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Up to £5000-ish Turntable discussion (not argument)

crimsondonkey said:
Might be marmite re aesthetics but for sound quality I’d be very happy with a Sony PS-X9 at your budget.
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I should be so lucky.

I have an emotional leaning towards Michell, the Orca is the best active pre I’ve had, and the looks and heritage help.

I’ve had extended dems of the Gyro when Walrus existed. It’s difficult to find the words, it flowed nicely, plenty of detail, but somehow was a little dull. I’ve no real idea/memory as to whether that was arm/cart/system/room or just how the Gyro is.
 
I think you have a very good list. My top 3, given all your requirements would be the Kuzma, the Palmer and the Project, but frankly you are unlikely to be unhappy with any of them.
My only thought is to make sure that the arm you fit will be the right kind of quality and mass to deal with any cartridge dreams that come along when your new deck starts to sing :)
There is a trend for wand like arms of very low mass in some quarters which just won't take some cartridges at all, whereas something a bit more massy, like the Kuzma, is very happy with top Dynavectors, Lyras and their ilk.
 
For little money, a Systemdek IIX - don't know how it would compare to modern favourites, but back in the day, I preferred it to the various 'usual suspects' competitors (Roksan, Michell etc.) to the LP12. Modest, but it still provides more musically satisfying results, to my ears, than any CD replay I've heard (unfortunately, as I've many more CDs than records :-( ).

There are modern versions from Audio Note, in the form of the TT One and TT Two, but I've not heard those, nor do I known how much they cost (AN doesn't publish prices, or allow its dealers to do so?!), but there's a TT2 Deluxe on ebay for £1650 (no connection).

The only modern deck I've heard was an SME 20, which wasn't to my liking, at all; however, as always, only you can decide what's right for you.
 
My ears think the quite heavily modded SL1200 is surprisingly good but it’s a long time since I compared it to anything else.

It’s pointless ‘researching’ how good it is since depending where you go it’s either worse than a P2 or better than an SME20.

Just to add, a reason I’m contemplating this is because one of my daughters wants the Technics, badly. It might be more sensible to give her £300 to buy her own.
 
Alex S said:
My ears think the quite heavily modded SL1200 is surprisingly good but it’s a long time since I compared it to anything else.

It’s pointless ‘researching’ how good it is since depending where you go it’s either worse than a P2 or better than an SME20.

Just to add, a reason I’m contemplating this is because one of my daughters wants the Technics, badly. It might be more sensible to give her £300 to buy her own.
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If it was me (slightly biased ) , I'd got for this: https://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/rega-p9-p9psu.235877/
 
Alex S said:
I’ve had extended dems of the Gyro when Walrus existed. It’s difficult to find the words, it flowed nicely, plenty of detail, but somehow was a little dull. I’ve no real idea/memory as to whether that was arm/cart/system/room or just how the Gyro is.
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I’ve heard the Gyro sound superb with a really good arm and cart (e.g. SME V), I’d not describe it as dull. My strong suspicion, and I’m far from alone in this, is that it has rather more life and ‘fun’ to it than the more expensive Orbe, which has usually sounded a bit dead and analytical to my ears. I could very happily live with a Gyro. The disappointing thing is they changed the beautiful classic rectangular case to a curved one which doesn’t look near as good to my eyes (I far prefer the looks of the ‘full’ Gyro to the SE!).
 
Hello Alex, I too am contemplating a turntable and feel that due to how a turntable as a source has such an important effect on the sound portrayed and as for me at least, how important it is to get that sound signature right I would suggest focusing on the turntables particular sonic picture/character and then asking the dealer to tweak with arms and cartridges.
This is a patient and time consuming process but I have in the past learnt how every component needs to compliment through the turntable arm and cartridge chain and upgrading a phono stage can be an enjoyable process later on as more money becomes available.
I personally like an organic sound which I can spend hours listening too and some recent decks that I have become interested in are the nottinghams, well tempered and soullines dostoevsky which uses similar birch ply material to the well tempered.
Anyway I hope you enjoy the process and I will remember to take my own advice when I take the plunge.

