[Edit: Oops. Somehow missed the post where you bought already. Oh well. Hope this doesn't turn out as painfully prophetic as it appears.... ]
The guy next to me at the bar one night heard me say something and so started telling me about his stereo. Not much made sense until I figured out he was talking imaginary stereo. Components picked out because he saw somewhere they were good. That’s what you got so far here. Bunch of opinions about what is good.
Problem is, only you know what is good. Nobody else matters. Especially on a budget. That means doing the work to track down a place you can go and touch and feel and most of all listen.
You are not buying just a turntable. A really good - and by good I mean musically enjoying to listen to, much more than any CD - setup can be done on your budget. But not by picking from other peoples lists. What lies down this path is expense, frustration, ruin. I can pretty much guarantee it.
What you do instead, if you are smart-
Go slow. Learn about cartridge output, phono stage gain, what you want in terms of sound, what the different components deliver in terms of sound. Be realistic. You’re not getting ultimate resolution, your whole budget won’t buy that in even a cartridge. What it will buy though, if you are careful and thoughtful about it, is a beautifully balanced system that performs far better than you ever thought possible for even a couple times what you have to spend. It can be done. Its not easy. But it is worth it.
There really is no easy way around it. You go and listen to as many different setups as you can. Including stuff way out of your price range. Including stuff so old and/or cheap you’re sure its a waste of time. Along the way you pay careful attention to details. What phono stage was that one? What cartridge? You develop a feel for "house sound" what makes a Benz a Benz. Whether you are more sensitive to the table, or the phono stage, or how important it looks, feels, handles. Records are a lot more hands on than a CD. These things matter.
One result of all this listening, learning and handling could well be you discover this just ain’t your thing. Without spending a dime. Just time. Learning stuff you can always use later if you want anyway. As opposed to what most guys do, throwing money at the problem, learning almost nothing except its a money pit.
It ain’t a pit. Its a peak. Ever wonder how Hillary climbed Everest?
One step at a time.
The guy next to me at the bar one night heard me say something and so started telling me about his stereo. Not much made sense until I figured out he was talking imaginary stereo. Components picked out because he saw somewhere they were good. That’s what you got so far here. Bunch of opinions about what is good.
Problem is, only you know what is good. Nobody else matters. Especially on a budget. That means doing the work to track down a place you can go and touch and feel and most of all listen.
You are not buying just a turntable. A really good - and by good I mean musically enjoying to listen to, much more than any CD - setup can be done on your budget. But not by picking from other peoples lists. What lies down this path is expense, frustration, ruin. I can pretty much guarantee it.
What you do instead, if you are smart-
Go slow. Learn about cartridge output, phono stage gain, what you want in terms of sound, what the different components deliver in terms of sound. Be realistic. You’re not getting ultimate resolution, your whole budget won’t buy that in even a cartridge. What it will buy though, if you are careful and thoughtful about it, is a beautifully balanced system that performs far better than you ever thought possible for even a couple times what you have to spend. It can be done. Its not easy. But it is worth it.
There really is no easy way around it. You go and listen to as many different setups as you can. Including stuff way out of your price range. Including stuff so old and/or cheap you’re sure its a waste of time. Along the way you pay careful attention to details. What phono stage was that one? What cartridge? You develop a feel for "house sound" what makes a Benz a Benz. Whether you are more sensitive to the table, or the phono stage, or how important it looks, feels, handles. Records are a lot more hands on than a CD. These things matter.
One result of all this listening, learning and handling could well be you discover this just ain’t your thing. Without spending a dime. Just time. Learning stuff you can always use later if you want anyway. As opposed to what most guys do, throwing money at the problem, learning almost nothing except its a money pit.
It ain’t a pit. Its a peak. Ever wonder how Hillary climbed Everest?
One step at a time.