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Yet another turntable recommendation question

Hello all,
Longtime reader of the forums, but I rarely post. As a relative noob, I have learned much from reading your conversations, so thank you.
I am currently looking to upgrade my turntable situation from my old plastic Technics and Onkyo hand-me-downs.
Budget would be stretched at $600-ish.
Features I like...
- removable headshell, or at least a way to easily change carts and related tonearm adjustments
- speed stability!! (as a musician, pitch instability drives me absolutely insane)- some prospect of upgrading over time (tonearm, platter, sub-platter, wiring, etc.)
- belt drive- good (dare I say great?) sound quality- Auto shut off would be very nice

I don't want bells and whistles like built-in phono stage and USB nonsense. Simple is good.

I have considered buying used (Thorens, Dual) and haven't necessarily ruled it out, but I don't want a project, and I darn sure don't want to inherit someone else's problems. Warranties are kind of awesome.
The rest of my system is...
Schitt Mani, Jolida JD1501BRC, Wharfedale Diamond 10.7, Audioquest, BlueJeans, and Morrow cabling.
Mid-fi, I suppose, but I think it sounds great for the price, and I have no immediate plans to change any of that.
I listen to everything from classical to hard rock to jazz to ambient drone.
So far I have looked at Music Hall, Fluance, Denon, Rega, Pro-Ject, but all are compromised in some way.
Are there any others I should be factoring in to the equation?Or any I should steer clear of?
Thanks for any advice and cheers!

earworm22

Showing 2 responses by chakster

chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
The budget is too low for a serious turntable with all the features you have mentioned. Why biyin’ another toy if for double price you can get something really great (direct drive for sure) ?

Technics SP-20 with your custom made plinth and the arm of your choice (vintage).
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
Pro-jects and Music Halls are piece of sh**** belt drives, lightweight plastic turntables, toys, you have to remove the platter to each time your want to switch a belt from 33 to 45 rpm and you must do that manually, an awful turntables even for entry level. Awful tonearm with NO adjustment of anything, they are too bad.

Go with Direct Drive and you will get something serious. New Technics, Pioneer, Denon ... whatever. Some vintage are far better, look for Technics SP-20 which is a simplified/cheaper version of one of the best direct drive ever ( SP10mkII ), make a custom plinth and buy the tonearm you want. Those turntable will live longer that we’re


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