Best wishes.
 
Full Gyro or no Gyro for me. I’m not in the market yet but I’ve given the P9 a bump.
 
Townshend Rock or the uprated one. But I wouldn't spend £5K on a turntable these days.
 
Alex S said:
My ears think the quite heavily modded SL1200 is surprisingly good but it’s a long time since I compared it to anything else.

It’s pointless ‘researching’ how good it is since depending where you go it’s either worse than a P2 or better than an SME20.

Just to add, a reason I’m contemplating this is because one of my daughters wants the Technics, badly. It might be more sensible to give her £300 to buy her own.
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Give her the money and buy some music.

Over the past month I've been playing some albums I haven't heard for a while. and they sound just fantastic. TBH I can't fault my modded Techy.

Obviously there are better t/t's but if you're happy with it.....
 
Surprised no-one has mentioned Roksan. The 20+ is an awesome deck and although overbudget new with arm and cartridge, it would fall within it if bought secondhand. Not that there sre many of them around, which is usually a good sign.
 
Never heard one but I always fancied listening to one of the Pink Triangle turntables....PT Too or Anniversary maybe. With SME arm.
I've no idea re reliability or spares/servicing back up.
 
The OP's original list includes great TTs. (It's Nottm Analogue btw.. ;))

My reasons for purchasing an Orbe, were as follows.

1. The engineering makes sense to me. (Inverted bearing, hanging, v teetering suspension, 'skeletal' chassis etc., and a pretty much 'fit and forget' set up which doesn't require some gorilla to charge you £150 to fit a few springs every few months.
2. Sound. More powerful sound than the Gyro or (my) LP12. More of everything, including bass depth, imaging, tonal accuracy, musicality, etc. etc.
3. Looks. It is very pretty. IMHO... but then so are many others on your list.

Downsides:

1. A bit bulky, though it still sits on a standard shelf. (just)
2. A dust magnet.. Mine is the SE version and benefits from the SECure cover. Presumably the 'full' Orbe is a little more dustproof.

These latter criticisms apply to many others on your list.
 
Tony L said:
I’ve heard the Gyro sound superb with a really good arm and cart (e.g. SME V), I’d not describe it as dull. My strong suspicion, and I’m far from alone in this, is that it has rather more life and ‘fun’ to it than the more expensive Orbe, which has usually sounded a bit dead and analytical to my ears. I could very happily live with a Gyro. The disappointing thing is they changed the beautiful classic rectangular case to a curved one which doesn’t look near as good to my eyes (I far prefer the looks of the ‘full’ Gyro to the SE!).
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Or stick an Audionote tone arm on it- very musical indeed.:)
 
A friend went from a Gorbe/SME V/Dynavector to a Rega RP 10 and is extremely happy with it.
 
I did own a LP12 for 15 years. Bought it second hand and over the years upgraded to SE spec. I never felt I’d reached a point where I was totally happy and satisfied with it. The (many) upgrades were ‘Hi-Fi crack’, as the highs were short lived then buyer’s remorse set in.

It got to a point when I hadn’t used it for months and months and it was just gathering dust. It was a lot of money to have tied up so I made the decision to sell it last year.

I replaced it with a Well Tempered Versalex and Trilogy 906 phono stage. Frankly I didn’t do too much research. I’d loved the look of the WT decks for years plus a lot of LP12 owners had moved onto them and being very happy.

I did go for a demo and within minutes I was sold. I’ve lived with it for 10 months now. I’ve found it to be in a different league to the LP12 (IMHO). I’m a lot more engaged with the music and everything sounds more realistic with the WT.

I’m very happy with it and not looking to upgrade…basically because there are no further upgrades. I did buy a LDA Power Supply (demoed at the same time I first heard the deck and thought the improvement worth the outlay) and I might try a different mat but that’s about it.

As for ‘fit and forget’? My dealer set it up and I haven’t had to touch it since I got it home.

You’ve had many recommendations and you said you will struggle to demo any. My advice would be buy what looks cool to you. It worked for me.
 
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