I have been on the hunt for the best turntable I can buy. Any suggestions?

Buzz free we can do. Fantastic- just how fantastic are we talking here?

@millercarbon well, maybe not fantastic, but just a great sounding reliable turntable.

The new Technics SL-1200G is excellent. It has a number of high end audio turntable manufacturers shaking in their boots.

B&O still make turntables?  Had one in the late 80’s. Paid around $700-800 new.  What a pile of crap!  Brought it back to Natural Sound in Framingham, MA after a week and bought a Rega Planar 3 turntable with a Linn K9 mm cartridge instead.  Although I wasn’t crazy about the Rega’s lightweight performance, it was light years better than the B&O. 

atmasphere 

ive heard of that - is it worth checking out?

stereo5 what was bad about the B&O?

i am currently looking at a Beogram TX for $399

OP best at what price?

rsf507

im thinking under $450

Pioneer PL-990

You can always upgrade later.

Im going to look into those, thanks.

I was using B&O tables with a sound-smith cartridge until the anti skate gave out on both.  I replaced them with a MoFi turntable (with the record weight).  I had no idea some of my old used vinyl could actually be silent

Change your title to best $450 turntable. The best table is probably out of your price range, although I always wanted to try one of those $20,000 tables. 

leemurray2007.

I did not care for the fit and finish of the Beogram.  I didn't care for the built in cartridge and I feel it was the weak link with the turntable.  The reason I bought the TT was because I won a Mobile Fidelity box set of the Rolling Stones on vinyl.  I won it from Natural Sound so I went there to buy a TT to play it on (I actually HATE the Rolling Stones).  I didn't care at all for the sound coming from the Beogram, the same songs played on a cheap FM tuner sounded better.  The Rega was a lot more musical, but was very lightweight in sound.  Hope this helps.

sryeager 


I know! I had some old CSNY, Grateful Dead, etc. records and played them on my Technics SL-10, and they sounded so much better than I remember!

I think I am going to pull the trigger on a B&O Beogram TX
price $450

Sell me your SL-10 and buy yourself Technics new reference class SP-10R , order or made custom plinth and buy '10.5 or '12 inch tonearm and cartridge of your choice.

With a B&O, you’re limited to sound-smith for new cartridges, absolutely not a bad thing, they’re great but not the cheapest

sryeager

I just pulled the trigger on the B&O - Ill post some pics soon. But yeah, I will be feeling dumb when the needle finally dies; that'll be a bank breaker.

https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649572182-basis-work-of-art-as-new-demo-init/

half off retail... with what you save you can send your kids to yale

Pro-ject 

$450 is not even high end!

Save your money and go much higher in price!

I guess Clearaudio Statement is of the list then

You can never go wrong with a real good rega table like the p9 or p25.

$450.00 I don’t own a cartridge that costs less than 1k, the IC cables I use on my TT are silver wire cost twice that.You might as well just spend the $450.00  on a cartridge now then another 1K - 2K on a tone arm, then save at least 3K - 6K on a mid level turntable in a year or two.

Wow! I actually skimmed this pile of trash....B&O and $450 to spend and he bought the B&O:( the only advice you should have listened was not to buy the B&O.

Why ask a question and do the complete opposite of what was recommended by multiple people?

I have a TX in the garage w Soundsmith 3, granted the table was $125 Craigslist...
It does have a suspension and the OP could have Peter( who many here laud and dont claim as deaf ) rebuild his table and add “ the voice “ cart... a clear upgrade path...

A pal asked me for advice because he wanted to get serious about a new turntable.
He was willing to go "up to 5k all in."
I put together a bunch of options with links and prices. He ended up buying a used Sony on Craigslist for "a few hundred."

Love my Rega Planar 8 with Apheta 3 MC cart and Rega Ania phono. I would love to try the Planar 10, Aphelion 2 and Aura MC phono but I have hit my upper budget. Let me know if you snag one though, I'll bring the Scotch and some good vinyl to spin.

Why not this marvel of technology? The Biotracer indeed was a marvelous piece of tech.
http://www.thevintageknob.org/sony-PS-X555ES.html
Could almost be had within your price range.

