Is a GREAT turntable under $2000 possible???

Forget to mention that the Schiit Mani will work with your modified Denon 103 when you get it.  You will be surprised.  I ran a regular 103 through it and was impressed.  I'll admit I have stepped up my MC game a bit, but I probably spend more time listening to my MM carts.  Go figure!

Thorens TD 160, a few mods and any number of cartridges. Alwayd a solid performer. 

+1 pkvintage! I have the Thorens 160/SME4 and 125/Rega300. Both are great TT's and capable of competing with the expensive machines!

+1 Shubert! I too have a Pioneer PLX1000/Denon 103R and it is certainly the best under $1000 TT today! And it is made in Japan (if I am not mistaken!).

Take a good look at the Mobile Fidelity tables. I have the Ultradeck with the Ultratracker cartridge. This table replaced a Clearaudio table that cost more than twice the price. The CA table was lean sounding, and the MoFi table is just plain fun to listen to. It's built like a tank, and it's dead quiet. It's simple to set up, and comes adjusted right from the factory. It should give you years of trouble free service.

Excellent advice @kahlenz  Your recommendation of the Mofi Master Tracker is the second time that one's been mentioned. I look forward dabbling a lot. Looking forward to this new vinyl experience.

I appreciate everyone's 2 cents. I've decided on the SL Technic 1200GR for my TT. Still percolating on the phono pre and carts. I've got some nice recommendations to mull over. 

My vote goes to a WTL Amadeus....estimate $1,250-$1,400 used. I’ve heard good things about the MFSL carts from a close source I trust. Pair that setup with a good MM phono like a Heed. I thought the Quasar was great for the money, so I would consider their lower priced Questar MM phono stage. This should keep you south of $2,500.

I too have a SL1200GR and it is a solid performer. Good choice!

Howdy folks-

Here's what my round 1 trip into vinyl looks like:

SL 1200GR Technics 
Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE II 
MasterTracker MM and a Gold Note Vasari MM

I'm got nice Au24 interconnects for this baby already. Everything should be here this week. Hopefully my buddy Erik can stop by and help me set everything up. Ohh and I got my first album today, Amy Winehouse- Back to Black. 

Very excited to experience vinyl in my system and in my life in general. I whole new experience awaits....

Stay tuned!

Any opinions on putting the Technics TT on a piece of Mapleshade for vibration issues or not necessary. It's going to sit on the stereo cabinet below the tv. Interested if anyone has a thought on this. Thanks!

You could find a very nice Thorens TD-124 or TD-125 for that much money. There was a version of the 125 that Thorens built that came with a 12 inch SME tonearm. Buy a Schiit Mani, and if that seems too budget there's a company that makes an external PSU for it.

Vibration/resonance control is what all turntables are trying to achieve as they go about tracking the previous grooves. It's an endlessly complicated business, but basically you might want to help lower the already good resonance floor of the Technics a bit further (let's say -10Hz where deck/cartridge resonance starts creeping). 

The lighter the structure the better it normally filters out traffic rumble etc, but movement is a no-no. That's why shelves can be difficult to get right - the wall is usually moving too much.

Huge mass can help with keeping it still, but it depends upon where your turntable lives. It might be worth checking if you could find an phone app to measure surface resonance before placing down your deck. That could take away a lot of the guesswork. 

Have fun! Always, always have fun with audio.

Thank you @cd318 for you insight.

Clearaudio Concept

I just upgraded my table to an RPM 9.2 with a Sumico Blue point special EVO III for just over $1800 on sale from Audio Advisor.  That unit retails for close to $4K so its a great deal.  Very heavy acrylic platter, carbon fiber arm, and what I like best is it is filled with metal shot for dampening and uses opposing magnets on the feet so it is, literally, floating on air.  I can pound on the table top where it sits and it doesn’t resonate through.  I’ve very impressed with the soundstage of this set-up through my Martin Logan SL3 electrostats run through a Creek class a amp with a phono section.  Tight, accurate, tremendous separation.

Question is what is good enough to serve your purpose? I bought a Pro-Ject  Debut Carbon Esprit SB (DC) that cost ~$500 US about three years ago. I have a tin ear and listen almost exclusively to hard rock, so opinion is not well qualified and I can't tell enough difference between the good stuff and the great stuff to justify the large price differential. But I really liked the turntable. Big, thick acrylic platter and Ortofon cartridge that killed anything I could afford as a college kid several decades ago...  Back to qualified opinions. 

Don't know @rjsmith1 as this is my first go at vinyl. I think it's a good place to start!

I recently got my hands on a Scheu demo with an Ortofon Super MM 40 and Rega arm for well under your $2000 price...truly a work of art!

I had never used a Scheu table before, but the performance seems to be that of tables costing quite a bit more....especially with the separate motor unit.

