Which dealer do you trust? Sometimes you can get a great deal on a demo or trade in. I would hesitate to buy a used turntable/arm, but if a dealer stands behind it, that may be an option if you want separate arm and table manufacturers. I prefer to keep it simple, and Rega makes incredible arms for the money. I'm not a fan of their cartridges and a dealer can set it up with an excellent cartridge. Some dealers are very analogue centric and can guide you better than others. A Rega P8 lists for $3500 now, you can probably get it for about $3K, cartridge $1500-$2000, and a phono stage for about $1500-$2500. Close to $5K all in. The P10 is better, but the extra close to $3K cost/value proposition is debatable. It's almost double the price. Plan on putting the Regas on a wall shelf with some isolation base as well and they will really shine. There's reason Michells, SOTAs and others match their tables with Rega arms. Value. If you want to go over $10K all in and become more of a turntable hobbyist, then by all means, have at it. Although I would probably just go for a simple solution like an SME.
Every day I see another turntable recommendation...
After digging into this topic, I am convinced now I need to go a bit higher on this first vinyl set up. I think all in, I am prepared at this point to go up to $5k, for the table alone, not including arm or cartridge.
But frankly, being on this forum is like drinking from an information firehose. I have learned a bunch and yet somehow, I am less convicted than before.
With that in mind, to narrow down the decision, I am want to restrict myself to things I can buy, hear and, if necessary, service locally. My local dealers stock, AMG, AVM, Basis, Clearaudio, Michell, Musichall, Pro-ject, Rega, VPI, so I am likely restricted to those brands. I am certain my view will change by the end of this thread.
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- 105 posts total
- 105 posts total