What's been your turntable ownership over the years?
UPDATED In chronological order: 1971-75 AR XA* 75-77 Philips GA212 77-82 Connoisseur BD-1 with Grace G707 tonearm* 82-present Dual CS5000* 2015 Pro-Ject Carbon DC Bryston BLP-1 current (* still own an AR XA and BD-1 as well as the CS5000) Vinyl Nirvana-modified Thorens TD160 Super reproduction with SME M2-9 tonearm Technics SL1200 MKII with SME Type 2 Improved tonearm Dual 1219 rebuilt by FixMyDual Thorens TD160 Super with Grace G707 tonearm Dual 505-2 Philips GA212 Vinyl Nirvana-modified Thorens TD125 MkII with SME M2-9 tonearm VPI Prime LarryRS |
Micro Seiki DD24 with entry level mm 1980 to 1988 Manticore Mantra with RB300 and Goldring Eroica L 1988 to 1990 Townshend Rock mk2 1990 to 2011 with RB300 and 17D2, later D3 Naim Aro replaced the Rega on the Rock 2011 and I removed the trough. The Rock got the bellows feet conversion ~2013 Transfiguration Proteus replaced 17D3 in 2015 Artemis SA-1 with Schroeder Reference 2017 |
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1972-1976: Garrard SL95B and Shure M9ED 1976-1981 or so: Hitachi P38 DD turntable with a Grado Z3+ cartridge--the top line just before Grado came out with the twice-as-expensive Joe Grado Signature series. That was a great-sounding combination. 1987-2007: The bleak winter of digital playback 2007-Present: Technics SL1210M5G with Audio Technica AT150MLX and presently AT150Sa. Feeds all-tube PTP handwired MAGI Phonomenal phono stage feeding all-tube handwired MAGI line stage. |
"1972-1976: Garrard SL95B and Shure M9ED"Sorry Larry, sloppy typing on my part. My first stereo was an Altec-Lansing 911A compact system. The included turntable was a Garrard SL95B fitted with a Shure M93, a bonded. .4x.7 mild elliptical. A couple years later I upgraded the cartridge to a Shure M91ED, a more expensive cartridge with .2x.7 nude elliptical stylus ($50 in 1973, $511.23 in today's money). |
johnnyb53, Very nice stuff for the time and certainly by my standards then! My first stereo was a nondescript Panasonic component system, component in the sense that it had four parts, a receiver, a pair of speakers, and a mini-turntable that had one of those cartridges with the needle that flipped over, playing 33's/45's with one side and 78's with the other. The next turntable was a used AR XA that got an M91ED in 1972. The M91ED was the not only the smallest part of the system that replaced the Panasonic but, since it was the only part I bought new, the most expensive. |
Dual 1019 Rec-O-Kut transcription with SME arm Don't remember models. Systemdek table and arm VPI HW-19 MK 4 with Sama and ET- II arm Garrard 301 totally refurbished with Ortofon T-110 arm The last two I currently own and enjoy. The Garrard is a particular joy because it is as fun just to look at as it is to listen to. |
My first TT was a Philips with integrated amp & detachable speakers
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Marantz auto return table 1974 - 1989, added a Linn basic arm in mid 80s - not that it made a dang difference. Seriously. 90s to 2005 endlessly tried to improve CDP sound and finally went back to LP/analogue in 2006, followed by the next struggle to make MC cartridge(s) sound, (early PS Audio phono pre was of little help), also later including SUT - finally surrenderd to various NOS MM/MI cartridges. 2006-7 early type teardrop shape PROJECT TT with carbon fibre tonearm (not a quality product really). Implemented various 'improvements' - result? Not noticeable. At all. 2007- present SME 10, later upgraded arm from SME IV to SME V. Some improvement but not all together 'weltbewegend' (earth shattering?) Now CDP ML390S sounds as good as analogue, using Ortofon Cadenza Black and Fidelity Research SUT. 😏 Michélle 🇿🇦 |
Got back into vinyl about a decade ago, and now am awash with turntables. Last count there were 13 in the house. This is the chronological order of my daily players: Technics SL-220 Thorens TD160 Dual 1009 SKII Thorens TD145 Technics SL-D2 Mission 775LC (with Grace 707 arm) Now happy with a Mission 775S with the Grace 707 arm on it. |
