I need TT Help: Please advise


I am looking for a good starter turntable for a newbie who is coming back to vinyl after a 15 year break. I bought a used Rega Planar 9 with the old "S" shaped tonearm on Ebay for $300.00 and am not happy with the performance. I think I should have spent a little more money and bought a better table. I will list my present system so you can help me choose the best TT to fit my system and my budget. I also bought a Grado Signature Platinum 1.5mV low output cartridge for $125.00 that I didn,t bother to mount since I plan on getting a different table. I don't mind buying used, in fact I prefer it. My system is as follows:
Rega Planer 9 described above, Conrad Johnson Sonograph CD player, Pioneer TX-5500 II Sterio Analog Tuner, Conrad Johnson PV-8 tube preamp, Two Golden Tube Audio SE-40's Bridged mono and running the top end of a pair of Snell AIII's and an Adcom GFA-555 running the bottom end of the Snells, I plan on adding a second Adcom so I can bridge them for mono setup on the bottom end of the Snells. I have a Creek OBH-11 headphone amp and a pair of Sennheiser HD570 Symphony headphones. For connectors I'm using 2 pair of Goertz M-I's, 5 pair of MIT's, 3 pair of DIY braided silver interconnects throughout the system. Speaker cables are MIt on the top and Straight Wire on the bottom. So far I'm running the bi-amp configuration without an active crossover but am currently looking for one. Now I would like the help of all of you more experienced Analog folks out there with advice on selecting a new turntable for under $1000.00. I would also welcome and advice about possible changes that may need to be made in my system. I kinda put it together over the past 3 months based on what I could find and afford at the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Rick Zerambo
richardzerambo

Showing 2 responses by jfrech

Ok, if it's a planar 2 with old arm, a Planar 25 will amaze you at the difference. Keep your cartrdige, try a better table...IMHO. I bought my 25 for under 1200 new from Music Direct. I've seen a few on Audiogon for under 1000. Good luck...
The Planar 9 is a great table. You might try getting the current arm and make sure the cartridge is installed correctly. I have a planar 25 (which is a step below yours) in a 40K system and I love it.

Also, maybe you don't like the grado sound, try something like a Lyra Lydian ...