What are your top 3 favorite turntable companies (manufacturer) and why?
I am interested in knowing which 3 turntable companies you like and why? Not interested in the Direct Drive vs Belt drive argument, just what is your experience with the company product and... support too. Something like this as an example-
Garrard- very solid and classic design that sounds great and built like a tank.
Well Tempered- Very good design and even better tonearm performance. Best model is ________
Technics- Very solid design and easy to adjust. Great idea with removeable headshell
Your thoughts and experience welcome
SOTA - really well engineered tables (Sapphire, Nova, Cosmos) that properly address the real problems of vinyl playback (isolation, whole-record clamping) without solving the wrong problems just for gimmick-factor. Great classic looks with any wood - other than yellow oak (ugh)! That said, while I appreciate their last several years’ worth of technical & materials innovation (Christian Griego), they’re getting quite pricey now. I kind of wish they’d kept a parallel of the core 4-point suspension models stocked with basic older tech (motor / PSU / bearings) for a lower price. The way they’re trending now looks almost like a convergence with other overpriced, over-engineered brands. However I can’t really blame them because this market rewards bling factor and Rube-Goldberg solutions. 3 table companies I like? Impossible lol. I also like my Clearaudio a lot, but they've made a lot of design missteps IMO, and their pricing (especially for parts, upgrades) sucks. |
I had a Linn LP12 from ca. 1987 until the 2000s. I stopped using it in the 90s because the suspension failed. Around 2010 my wife wanted us to start playing records again. I sold the crippled LP12 and bought a Rega, but wasn’t really happy with it. Then I bought a Clearaudio Ovation that was great. I upgraded to a Clearaudio Innovation in 2023, and I might upgrade that to a Clearaudio Master Innovation. So I don’t have 3 favorite turntable companies. Just one: Clearaudio. I wouldn’t want another Linn or Rega after owning Clearaudio for nearly 15 years. |
What parts have you needed for a Clearaudio? Just curious. In nearly 15 years of Clearaudio ownership (Ovation/Innovation/Universal) I've only needed belts, and some bearing oil my dealer provided free. As for upgrades, I got some pretty generous trade-in allowances on Clearaudio arms from Musical Surroundings in the past (Clarify -> Magnify -> Universal), the Clearaudio U.S. distributor. |
I have a German turntable and tonearms (Clearaudio), Japanese cartridges (Lyra x 2, Dynavector), American phono-stage (Boulder), British electronics (Naim Audio top-of-line Classic series), Danish speakers (Dynaudio) and British subs (REL). I know about PRaT and great midrange. My system has both. Brits are great at it (and you see I have Naim/REL) but they can't claim or dominate it on their own. |
Good for you, but most other audiophiles don't, or if they do I wait to hear from them. And I think Australians might take umbrage at the notion they are naught but displaced Brits. Doehmann and Caliburn are very fine TTs, for sure, but neither makes a TT for the masses, and neither has a long history in the business. Technics SOTA VPI Thorens (mostly in honor of their past successes) Linn (because otherwise I will be excoriated) The above in no particular order. Also now I think of it: Denon, Dual, AR, Kuzma, Basis, Yamaha, Pioneer. |
A plain Innovation armboard with a 40 mm hole drilled in it for $900, with an 8 month wait. Replacement Master Innovation shipping boxes (& packing) also for $900. Everything ordered from Germany takes a long, long time to arrive. A 80mm acrylic top platter (to replace the delrin one), I think that was $1600 - 2K. The liquid pump in my Double Matrix Pro Sonic keeps failing, ugh very frustrating. I also have a spare Innovation controller PCB which is good because I don’t trust the trimpots on my original one (always adjusting back & forth to try and stabilize speed). Can’t for the life of me remember what I paid for that but I’m sure it wasn’t cheap. I should probably also get a spare DC motor since I’ll be keeping this table for the long haul. On the bright side it is my best sounding table :) |
I love the REGA P3 turntable with the RB301, back in the day with a Dynavector 10X5 (then $450) this was a very lively and engaging,fun, very fun, did i say fun setups! Which then led me to JA Michell Gyro SE and the REGA RB301 modified Techno Arm and Dynavector 20x2L. SME Turntables and the 3009 arm for the simple reason that is the upgrade for the JA Michell I would love to have :-)
Matt M |
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top 3 favorite turntable companies- classic
top 3 favorite turntable companies- price no object
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I can't speak for VPI the company, but I sure can about founder/owner Harry Weisfeld. About five years back I bought myself nice used HW-19 and Aries model tables. A little while later I acquired a (used, of course) TNT-5 platter and bearing assembly with which to upgrade the HW-19 (the Aries already had a TNT platter, the version with the 7/8" aluminum bottom section with a layer of lead bonded to it's underside and a 3/8" top layer of black Delrin). When I received the platter/bearing, I found the ball bearing on the end of the spindle shaft had it's bottom worn flat (the TNT-5 platter is pretty heavy). Try as I might I could not dislodge the ball bearing from the bottom of the spindle (I had tried freezing it and heating it with a small torch). I checked the ball bearing on the Aries spindle while I was it, and it too had been worn flat. I emailed Harry, and he told me to send him the bearing assemblies (spindles and housings). He consequently emailed me, telling me he too was unable to dislodge the ball bearing from one of the spindles, so had his machinist fabricate a new one and secure it to the thick platform upon which the platter rests. He put new ball bearings on both spindles, and sent them back to me, charging me for none of it!
