Whichever table you choose, be sure to get a MM cartridge with a readily available replacement stylus slide-on assembly. With my college kid wanting a table I knew that a $10 replacement cantilever/stylus for her Shure cart will never be an issue.
A used vintage table seems like a wise choice. We went with a Thorens, but a DD Technics or Pioneer or a belt driven Rega would all give decent performance for a couple of hundred bucks.
If she gets into it, and wants to move the table to her own system, vintage amps & receivers often had reasonably serviceable MM phono stages built in, so keep your eyes open for a garage sale/craigslist bargain. Cheers,
Spencer
A used vintage table seems like a wise choice. We went with a Thorens, but a DD Technics or Pioneer or a belt driven Rega would all give decent performance for a couple of hundred bucks.
If she gets into it, and wants to move the table to her own system, vintage amps & receivers often had reasonably serviceable MM phono stages built in, so keep your eyes open for a garage sale/craigslist bargain. Cheers,
Spencer