I tend to agree with Peter, start, with something small and cheap. Not necessarily a Thorens. If you have no vinyl at the moment, I am not sure I would spend north of $20000. Mind you, I can't afford $20000, with 3000LPs. Thats kids at University for you.
I settled on a Raven one, which is much cheaper than the AC and according to the designer, gives you 95% of the performance of the AC. I listened to a number of TW decks at RMAF and all the combinations made some of the best sounds at the show. As Fafion said, I am sure all 3 decks are state of the art and would give years of pleasure. I have heard the Brinkman, not the Monaco, but it comes with a great reputation and reviews.
The problem with vinyl, is it is almost impossible to make meaningful comparisons. No dealer will have all 3 and if he did, they would probably have different arms, cartridges, phono stages etc. If they did have the same arms etc, it still would'nt be a fair comparison, because of synergies between decks, arms and cartridges. So I think, even with careful auditioning, any purchase will be a leap of faith, to an extent
I settled on a Raven one, which is much cheaper than the AC and according to the designer, gives you 95% of the performance of the AC. I listened to a number of TW decks at RMAF and all the combinations made some of the best sounds at the show. As Fafion said, I am sure all 3 decks are state of the art and would give years of pleasure. I have heard the Brinkman, not the Monaco, but it comes with a great reputation and reviews.
The problem with vinyl, is it is almost impossible to make meaningful comparisons. No dealer will have all 3 and if he did, they would probably have different arms, cartridges, phono stages etc. If they did have the same arms etc, it still would'nt be a fair comparison, because of synergies between decks, arms and cartridges. So I think, even with careful auditioning, any purchase will be a leap of faith, to an extent