Need advice on what to look for in a turntable - budget $6K to $10K

One of the most musical combinations I've heard
featured the phono pre you just bought (JC3+)

That was a J.C. Michell Orbe SE with a modified Rega arm
and an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
That combo as I recall would be in the 6K-7K range.......

If you favor a mass loaded table, of course VPI could be a musical choice........stay away from dark sounding cartridges with VPI
Aries, Classic and HRX (They don't like Lyra Kleos)  One advantage of VPI is if you find you want to move to something else, you'll have a very wide audience for resale.....

In a suspended table, I just installed an Oracle Delphi MK VI 2nd gen
with Oracle/SME V arm  This combo lists for around 17K, but with 345 arm could probably be purchased in the 11K range......one of the most beautiful tables out there.....

A compelling choice if I was looking now would be the AMG Giro including arm listing @ 9900 retail.......probably 90 percent or more the way to the big AMG table.....I've heard the Giro at a show and it was incredibly musical.  I think with that table, the AMG cartridge would be a great fit....

Down to it, the table shouldn't really impart a signature......which leads to cartridge match/synergy as the final piece for a musical combination.

The Ortofon cartridge lineup, (Cadenza) sound very musical w/ VPI and I assume other mass loaded tables......the most magical presentation I've heard in my home was the veryy low output Transfiguration Proteus coupled with a world class step up transformer....  I also think the Transfiguration Axia sounds amazing......my closest dealer, reference analog had a VPI Avenger with both cartridges and we went back and forth on VPI 3D Ref arms and I think the Axia is an absolute bargain.....gave very little up to it's big brother.........

The parasound JC3+ is a world class phono pre......very musical regardless of it's cost.....

The HRX w/ 3D arm on here is a very good deal.  14K list for around 8K
For that arm, an incredible match would be either the Transfiguration Axia or the Ortofon Cadenza Bronze.  I've heard both on that table with that arm....

If that table really has never had a cartridge installed, I'd recommend jumping all over it before someone else does......

I wouldn't bother with the classic 4.  The differences in motor/plinth between the tables are night and day and the money isn't.....

wrm57:

I owned the Kiseki Purple Heart NS for about 6 months.  I used it with a VPI HR-X  video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_cJrj5DwwQ

I liked the cartridge but was underwhelmed compared to others including Harry @ VPI.....

I went to the Transfiguration Proteus after that at about 40 percent more....

video link on same tt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgmHbORQ5Ew

.it is noticeably better in most areas, especially overall musicality....most interesting was I heard the Transfiguration Axia at around 1000 less than the Kiseki and it got about 95 percent of the way to the Proteus, which was pretty remarkable......

A lot of this is just synergy between the cart and phono stage etc.....so you might have better results with the Allnic etc.  FWIW, I used a Hashimoto HM7 stepup at 30x coupled with the phono section in my all tube CAT SL1 Renaissance w/ Phono preamp.....

Bill,

I can tell you that in my experience, the 30x has plenty of gain for the Proteus...I had run the Purple Heart at 15x and it was just fine......

I put wrong video link in prior post, here's the one with the Proteus on same table:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgmHbORQ5Ew

As I’ve said, I feel the Proteus to be a significant step up over the Purple Heart, but with another stepup/phono pre the results could be different....

Thanks


Eric

The AMG table is endgame if you like a non suspended table
with a world class arm.

If you prefer suspended, I think it's equivalent would be the Oracle
Delphi MK VI 2nd Gen with either an Oracle/SME V tonearm
or a Graham arm.