Best turntable for the buck

The skeletal Rega 8 is very good.

I heard one last year at a show and was surprised at how much better than any Rega 3 it was.

Inky black silences and rock solid pitch and timing.

No Rega 3 did that, and that’s hardly surprising is it?

That said, the near textbook perfect, virtually indestructible DD Technics 1200G easily beats it for sheer convenience.

Plus you’ll never ever regret its removable headshell either.

It would be nice to own both, but if it had to be one, I’d have the Technics.

I would struggle with the idea that if a individual struggles to feel impressed by a TT, the set up of the TT is solely the cause of the deficiency of the SQ.

I have been a user of a Belt Drive TT, Idler Drive TT’s and Direct Drive TT’s.

My methods used for the mounting of a TT have progressed over the years, to utilise methods that are to my assessment, substantially improved over previous methods used.

I still own all three of the different motor drive TT’s but am no longer owning a very heavy massy plinth Idler Drive that was used to supersede the use of the the Belt Drive many years ago.

All TT’s get a spin, of which the Belt Drive is the least used, it does not present in a way that is an attractor to me, even though it replays music that is quite fine and at times even enjoyable.

I find the Idler Drive as a comparative to a Belt Drive to be much more attractive, the presentation from the Idler Drive is ’up my street’ and I look forward to hearing the various versions that are available to me.

I don’t see the point in a Belt Drive to Direct Drive comparison in my system, the DD is for myself the most attractive when compared to an Idler Drive, the presentation from a DD TT ’floats my boat’. I go out of my way to hear these in use in their various guises and in differing set ups. The ones I am encountering all delivery the goods in a manner I settle with very quickly.

IMO, the thread has leaned towards the merits of a DD TT and I understand why this can be a very good thing.

As always, I encourage nobody to purchase blind using recommendation only, the least should be a decision made following a demonstration in a unfamiliar system.

The best option being a demonstration in the owned system.

@mr_m Setup issues are the standard response when someone doesn’t like something. I used to be in the business and have set up hundreds of turntables.

Over the years, I found myself using it less and less until it dawned in me that it was just a dust collector. I found myself staring at my album collection one day and realized I hadn’t played a record in 6 months.

I bought a cheap turntable just to see if it was the turntable or me. It was the turntable. I used that cheap table more in one year than the SOTA in 10. I gave that turntable away (a Pioneer PLX-1000) to someone new to the hobby.

Then a Rega P3, then 4 or so years with a MoFi UltraDeck. Finally a couple of months with the Technics SL-1210 GR and a few weeks with the G.

Looking back I could have purchased an original 1200 back when I bought the SOTA. Do they sound like the G? Nope, not even close. But I’ve done on air radio work so I know them well. I would have had a better/more reliably consistent table for much less money. It’s likely that I wouldn’t have quit playing my records. But it all worked out in the end. Luckily because of folks on the internet I was able to rid myself of the SOTA quickly and for a good price (for me- the buyer, not so much.)

If you like yours, great. But at $4k there are lots of options. I personally think SOTA should be approached without rose tinted glasses and with caution. But that’s just my opinion.

Make sure you have the turntable isolated properly, especially if you are on a suspended floor. My P8 is on a wall shelf, and it sits on a Townshend seismic platform. Sound improvement was huge with the Townshend, and foot falls non existent when I put it on a wall shelf.

There is a reason Rega sells shelves. Their tables sound better when they sit on them. Although I bought a Project shelf for a little over half the price :-)

I would contact John Rutan and get his take on this. He knows your system and can recommend the best path forward, IMHO.

Bob