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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
elliottbnewcombjr
5,363 posts
 
Internal Preamp of some modern tt.

I had highly respected McIntosh C28 Solid State Preamp. I preferred the optional phono eq built into my plastic tt.

Sold the SS C28, bought a used McIntosh Tube Preamp. Same tt, I prefer the McIntosh Tube Phono EQ.

USB. I don't use it, but it is not nonsense, many want/use this feature, especially within your price range.
johntoye's avatar
johntoye
11 posts
 
@earworm22 I was in the same boat and ended up accidently coming across a Denon DP-62L. It had everything I was looking for and comes with 2 tone arms (Straight and S shapped) and also several counter weights for the arms. There is a good review available at:

https://www.tonepublications.com/old-school/denon-dp-62l-direct-drive-turntable/

There other similar Denon models 60, 62, 72, 57, and 59 however I have no experience with them. 

These are beautiful pieces of equipment and they are hard to come by but do pop up regularly on line. 

Good luck on your journey with your TT. 
audiogent's avatar
audiogent
11 posts
 
Yamaha PX2 , Technics SL-M3,   Sony PS-X800 are good Linear tracking turntables. These days, hard to come by. Some come up from time to time.
mtdining's avatar
mtdining
131 posts
 
For sound quality on a budget, it would be hard to beat the Project Debut Carbon Esprit, or the RPM 1, particularly if you swap out for a better cartridge!
earworm22 OP
22 posts
 
Some of the new Pro-jects and Music Halls look interesting, despite afixed headshells.

The used market in my area doesn't currently offer much, but I'll keep looking. I would be very reluctant to buy used without testing it out first.

@elliot _ I can set alignment, azimuth and anti-skate fairly well. What I am more concerned about is changing carts with a one-piece tonearm. Is it a huge PIA? If not, I can forgo the removable headshell. Sounds like auto-return might also be off the table. I'm ok with that.

That being the case, anyone have experience with anything similar to this..? Looks interesting and on sale...

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-27jLsQYlV3J/p_823MMF23SE/Music-Hall-MMF-2-3-Special-Edition.html?XVINQ...
It has VTA and anti-skate adjustment. That's a big plus as I would likely swap out the cart at some point. That's what turned me off to the new P1 & P2. Also, looks like the speed regulation is improved from the base model.
There's no built-in  pre-amp in the signal path. Looks nice. Maybe a platter upgrade down the road...
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