welcome to the world of vinyl. why not listen to them all at your friend's house? you can get all the input in teh world from agon members, but none of them have your ears.
my $.02:
I am a big fan of the Rek o Kut Rondine. I had never heard of them until about a year ago when I had the chance to hear one and thought it was a very neutral, yet somehow involving table. I think that table has the best chance of "growing with you" and supporting higher end cartridges down the road.
Rega is the easy answer for now...it will hold its value well and is no doubt a good table. In my mind it has a warmer tone than the rondine.
The sota looks interesting, I'm not a huge fan of their sound, but that one has had some mods done so depending on how successful the mods were it may be the best of the bunch.
my $.02:
I am a big fan of the Rek o Kut Rondine. I had never heard of them until about a year ago when I had the chance to hear one and thought it was a very neutral, yet somehow involving table. I think that table has the best chance of "growing with you" and supporting higher end cartridges down the road.
Rega is the easy answer for now...it will hold its value well and is no doubt a good table. In my mind it has a warmer tone than the rondine.
The sota looks interesting, I'm not a huge fan of their sound, but that one has had some mods done so depending on how successful the mods were it may be the best of the bunch.