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Stuff I've owned: ELAC Miracord (630, a great entry TT for me when I was a semi-starving HS student) Rega (Planar 2 then 3, nice step up if somewhat minimalist design; great to pass on to your kids when you upgrade) Garrard (401, rock solid and a fun DIY project to build a plinth) Dual (1229Q classic waiting for a new home at family mountain cabin) Technics (1210D, most practical and trouble free TT I've ever owned) |
Historically - Rega - because Roy Gandy democratised high quality sound. Roksan - because they broke through the veil of Linn's propaganda and paved the way for the diversity of turntables that don't use springs. Technics - because they showed that direct drive can work. Along with a small amount of rubbish, there is so much diversity and quality in current turntable design that even a shortlist would be a long list. |
https://maglevaudio.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooC4G32QVWxf-hqYHs84VDqWs6eb2Q_-WmgqhXghzOicvDEaZug |
It's sort of shocking how many different brands and models we have now for such a tiny market. I suppose it's a small number of us buying / selling / trading amongst each other! The materials quality is super-high in modern high end turntables. But the engineering is a bit all over the place! |
@mulveling Thanks for answering about Clearaudio parts. I haven't ever needed to buy such parts (and I have my original boxes). When I ordered my Innovation I got an extra 30mm standard armboard for a 2nd Universal arm. That was $500. It seems steep, but with the Clearaudio higher end I guess ya just gotta pay to play. It seems no worse than what people pay for stuff on a Linn LP12 (like $10k+ for their new plinth). |
@dwette No doubt, the high parts prices seem endemic to this hobby. Sorry for the belly-aching! I do still love my Master Innovation, 8 years into ownership. The "stock" armboards are indeed around $500; $900 was for a blank with a custom hole. Later, I figured out I could just use the hole in a Graham Phantom board lol. I thought owning VPI tables would be better on this front, being domestic - but nope, not really much better (though shipping is super fast!). And they didn’t have what it takes to knock off my Innovation. At least Clearaudio has the import excuse for prices! |
Plus, I've gotten great support over the years from Musical Surroundings. I am getting both my Universal 12" arms rewired. They have to go back to Germany for that, for est. 6-8 weeks. Musical Surroundings sent me one of their demo arms, first to try out with the rewire I'm getting, but also to loan me while mine are gone. I suppose it helps they know I am considering a Master upgrade, but I'm sure that doesn't happen often around the different brands. |
Agree - Musical Surroundings' service & support has been fantastic. Great distributor. NO complaints there :) I suspect they dropped Graham because they were tired of covering for him! |
1972-81 Pioneer direct drive table with Shure M93ED cart. No longer in production was the best table I ever had and never should have sold it. This is more of a recommend for direct drive than Pioneer tables. Replaced it with a cheap Japanese table ugh. 1984-2004. Rega Planar 2 w/Linn K9 cart. Opened my ears to what a quiet table & good MM cart could do. When I lost the platter bearing during a move Rega replaced free of charge. 2004-2015. VPI Scoutmaster w/Dynavector 10x5, Benz Micro Wood L-2. Solid all around table with better bass extension the Rega 2. But much better MC carts, too. 2015-present. VPI Prime w/1st gen. 10" printed unipivot arm and Lyra Delos cart. This was a serious upgrade from the Scoutmaster. Sonically better in all respects, which I attribute to the longer arm, better motor, and 22 lb. platter. VPI now fits the Prime with a 10 inch gimballed arm. If you don't want to spend a ton of money Rega and VPI are solid bets. |
I have been very happy (and for a long time) with a Sota Cosmos in one system and a VPI TNT V in another. I use a much less expensive Roksan Radius in another system where analogue isn't played as much. The one that I sold and would love to have back was an Oracle Delphi , if only because they are works of art to look at.
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Analogue, and ‘’two countries separated by a common language.’’ Yes, a George Bernard Shaw quote but no record of what year he said it. I deduce it was after or during WW2. Analog is a bastardised spelling of analogue. Is it highly probable that a large percentage of French, British and Irish citizens who emigrated to the Americas had poor spelling skills.
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Having used a VPI HW 19 Mk III for 20 years, I can say that it served me well. I bought it used with the platter and bearing upgrades, along with SME IV tonearm and a Sumiko Virtuoso Diamond Titanium vdh HOMC. I did not use the cartridge that came with it, rather used a LOMC that I had FR 1 Mk III F. Both are still operational but probably due for a retip. Steve Leung has the bearing from the VPI right now as it failed after I used it for 20 years. Steve (VAS) does all the service work on bearings for VPI..........according to his son Ray. When my VPI went down, I fiddled around with some old rigs, including an AR (THE AR), which is not a bad inexpensive rig. Pretty much a Linn copy, within reason. I recently bought a Linn LP 12 with Lingo PS (first version), Ekos tonearm and Cirkus bearing. Old upgrades. It came with a Linn Karma LOMC and this combination is probably the best I've owned as yet. I first heard an LP 12 over 50 years ago, finally own one and I am very pleased with it. Maybe down the road, I can complain as other Linn owners about how fidgity and fussy it is but for now, I am very happy with it. I have no real experience with other high end rigs but reading reviews and paying attention to what people say, I'd lean toward SME if I ever felt like buying another turntable. Not likely to feel the need but you never know. |
I am bit surprised, no one mentioned CS Port LFT1M2. One of the finest among the cost no object turntable’s. |
