What's a good beginner turntable at $2500+- range?

The Technics is a cute table and a high value product... It is in the Music Hall, Project, Rega, league.

I disagree with this assertion. I've had Music Halls and Pro-jects, and I've heard Regas. My KAB Technics beats all of them hands-down. Coupled with the Denon DL-103 cartridge, it crushes my previous turntable, a Project RM-6. I've heard a mid-level Nottingham and I would say that the Technics is at least competitive with it.

While I do agree that for the $2500 the original poster is looking to spend you can do better, with a properly mated cartridge and phono preamp, the KAB Technics can hold its own with tables costing significantly more than it does.

The original poster wants to spend more than the Technics, though, so it's a non-issue.

Michael

Johnnyb, I have the KAB fluid damper and record clamp. I'm using the stock headshell for the DL-103, but I noticed that when I put the provided headshell weight on it that the result was a much richer, fuller sound. I've heard some people say the Sumiko headshell is a big upgrade, but the simple addition of the weight made it good enough that I don't have much desire to experiment further.

When I put the fluid in the fluid damper, I did notice less background noise. I haven't played yet with different fluid levels (I think mine is about 1/3 full).

Michael

Mmike84, you say that you want to spend roughly $2500 for the turntable, without considering the cartridge and such.

My suggestion is that you create an "analog system" budget, and let us provide input on all components involved: The turntable, cartridge, and phono preamp. None of these can be considered in isolation, and you may be very disappointed if you improperly mate a cartridge to a particular tonearm, or get a phono preamp with insufficient gain for the given cartridge. Just as with the rest of audio, synergy is important. And don't forget the record cleaning machine.

Is this your first attempt at an analog system? If so, maybe you want to try borrowing a turntable from a trusted dealer and give it a shot. In either case, having an expert able to teach you how to set up the turntable will be important, as a properly set up "less expensive" turntable can outperform an improperly set up "expensive turntable". On that note, you want to consider with each of these turntables how difficult it is to adjust the VTA or the tracking force, for instance. (That's something I love about my Technics compared to my prior turntable.) And you'll need to know how your personality will mate with the turntable, ie, do you have the patience to spend hours at a time trying to adjust the turntable with a very difficult mechanism?

You've asked for suggestions for a turntable only for a particular price; I'm just suggesting that it might be more accurate to consider asking for an entire analog system at a particular price.

Michael

OK, so since your Ayre preamp has a phono stage, I assume that the $3500-$4500 represents the table, cartridge, and record cleaning machine.

First question: What kind of music do you expect to be listening to on LP? Classical, jazz, pop, metal, etc?

Second question: What are the gain options on your preamp? That will help determine which cartridges will work well without a step-up transformer.

To some extent, the choice in the turntable can affect the choice in the cartridge, as different tonearms mate differently with cartridges. Check out some of the threads here on Audiogon about cartrdige/tonearm matching and resonance frequencies. I believe the KAB website has a calculator for it, too.

Do you have local dealers with some of these turntables? All of the ones you've listed are strong options. If you can visually see the turntable, listen to them, see what cartridges they've mated with it, and see how easy (or difficult) setting it up is, then you'll have a lot more information to go on. Also, search Audiogon's virtual systems to see who has a turntable that you might be interested in, and see which cartridge they put with it.

And don't forget the record cleaning machine. VPI and Nitty Gritty both make some. Expect to spend somewhere between $200 and $500 for it.

I know, you wanted options and I raised more questions. But I just feel that if you're planning on spending this much money, that you should be satisfied with the results.

Good luck.

Michael