Kenwood Kp990 and above are wonderful. with ah great mid compliance tonearm. easy to adopt multiple tonearm with simple mods. very easy to use and great. 

technics.. if you get a very good condition tonearmbof epa100. the ruby bearings easily crushed. high compliance tonearm though. 

sleeper Sony. 2250. fantastic tonearm. decent tt but more musical. mid high compliance.. 10.5 inch tonearm. 

depends what you need.. and 2nd hand always is condition condition and condition.if poor condition is almost as good as junk. Best if you have a very good restorer or get new ones. reed, avid, vpi. all very decent. 
or customize.. buy maglev sistem from eBay. the Denmark speaker guy is very happy with it

Go to fixmydual.com and buy a 1229.

Linn LP 12 or VPI

Right now, the best I have is a Technics SL-10  But, I am on the hunt for a fantastic, buzz free, high fidelity turntable....  im thinking under $450

If you think you can buy anything better than your Technics SL-10 under $450 then you're terribly wrong! All you need is a p-mount cartridge for SL-10  and a good service. It's a great turntable. 

Or just pick up an Audio Technica AT-LPW50PB for $399.00 it even comes with an AT-VM95E cartridge and is belt drive, good starter turntable. it also has a built in pre amp.

If you can afford $800.00 you could step up to the Audio Technica AT-LP7 it comes with a cartridge is fully manual and also has a built in pre amp it even includes rca cables, and has removable head shell if you want to buy other cartridges.

I was looking at the web and the Regar is listed.  Vinyl NIrvana sells used high end and if you can find one an AR XA or XA 1. You might need it rebuilt about $300 but well worth it. Mine is from about 1970+. Bought from a neighbor for $50 and just spent $325 to rebuild.  I can say the depth and tone plus richness of Cats show album and the other albums we have left is amazing. It kills CD music anytime. I am just sad we did not take some of the hundreds of new stereo recordings my parents had when their house was sold for teardown.  My dad had bought a Macintosh Mono system in 1957  or 1958 but then went to a Nakamichi 2 Receiver that we are now using. Only problem with the older units no coax inputs or the power lines leak. You might need to have some repairsdone. You can also go to  Music Technology in Springfield VA. He is amazing. Not sure how much longer he will be working. My high end dealer closed after 30 years.

I recently bought a Philips AF877 for $75. I added some decent gold plated female RCA's and a ground lug. Lubed the main bearing, replaced the awful cuing mechanism with a beautiful Chinese made cuing arm and voila! Resonance free resin plinth, suspended chasis and a sophisticated lightwieght tonearm that accomodates some pretty pricy cartridges.

Okay it's not a Linn, but for a fraction of the cost of a used one, it sounds excellent. It even returns the tonearm at the end when I've nodded out on the couch.

I went ahead with the Beogram TX. I’ll post some pics and maybe a video to make all the negative people in this forum shut up.

If you want to sell your Technics SL-10 let me know! 

ive heard of that - is it worth checking out?

That is why I mentioned it in lieu of anything else. I didn't realize the budget issue. Given that, I suspect you'd have been better off having your old Technics serviced out. You can't buy much of a decent turntable these days for $450. The SL1200G is a $4000 machine. 

OK folks, let’s shift gears and help him get the best sound out of his TX.
we can be a welcoming community if we desire.
to the OP SoundSmith is a good source for info on checking your table, etc...
enjoy the music, the journey.
jim

When I 1st read this I was going to suggest checking with Fremer to see if his AirForce TT was sold yet. Anyone know?

"half off retail... with what you save you can send your kids to yale"

@jjss49 -- He would only be saving $120,000.  That might cover 2 years at Yale....

A pal asked me for advice because he wanted to get serious about a new turntable. 
He was willing to go "up to 5k all in."  I put together a bunch of options with links and prices. He ended up buying a used Sony on Craigslist for "a few hundred."

:))

the beogram just came in. I will hook it up and send pics tomorrow.

cant wait for you guys to see and hear this...

it is amazing.

the automatic tonearm and the platter is jut killer

great sound too

awesome colors

@leemurray2007 Looking forward to seeing it. You can post in Virtual Systems.

A few good suggestions here but unless your in the 3-5k range your nowhere near high end. VPI and Techniques have some excellent TT,s but the cartridge an arm can make or break any TT regardless of how many shekels you dole out for it. As for my tastebuds; Thorens TD 124 / SME 3009 S2 improved /Van Den Hul Frog Gold.

Buy an old AR-xa and have it modded for $600-$700. You will be surprised how it brings out the best in any cartridge.