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£3000 to spend on TT, what would you do?

BLACKMASS said:
I can highly recommend Clive at Sound Cinergy Aldridge. He carries Rega, Roksan, Project amongst others.

I've know him a long time and he's always a pleasure to deal.

EDIT: Sorry, forgot to mention Midland Audio Exchange. John's a top bloke too.
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I can second the recommendation for Sound Cinergy. Clive is a lovely bloke, extremely knowledgable about turntables and won’t make you feel pressured to buy anything.
 
Technics SP10;
Garrard 401/301;
Goldring Lenco GL75;
Oracle Delphi;
Pink Triangle PT Anniversary;
Well Tempered Amadeus.
 
Funny you mention Oracle Delphi, I took mine to a bakeoff on Saturday and it played all day, much enjoyment all round.
If your in the Midlands, it is on ebay and I'm open to offers. It's the best belt drive TT I've had but I just prefer my Garrard's. If your curious about Garrard's your welcome to hear mine.
 
Thanks for all the input. I agree the SME deck at 2nd hand HiFi looks tempting but I would need to spend another £2000-£2500 on cart & phono stage to do it justice which would double my £3000 budget! I haven't completely ruled out 2nd hand, there are several Garrard 401s on EBay at the moment, would need to do a lot more research before I felt confident about taking the plunge though.
 
I wouldn't touch a Garrard with a bargepole personally... or any idler drive deck for that matter. Rumble in the jungle! Belt drive every time.
 
Another vote for at least trying to listen to a Garrard or other well-fettled vintage idler. I have not missed my Orbe since part-exchanging it for a cartridge for my 301.
 
Martian Sunrise's modded SL1210 in the classifieds, with a better phono stage and about a grand's worth of vinyl. Fit and forget.
 
TonyScarlett said:
Will have £3000 to spend soon on a new turntable, looking for some advice. This will be a big purchase for me so would like to get it right. Current set up is a Pro-ject Classic with Hana EL MC cart, Trichord Dino mk3 phono stage with standard PSU, Khozmo passive pre amp, Leak ST20 amp (recently expertly fettled by Graeme at AmpRegen) & JR 149 speakers with REL Tzero sub. I intend to upgrade the Dino with the Never Connected PSU. Looking to buy new so that rules out Linn LP12. Currently on the shortlist are the new Rega Planar 8, Roksan Radius 7 & Michell Gyro SE. Also like the look of the Gold Note Pianosa, cant find much info on this one on the net though. There is a dealer in Birmingham has a Pianosa to demo so will arrange this for next week. Any PFMrs have any experience of these TTs or any alternatives in the same price range?
Would also appreciate views on the buying experience, were dealers able to arrange demos, provide advice on setting up etc? I am in the Midlands & will be looking to buy locally.
Thanks in advance.
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2nd Hand LP12 with a spec something like:

LP12/Pre-cirkus Black bearing/one piece sub-chassis (Kore/Mober/Akula etc)/serviced Lingo 1/ Funk FXR Arm / DV XX2 (ideally with a P75mk4 phono stage in PE mode)

Musicality over hifi.

Or

A Pink Triangle Anniversary if you can find one
 
The Acoustic Signature Challenger should probably be on your shortlist. I bought one without arm or cart a few years ago new for £1300, but I suspect the list price is a bit more now. The best deck I listened to under £2k at the time, although the differences were marginal between this and the similarly priced Gyrodeck and Notts Analogue. It looks fabulous and, speaking as a former user of suspended decks, is a doddle to set up and doesn't give a monkeys what you stand it on as long as it's reasonably stable and level.
 
You have some really nice vintage equipment there.

It may fly in the face of what you are seeking but I would stick with the front end you have: the biggest improvements in your system will not come from that area. The Classic is a decent deck though Gerlando's recommendations are excellent ones.

Personally, I would improve your rear end! Though the JR is a lovely speaker I would look to improve there, assuming that you wish to retain the Leak. Dependent on the size of your room, I would be looking to get rid of the subwoofer and install some larger speakers, of the period, and ones efficient enough to be driven by the Leak. Your phono stage is decent and the NCPSU does not give enough of an improvement compared to improving the stage altogether.

Sorry to be a pain but I have owned most of the decks recommended and a Diablo with NCPSU!
 
gerlando said:
Garrard and Lenco are much better than any belt drive ever heard.
Never had any issue with rumble, especially with Lenco, which is deadly quiet.
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As they say, YMMV. I reckon a good belt drive is better than any idler drive. I've yet to hear a completely rumble free idler drive and I wouldn't expect them to be good in this respect.
 
oldius said:
You have some really nice vintage equipment there.

It may fly in the face of what you are seeking but I would stick with the front end you have: the biggest improvements in your system will not come from that area. The Classic is a decent deck though Gerlando's recommendations are excellent ones.

Personally, I would improve your rear end! Though the JR is a lovely speaker I would look to improve there, assuming that you wish to retain the Leak. Dependent on the size of your room, I would be looking to get rid of the subwoofer and install some larger speakers, of the period, and ones efficient enough to be driven by the Leak. Your phono stage is decent and the NCPSU does not give enough of an improvement compared to improving the stage altogether.

Sorry to be a pain but I have owned most of the decks recommended and a Diablo with NCPSU!
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I'd replace everything but the Khozmo passive pre personally! At a pinch I'd keep the JR149's and sub. Much here depends on how good a pair of JR149's they are!
Stereo 20's good (I have one) but lacks the last degree of transparency and grip. I rarely use mine. Trichord Dino is thrashed by the budget phono stage I make at less than half the price... but with £3k to spend I'd be looking at spending at least £1K on the phono stage.
 
Thanks again for the input. Just to be clear, I will not be parting with the ST20 or JR149's, despite what the specs might suggest they are a match made in heaven, easily the best sounding amp/speaker combo I've ever owned. Besides I simply don't have the space for larger speakers. I agree the Classic is a decent deck but no matter how much money I throw at it I will still have to lift off the platter & fiddle with the belt on the pulley to change the speed (& if you don't lift the platter dead square the spindle & sub platter lift out with it!). Had thought about the Classic SB but not sure whether that would be a step up in sound quality being as I've already fitted the Hana cart to my current deck. Maybe the Classic SB & spend the rest on phono stage & even better cart? On the subject of phono stage I am a little surprised at the negativity towards the Dino, all the research I did before I bought it suggested it was a bit of a giant killer for the money. It was certainly a major step up from the Tisbury Domino that it replaced which itself is considered a giant killer at it's price point.
 
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