Turntable Purchase Suggestion

Same as always; send an email to Scheu and Dr Feickert will answer your questions. The prices seem somewhat flexible is my experience. Not much but somewhat. I had to use a bank wire transfer to effect the purchase as they do not accept Paypal and they are in Germany.

I would see if the Final Signature Acoustic Tool remains available at 1750 here on audiogon. It is a superb table for the money and is made of real metal and not plastic! Add a quality tonearm (rb300 Incognito wired, Kerry or Michell heavyweight, and a custom VTA adjuster) and you are off to the races.

Another excellent value is the Scheu Cello which can be had for about a grand with rega rb250 or 800 w/o arm. Only can be ordered direct from Scheu.

Of the decks you mention above I like the P9 and the Spacedeck. But neither would be my first choice. Another excellent choice is the Teres which you will get some votes on. The entry level Teres is 1890 plus shipping/tax. It is a wonderful table and has the advantage of plenty of support from the Teres fanatics (er, fans...) on this forum and is built in the USA so you can puff up your chest and buy USA!

The 245 Teres is probably a better turntable but at a cost of close to another grand. What you get, though, is a finished rosewood base and armpod rather than an unfinished birch base and unfinished acrylic platter. you would have to put the finish on these items. The rosewood looks much better than the birch and if the user claims are believed it sounds materially better than the birch, too.

If you are a novice I'd stay away from unipivot tonearms which the Vector is. The Rega 1000 is a great arm but very expensive as is the P9. For the cost of a new P9 you can have a Teres 245.

Good luck.

Carl

Brand new SME arms (M2 and 309 and M2-12 and 312) can be ordered brand new from UK for 1175 and 1600 (12" versions; 9" less expensive) from Vantage Audio inc shipping. That is a LOT less than here in USA. Of course, you won't have a dealer to install your arm and cartridge as part of the deal.

I am ordering one of the two SME arms shortly for 855 delivered from Hong Kong; that is even less than from UK.

I second the rec of the Scheu Premier II. I purchased one with the dual arm plinth and 80mm platter. It was about 2000 inc shipping. This is less expensive than any Teres (non kit) by far. Having said that I would prefer a Teres 245 but cannot justify the additional money over the Scheu.