Getting back into venal with a $2,000 budget.

@rar1 nicely written…and I so agree…especially about the cart…For me…those Ortofons (especially the Red… do not do this table justice)

FWIW…my words are from personal experience. Had the 1500 in my system..with some nice carts/pre.

IN short, I think the 1500c is an excellent table…shame it’s not offered without the built in pre and installed cart too. (I did have some concerns about workmanship though…but for the price….?).

That table begins to really breathe with better carts…and better pre. (However, for all-in, one-n-done, there may be no better option in its price range … sadly, it’s never just one and done, is it?)

@gotog, a while back Rega did not have parts to make Elys2 so they substituted the Exact 2 on the Rega P3 at no additional cost.  Some dealers have them and sell them for $1,395.  However, some dealers are charging $1,800 for P3 w/Exact 2.  That’s one thing that attracted me to to the P3 w/Exact at $1,395 like a $400 cartridge upgrade for free.

@rar1,  I would definitely upgrade the Red cartridge on the 1500c or keep it to play lower condition vinyl and buy a Ortofon Head Shell with The Black cartridge.  Turntable Lab will upgrade to the Blue cartridge for $160.

So at this point I’m leaning away from the used Marantz and am giving the Technics 1500c stronger consideration although the Rega P3 w/Exact 2 for $1,395 is still on my mind.  I have demoed both the Marantz and Rega  P3 with Elys2 and they both sounded good.  At this time I cant find a 1500c to demo which would be a big help so I’m strictly relying on forum advice and YouTube reviews.

If you go for the 1500…and it is delivered with auto lift location issue…do not panic…it may just need adjustment…unfortunately even from the factory…just google the process and try to adjust before returning. I’ve read a lot about this and suspect dozens were sent back unnecessarily. Technics could have avoided by including adjustment info in the manual…again…I have mixed feelings about their Malaysia direction.

Also…can’t speak for anyone but myself…but will likely never go back to a fixed headshell (or non adjustable vta, for that matter). Both are very nice features for even the casual listener.

please DO let us know how you end up.

p.s. The Exact 2 cart is one of my least favorite of all time…if you end up loving that cart…you should disregard my subjective recommendations 😉

“I have mixed feelings about their Malaysia direction”.  Why?   A big company like Technics has items manufactured world wide.  I would be more worried about the  no name cheap Chinese equipment than a large company that manufacturers in Malaysia.  

Hi litespeed 

if you have any questions about the 1500C, please feel free to ask them.

I do not use the auto lift setting (you can defeat it).  In practice it seemed to be clipping the last few seconds off longer albums.  
 

Do try the preamp, I was pleasantly surprised with it and liked it more than my Parasound z phono preamp.  
 

The Ortofon blue is much better than the red, not even close.  The Goldring (E3) is pretty good for the cash. 
 

Rich