I think I could take this table through an upgrade path (new cartridge, new arm, ect) and not max out the capability of the actual plinth, plater and motor until I got well into the $$$$s of dollars in upgrades on other parts of the system. Which at this point is my plan!

the new Denon VL12 prime and the Pioneer PLX-1000 are legit and both under $1000....of course I have a Sound Smith modified Denon DL-103, a Jolida JD9 mkII phonostage and a Lounge Audio Copla MC head amp so that helps

Since you seem to like "old school" let me give you an option.  Find a Dual 701 direct drive turntable.  The table itself is as good as any every produced, and the arm is excellent.  It should cost you well under $500.  Then spend the other $1500 on the bes MC cartridge and headamp you can listen to.
 
If you want to save money, here's a used combo that sounds as good as anything I've heard in the last 30 years:  Aforemention Dual 701, Accuphase AC-2 MC cartridge, Marcof PPA-2 battery-driven headamp.  Find them (relatively rare, put them together, and you've got at least $4000 of sound.

Excellent @jsm71  thanks for that valuable info!

Lenco L70, L75, L78
Nothing can compete with Lenco in this price range.
I hate belt drives. They destroy a PRaT the entity of music.

This weekend my buddy Erik is stopping by to help me set up the TT, carts, phono, etc. I've started purchasing some records and do a pretty good search on pressing reviews but would love to find a site that has lots of easy to read reviews of great albums new and old. I find navigating Steve Hoffman and Discogs a lot of work to get even a little nugget of info. Any recommendations of review album pressing sites???

Well here's one worth knowing:

http://dr.loudness-war.info

More additions would be welcome, and dynamic range isn't everything, but a good place to start.

I looked through all of the responses, and was surprised to see that there was no mention of Bang and Olufsen’s best turntables, and the cartridges that Soundsmiths makes under license from B&O for use with them. These were the most elegantly engineered products of their time, with all components designed to work in concert to provide the optimum result. I sold many of their first great design, the 4000 series tangential tracking turntables, back in the 70s. In A/B listening tests, I was always able to get my coworkers to pick the B&O tables over far more expensive (at the time) products from Thorens, Luxman, Transcriptor, etc., with the best cartridges available at that time.  As a lover and collector of these turntables, I’ve made LP to CD transcriptions that are superior to the store-bought CDs of the albums, with virtually silent noise floors, and, when listening directly to the LPs, a breathtaking (on well engineered acoustic instrument recordings) spatiality that I don’t hear from other turntables. I’d be curious to hear from others who’ve heard a properly set up Beogram 8000, or the even better Beogram 8002.  These were B&O’s only direct-drive turntables, and used a unique, and cog-free method of direct drive. Any other B&O lovers out there?

The wife’s mad cuz I just bought a Technics 1210 GR. I blamed it on this thread, she will giving y’all a talking to!

Audio forums are like AA meeting in a bar .

Update!!!

Technics SL 1200 GR TT is up and spinning. A buddy stopped by and helped me balance and get the MoFi Master Tracker cart mounted. Lehmann Black Cube SE II Phono Preamp adjusted as well. Going to let things burn in for a month, then we'll look at making some adjustments if necessary. 

How's it sound? Wow! My first turntable listening experience was a good one. Pink Floyd's Dark Side was on rotation as well as some Stevie Ray Vaughn and Fleetwood Mac among others. Much more detail than the Tidal streaming HiFi and Cd's for the most part. 

I enjoy the experience of taking the time to put on the album and just let it play through. Very nice experience all around. 

That's about it for now. Thanks again for the suggestions. I hit a home run on round 1.

Brent 

Brent,
Great report! Vinyl is a different world, with lots of twists and turns. But it is FUN, especially finding great deals on records here and there. And then there is that sound. I hope you continue to enjoy the ride.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, consisting mainly of audiophiles continuing to give you sound advice on which table you should buy weeks after you've made your choice.

Happy listening!

@waltersalas   lol

Good so far. I'm going to look a little further into the setting of the cart as my buddy did it by sound only, not that I doubt him but I might be able to squeeze a little more outta the MoFi with the use of the chart. 

I've got some nice vinyl to listen to tonight. The adventure continues!

B

System coming along nicely but now I'm having to deal with the static electricity. I live in Miami Florida btw, I don't think I need a humidifier :)

Suggestions?

Milty zerostat and a carbon fiber brush. 

the only thing that worked (for me) to eliminate static was to wet clean new LPS (and used of course) and store them in an anti-static sleeve (e.g. mofi sleeves).
currently using this one- and it works great.
a little bit of a hassle but a decent routine- have a beer and clean a batch of new LPs.
I never have a static issue after they are cleaned- even in the cold north during winter months. something about neutralizing the initial static in the vinyl with the wet clean.

https://www.amazon.com/Record-Doctor-Cleaning-Machine/dp/B00BEIC3DO

@avanti1960   and @gshepardbuster excellent advice. Thank you!

