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Which turntable should I choose?

Seeking assistance from the TT gurus here. 

So far my experience with TT's has not been especially gratifying. A local dealer convinced me that the cartridge is really the only thing that mattered. So he sold me a TEAC TN-400s paired with a Ortofon 2M Black cart. The TEAC had a rather annoying hum no matter what phono-pre I used, except for the one built into the table. The cart showed every wart and flaw on the record, in other words it was not very forgiving, despite me cleaning my records well with an Oki-Nokki. 

I sold both the table and cart and want to try again from scratch. 

I want to keep the table under $2k. I've come across two tables in my research that interest me.

- Technics SL1210GR from HiFi Heaven. I'm not really sure what cart to get but I'm leaning toward the Hana SL Low Output Shibata. https://hifiheaven.net/shop/Technics-SL-1210GR-Grand-Class-Direct-Drive-Turntable-System

- A restored Thorens table from Vinyl Nirvana. https://vinylnirvana.com/vintage-turntables-for-sale

My current phono-pre is a Consonance PM6.

Questions:
- Will either of these table options provide sound quality anywhere approaching my digital setup (Bluesound Node 2/ Mytek Libery DAC)? 
- Are there better options in this price range that I should consider?

Thanks for any and all replies.
Joe

audionoobie

Showing 2 responses by billstevenson

billstevenson
481 posts
 
Chakster's advice on Pickering is worth serious consideration.
billstevenson
481 posts
 
In the September 2020 isssue of the Absolute Sound a strong endorsement is made for the Technics 1500C, which at $1199 seems to fit the bill for you nicely.  I believe any Technics TT is worth consideration.  Thorens makes good TTs and I have owned a couple over the years, but must say that in my experience the Technics products (and in fact Japanese TTs in general) have proven to be more satisfactory. 

With respect, I believe you should carefully reconsider your cartridge choice.  From your description of the problem you had with the 2M Black it likely has at root the Shibata stylus.  The Shibata is fussy about set up and the condition of record grooves.  If all is not perfection itself, Shibatas are prone to be noisy.  I use Shibata on mint condition records, older records and especially mono records are often better served with an elliptical stylus.  If your new TT has a tonearm with removable head shell it would facilitate having more than one cartridge.  Were I you I would probably buy an elliptical stylus mounted on an aluminum cantilever type cartridge.  There are several good brands.

Believe me, sometimes less is more.  I have two TTs side by side, one is a $15K item fitted with an $8K cartridge (stereo) and stepped up through an almost $6K SUT.  Next to it is a $4K TT with an $8oo cartridge (mono) connected directly to the built in SUT in my phono stage.  Depending on the record it is very possible for the less expensive rig to sound better than the more expensive rig.  My point in telling you this is to advise you not to get hung up by labels or what other people are using or claiming is "the best" whatever that is supposed to mean.  When you are playing a record, what matters is how well your needs are served.  It is really all about the music.
Regards,
Bill
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