Pro-Ject turntables

I wonder what kind of table Notec owns?

Back to the post:

Dave,
I've owned more than 15 tables in my 25+ years as a vinyl aficionado. In 25 years I have learned two things:

1. You don't have to spend lots of money to get it right.
2. Like a new car, you will end up trading, selling, or modifying your table/cart a few times before you get "the sound you're looking for" right.

I remember I owned a Pro-ject RPM 6.1 SB for about 2 years with great results. Bought it second hand for about $600.00. Great table for the money!

4.25 kg platter, brass record puck, inverted main bearing with ceramic thust-pad, integrated speed box, gold plated RCA phono sockets, 9"C carbon fibre tone-arm, even 78 speed switchable. It performed extremely well paired with a DV 10X5 and DV P-75 and gave me 2 years of happiness until the trade bug hit me.....again.

Now I'm a big fan of Rega new tables, specifically the RP3 which I find to be the "best bang for the buck" at $895.00 and with an upgradeable path.

Rega's philosophy of light and rigid makes a lot of sense. Always decent tables but now with the new double brace technology, 24V motor, and RB303 tone-arm it's (IMHO) in another league of its own.

I currently own a heavily modified RB3 that now its closer to RP8 standards and I can tell you that I have never been so happy with ANY other set-up, including the late and rather expensive Linn Sondek/Ekos/Akiva/Lingo/Linto.

There are MANY tables out there. Ultimately it boils down to taste and synergy.

Happy listening!

Dear Notec,

The Orbit IS an ENTRY LEVEL TT that sells for $179.00

To quote you "Hi Fi entry level TT's are a pure waste of money"

I don't quite understand your reasoning Sir!

I'm a BIG fan of Rega tables and I cannot recommend the RP8 enough for $3,000.00 but I will throw in 3 other extremely reliable and well built brands/tables just for fun:

Acoustic Signature WOW for $1,600.00 w/out arm.
Well Tempered Amadeus for $2,850.00 w/arm.
Townshend Audio Rock 7 for $3,000.00 w/out arm.

The WOW is a "steal" at the selling price of $1,995.00 with a Rega 202 included. As I said, I'm a BIG fan of Rega products and, IMHO, Rega tonearms are amazing when you take price/performance into consideration:

The base is constructed of a MDF and acrylic sandwich with their proprietary Tidorfolon bearing and a 24 mm polished aluminum platter. The motor is fully separated from the plateau to minimize unwanted vibration. The major highlights of its design include:

• same Tidorfolon Bearing design used in all Acoustic Signature turntables, with 10-year warranty;
• same AC motor used in all Acoustic Signature models;
• heavy 9 lb. CNC-machined platter with leather mat;
• high gloss acrylic black or white finish and;
• Rega 202 tone arm.

You get to choose white or black finish.

Now the Townshend Rock 7 is in another league of its own and you will be hard pressed to find a better sounding TT in its price range. Everytime I visit my friend Larry at Hollywood Sounds I have to listen to this table. To my ears, you will need to spend up to $10,000.00 to match the sound:

The Townshend turntables incorporates a unique approach to arm-damping, involving viscous damping at the front end of the arm, right next to the cartridge, using a distinctive damping trough.

The trough-damping gives a solidity to the sound that one seldom encounters in vinyl playback. The arm in the Well Tempered Amadeus, with its bearing via damping only, comes close.

The cartridge is supposed not to vibrate at at all, to sit still except for the motion needed to remain centered over the groove as the record plays.

So based on this unique approach, the tonearm is not as important, an old Rega RB250 will do justice just fine.

Caveat? Extremely fuzzy to set up but once its set up properly, satisfaction will be endless!

Hope this helps in your quest for the right TT for you.

Happy listening!

Yep! It all boils down to taste and synergy!

Long live vinyl!

Best regards,

For that kind of money you may want to check out the Pro-ject RPM10.1 Evolution if you are still interested in a Pro-ject turntable. However, I would strongly recommend one of the followings over the Pro-ject:

Townshend Rock 7, Well Tempered Amadeus GTA MKII, Sota Nova, VPI Classic 3, Acoustic Signature Wow XL, Clearaudio Performance, or.......... Rega's top of the line, the RP10, for $5,495.00.

Again, big fan of Rega :)