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Turntable/Arm in $1500-2000 Range

Hi,

(This is a duplicate of my post at VA, in case anyone else visits both sites) Am about to purchase another turntable. For any of you that remember my posts, I had a Michell Gyro SE/SME 309 setup for about a year. Sold it about four months ago, intending to buy either an Orbe or Xerxes, but I spent most of my upgrade funds on other things instead (new CD player, new tubes for my amp, interconnects, speaker cable etc.). Bought a Planar 25 used from my local dealer and used a couple months just so I would have a decent table to listen to my vinyl collection; sold it for about what I paid for it. Things I liked about the Michell: neutral tonally to my ear, dynamic and powerful sounding, fair amount of detail and resolution. Things I didn't like as much: frustrating to set up ideally, not quite as subtle on low level detail as I would like, bounced a lot on my wood floors, didn't "swing" quite as well as Linn/Rega tables. The Planar 25 had a little more "swing", not the dynamics or detail of the Gyro.

Unfortunately, my upgrade fund is still more limited than ideal, so tables like an Orbe, Xerxes, or full-blown Aries are still not a consideration. Tables I'm considering are some of those often recommended/discussed here: get another Gyro; Spacedeck; Well Tempered; Bluenote; the entry level Teres; the Eurolab; or at a little lower price point, a Scout, Innerspace, Music Hall 9 or the new Roksan table. I would ideally like a table that "has it all": neutral yet w/ good "swing" and rhythm, good low level detail and dynamic. I don't want a table/arm that is a "tone control," that imparts too much of its own character to the music; on the other hand, I don't want a table that is lifeless and boring, that doesn't capture the soul of the music. Is there such a table in my price range? For now, I will probably have to use a Rega 250/300 or OL arm (OL1, not Silver), or maybe the entry level Bluenote, if that arm is as good as some say. At this point, I'm undecided between going back to a Gyro, esp. if I can find a good deal on a used one, or trying something like the Bluenote, Teres or Eurolab. I know the sound of the Michell; can audition VPI locally, but no dealer for any of the other tables w/in hundreds of miles. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Terry
tlh28

Showing 3 responses by twl

twl
3,251 posts
 
All of those tables are good. It is very hard to say whether you will like one better than the other. If you pressed me for a recommendation, I'd say that since you like the British tables, then the Nottingham Spacedeck would offer a better sound than a Gyrodec. The better Teres tables are out of your price range. I never heard the Bluenote. Eurolab is where the Teres started from.

If you are starting with an OL-1 arm(good arm), than try to get a DL103 along with that, and a phono stage that has enough gain for it. That is a very good low cost setup.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Ron, I am ROFLMAO right now! You say that Expressimo has updated their Heavyweight with 2 rubber O-rings around it? Take a look at my virtual system, and click on the OL Silver tonearm, and then click on the small picture, to enlarge it to see the detail. You will see on my old Heavyweight counterweight, 2 rubber O-rings around it. That photo has been on my Virtual System since last October. I wonder where they got the idea to do that? Oh, well. The new advanced counterweight I developed is where it's at now.
Anybody looking for a Heavyweight for OL end-stub, with 2 rubber o-rings on it? $55 and it's yours.
twl
3,251 posts
 
I think that this is all a little too much, and to the extent that I had a part in it, I apologize. My desire is to have everyone enjoy their turntables, and not to cause alot of strife. I can't comment on the Aurora, because I've never heard it. I know the Nottinghams are good tables. I even recommended one at the top of this thread.

Ron, you really don't need my approval on your post.
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