2. analog
  3. 188429-179433

Upgrade My Turntable - How Much Do I Need to Spend?

I have recently fallen in love with listening to vinyl on my turntable.  In recent years, I have spent most of my listening time with digital music stored on my server (flac files recorded from CD's), but recently I discovered the beauty of placing an album on the turntable and listening to the entire album.  It's been a wonderful find for me.

My 2-channel room features:

  • McIntosh C260 Tube Preamp
  • McIntosh MC452 Solid State Amp
  • Martin Logan Montis speakers
  • Various upgraded cables and wires
  • Acoustically treated listening room
  • Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC turntable
  • Ortofon Blue Cartridge

My question is:  how big of a step up do I need to make with my turntable to take full advantage of the other components in my system?  I do not intend to do further upgrades with my speakers or amp system, but I would like to step up my game from the introductory level turntable that I bought years ago.  

I've been doing lots of reading and studying, but I would love to hear advice from some of the analog experts on this forum.  (Please don't flame my current system - there are reasons I love my McIntosh and those components are not going anywhere!)  Should I make a move to a $4000 turntable?  Or????  I would love to find a lightly used Rega RP10, and call my search over - but what do others think?

One thing that I believe I value is a simple setup.  I have read horror stories about how much time and frustration can go into getting a turntable setup and then constantly having to tinker for optimal performance.  I don't see myself enjoying that part of the process.

Thanks!

hikerneil

Showing 2 responses by mahler123

mahler123
3,064 posts
 

@hikerneil 

Just out of curiosity, what is there to prevent you from listening to an entire album that you have ripped to your server?

at any rate, although a starter level table would not be commensurate with the quality of the rest of your system, I would recommend going the entry level route as you are relatively new to analog.  It’s possible that once the reality of short playing times, surface noise, the necessity to clean records, etc, hits, the novelty of vinyl might wear thin and you might be stuck with an expensive piece of gear that is rarely used.  If on the other hand you really enjoy the experience and want to go further it is easier to upgrade 

mahler123
3,064 posts
 

 Anything will best the Project table.  I prefer Direct Drive, and the OP didn’t specify a budget, but if he has say, $3K to spend I would get two tables, say a Technics 1500 and an equivalent priced belt drive and go to town

More to discover