
 


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