First turntable was a Garrard back in the late 70s. I soon got rid of it for a music centre as I knew it must be rubbish. It just looked so retro and old fashioned. Yes, I was an idiot, but I was a young idiot and had only 'common sense' to go on. Later I brought a Rega 3. Great no fuss deck, but I increasingly became aware of the performance ceiling that no suspension mods or cartridge upgrades could do much about. So I eventually moved to the highly worshipped Linn LP12 with the Ittok arm that many claimed was state of the art. It was a definite upgrade, more scale more bandwidth, but eventually performance/setup inconsistencies and a growing awareness of that either you love or hate Linn colouration, plus the arrival of first child and unavailability of certain releases on vinyl, all led me to temporarily ditch vinyl. Nowadays I look forward to getting back into vinyl at some point. Probably via one of the Technics SL 1200 decks. For me being an audiophile and vinyl enthusiast are inseparable. |
Yamaha P350/Ortofon OM30 (beginner) Beogram 3404/MMC20EN (loaner) Sony PS-X60/Shure V15 type V (WOW!!) Thorens TD166 MkII/Adcom XCLT (Mistake) Systemdeck (great deck) Oracle Alexandria/Prelude, Sumiko FT3 & VTA base/Dynavector D17 (not so much) ...:: 15 year hiatus ::... AR EB101 w/tapered tonearm tube/Shure M97xE (very good!) Kenwood KD500/Grace 707/F9E OFC (?) Thorens TD150/AMG 9W2/AT OC9III (haven’t finished) Technics SL1200 Mk5/Jelco TK850S/Mutech Hyabusa (Blissful perfection) interested in a Classic Gerrard 301 w/12" arm (will require real estate) |
I wish we were able to put likes & ❤️ Next to comments like FB. To update my list from the original thread: Dual 1225 B&O RX with MMC5 cartridge Denon DP-59L Rega Planar 3 Kenwood KD5070 Harman Kardon T45 Thorens TD-125 mk II w/Rega RB303 arm Linn Basik w/Akito arm Bang & Olufsen Beogram 2000 LSA/Columbia SL-3a looking to make a change soon :) |
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Here's an update to my earlier post. My Denon DP-51 started to have problems last year and I gave up on it. The arm appeared to lose it's tracking force and started skipping over the record. Anyone have any experience with repairing them? I hear it is a common problem with the Dynamic Servo systems, but I'm not sure I want to spend the money to fix it. Then, late in 2019 I saw a Sota Millenia/Conductor linear tracking arm/Soundsmith Voice set-up for sale on the other audio site, and I had to have it. Soon after purchase I had Sota update it to the RoadRunner power supply and motor, and it is surprising me with its performance every time I play my records. So despite my earlier protestations about steering clear of high-end turntables, I'm one of the family now. |
I started off with a BSR turntable and then foolishly got rid of a Garrard deck my dad gave me to ’upgrade’ to the well reviewed Rega 3. Eventually I upgraded again to the even better reviewed Linn LP12 - and that particular headache inducing deck was one ’upgrade’ too many. However I am not beaten yet. I would love to return to vinyl one day via either the obvious Technics SL1200G (or even GR), or if I ever get enough free time to play with audio again, one of Ed Villchur’s original AR decks. |
Pioneer belt drive with shure m91ed technics sl1100 thorens td166 mk2 dynavector 10x4 ar es1 dynavector 10x4 then bluepoint special rega 3 did not like linn lp12 ittok and koestu black caught fire when power supply failed vpi prime scout w saved koetsu black vpi prime signature w soundsmith Paula 2 end game for me |
In September 2021 I finally put together about 100 images of my system evolution and uploaded them in two parts in my Virtual System Gallery. You will see different turntables I owned (still own) since 2011. I’m with Japanese Direct drive turntables since 1995, but I tried several belt drive turntables before 1995. |
