Started with LP12 in Israel.Snotty Linn service people forced me to start tuning it myself.Spent up to 10 hours a week tuning the damn thing.On occasion it would sound marvelous,more often than not terrible.Moved to a Thorens 124 with SME .Eventually the 124 received a total platter weight of 40 lbs. and had 2 124 motors outside the TT running in tandem with an additional pulley.From there to a SOTA Cosmos SME V,then a Goldmund Studio.After hearing an EMT 950 at a friend's house,I saw the light.I had at one time a 950 and 948,now have a 950.
If this sounds like YOUR Turntable story, please share your final chapter
You had a nice budget ($2k-$4K) table, which you enjoyed for years. It always served up the analog goods, and you always felt as if you were in a good place. However, like many of us, you have audiophilia nervosa. Having succumbed to this mystical force that commanded you to upgrade, you took the leap to the next plateau. You immediately heard the advantages of what your new, well designed table was offering up. It was quieter, music emerged from a blacker background. It had tighter, more articulate bass.....mids were clear, layered, involving, yet organized.... Highs were more extended, filling your listening area with a more believable, 3D presence. You were in awe, for a while! Fast forward to the middle of the story. Even though the table was more substantial, and did many things better than your baby boomer table, you soon realized it appealed more to the brain than your heart. It could tend toward the drier side with many of your go-to vinyl treasures. You ultimately realized that while the new table received more check marks on the audiophile checklist, it was not as engaging on an emotional level. Let me cut to the chase. So you took one or two wrong exits, but you found your way back. In doing so, you once again found that engaging, special something, analog is capable of delivering. Which table brought you back to the analog promise land?