I just ordered the Record Dr. and he'll be here Thurs. We'll clean these babies up and get that static outta here! It's the new records. It's funny, cause I use the hair on my chest as a reference. Just hold any suspicious record up to my chest and either the hairs stick out or they don't. It's funny! Just happened by accident too.

excellent!  the record dr is a great machine and a big value.  don't forget some mofi anti-stat sleeves!  

Record Dr. is pretty great indeed. Easy to use and does what it’s supposed to do, clean your vinyl. Static is gone too which has been a nuisance on some of my new records. Some records still pop and crackle but I think that’s just part of the original pressing. I will be getting a protractor soon. I may be able to fine tune the cart a little making for a cleaner, better image.

I suspect some records are noisier than others. Got a NM   U2 Joshua Tree US 2007 and it's pretty crackly even after cleaning and using brush. I clean the stylus after every record too. 

Any thoughts on this?

I do have a VPi Classic 3 in Piano black Store demo. Any Turntable you purchase honestly comes down to setup and attention to detail. A Well executed rig even with a Technics could be good also ! Always go to your nearest dealer, Pay retail prices and have him set it up correctly. That service will give you an amazing relationship, invites to dealer events and a knowledgable staff when you run into problems.

Any opinions on the use of Groove Glide? I ordered the cleaning set but will wait till I hear back regarding those that have tried it and their opinions. Thanks!

Sounds an excessive budget especially given your equipment.

For $800 you can do very well.

I use a refurbished PL550 TT in burl magnolia veneer with a Denon DL-110 cartridge...check out my system

I wanted vintage FM radio vinyl sound - and it is exactly what I want from vinyl.

Yes. 

The question should be...Is a great room under $2000.00 possible?

hi brent, hope things are sounding great!
just a few comments about some of your questions-
some LPs can sound crackly even after being cleaned- but very few. if you have lots of LPs that sound noisy something in the cartridge setup might be off- possibly VTA too high?  
groove glide- don’t have a need for it.
i use this to quickly clean the LP before setting the tonearm down-
https://www.lpgear.com/product/AT6012.html

it’s the best brushing device I have ever used and tried them all. takes a little work but it does remove all dust etc. prior to a spin. i just rotate the LP by hand while using the brush.

also i use this cleaner ~ once a week or so for the stylus- some gunk just cannot be removed with the brush alone. a bottle of this has lasted 2 years and it’s still nearly full!

peace and happy listening!
https://www.lpgear.com/product/AT0607.html

Listening update!

Holy Moly it sounds amazing! The amount of information pressed into vinyl is ridiculous. The music is now full, detailed, rich, inviting. Adventurous...Enjoy just throwing on a record and listening from beginning to end. It's very calming.

My system's been together now for a month, time for everything including the new Tekton Electrons to burn in. The Electrons are sounding sweet btw.  

Ok, so here's the KICKER. I decided for giggles sake to pull my Piega C10 Ltds out of the closet and see how they'd perform in what I considered too small of a room. WOW! I'd forgotten how amazing that speaker is. They've been in storage for 10 years, just waiting patiently. 

They have no problem handling this little room and they're decently big. If you don't know about these speakers and you're bored, look em up. Piega in general is great but the C10 Ltds are bad mamma jammas. 

So for the first time too, the Piegas are Arc'd through my Anthem 520. Room is super tight now. I'll need to soften it a little with some treatments, but not much. AND they get to sing the praises of Vinyl. I never in a million years thought  vinyl could sound so good. 

Yup, that's it for now. A little treatment here and there with room and we're good to go. 

That's the update!

Thank you @avanti1960  I'll look at those links!

If you haven’t committed to the Lehman yet you might consider an upgraded Jolida JD9. A few more dollars and a bit hard to find used, but it gives you a huge range of loading options and sounds great.
sweet and detailed-both. 

@knollbrent - 

Great choice on the 1200GR. I don’t think there’s a better all-rounder for less than $3k than that table. I’m waiting for someone to put their 1200GAE up for sale, but might end up buying a 1200G if my patience runs out. 

To your question regarding Gruv-Glide, I’m a big fan! While I cannot scientifically say for sure that it does everything it promises to, I can say that it does a great job of cleaning the record & reducing/eliminating static. It doesn’t deep-clean like a a good ultrasonic or vacuum machine, but for everything else, it’s just great. In listening to records after applying it, I find that they sound fuller & richer, with quieter backgrounds. 

Just my $0.02 worth...Enjoy your music!

Arvin