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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
phillykid
35 posts
 
Is anyone familiar with the Basis 2000-2001 models,could you tell me any experiences and thoughts on these models ....Thx Much....Sully
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
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...
richardzerambo OP
15 posts
 
OK, and thanks for the advice. I'll keep the cartridge and look to upgrade the TT and Arm. Possibly a Rega 25. I'll have to look for a used one after I save a few more bucks. Thanks for the help.
jayboard
301 posts
 
Hi, Richard. I have a Planar 3 that's about 20 years old. The Japanese S-shaped arm that Rega used then is well-built and, I think, was considered perhaps _the_ budget arm in its time, but its time is past. The contemporary Rega arms do a _much_ better job of preventing vibration from getting through the signal chain. Can't say much about the rest of the table, esp. since someone modified it, but certainly an arm upgrade is justifiable. You're not specific about what you don't like, but like others have said, setup could be at fault, too. Incidentally, I wouldn't judge a motor on how slow it is to get the platter to speed. Just start the platter spinning with your finger if you get impatient and leave it running when you change records.
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