Recommendations For New Table/Arm Under $4k



Greetings All-

I'm in the midst of reconfiguring my system and I'm interested in your recommendations for a table/arm combo in the less than $4k range (new). I have a Shelter 90x cartridge from my last analog rig and an EAR 834P that I had modded by Great Northern Sound Company that I will be using as my phono section. I've previously owned a VPI Scout and a Basis 2500 Signature. I'm looking for that best bang for the buck table...

Thanks/cbd
cbd0815
I'm seconding all the recommendations for the Galibier. I received my Serac at the end of June and am very happy with it. I'll give a bit of background, which might provide a few answers to some of the questions on this thread.

Before buying the Galibier, I had an Acoustic Solid "Classic Wood," with the Acoustic Solid WBT211, which is very similar to the Jelco-based Artisan, and an upgrade from the Rega RB250 sold with that tt (the Classic Wood is not the "Wood" mentioned above, but a lower, less massive model; still, at today's prices, with the WBT arm, it costs over $4000--don't know what the "Wood" costs, but more for sure).
The Acoustic Solid is a fine turntable, but there's no comparison with the Galibier: the Serac (with the Artisan as well as the Tri-planar) has more extension, greater dynamic range, much better layering and provides quieter, deeper background. As a result, the sound is a more "solid" in all aspects.

I first heard the Serac with the Artisan arm at Thom's place in April. I auditioned it with the Serac platter and the Gavia platter; I also heard the Gavia base/platter/motor pod combo with the Tri-Planar arm (although with different cartridges: Serac with the Universe, Gavia with the Dynavector XV-1s). One thing that struck me as common among all those permutations was the quality of the background and the remarkably solid layering. Moving from Serac to Gavia platter increased the amount of detail and the differentiation between instruments in space, which is alreday remarkable with the Serac. Going to the full Gavia combo made that even more striking, although the Dynavector is so different than the Universe that I wasn't so sure who was doing what at that point (and most of my listening time was on the Serac). I didn't hear the Serac with the Tri-planar at Thom's but since that's the arm I got with my Serac, I can vouch for a great match. The Serac is really worth that great arm.

One last thing that I find particularly attractive in the case of the Galibier tts, is that one can move up incrementally to the higher models: start with a Serac base with Serac platter, then move up to Gavia platter or Gavia base (note that nobody is quite sure yet which part is best to upgrade first, the base or the platter--I know what Thom used to recommend but he's going to do some more testing), Stelvio amrboard, etc. The process is very easy and is well documented on the Galibier site--you can also see what parts are similar in all models. So you spend ca.$4000 today, get great sound, and sometime later can end up with a top-flight analog rig. I'm not comparing with other brands (I don't know who else has this type of modular approach), but that's a point very worth considering.
And, as mentioned above, it's such a treat to work with Thom!

Hope that helps...
Cheers
Jfd01,

Good report. When the dust settles and you're in the mood for a cheap, incremental upgrade, check out this thread: Uprade for users of 1/2" mylar belt"
Thanks, Doug.
Yes, I've read your report on belt "cleaning" some time ago, most instructive, thanks a lot for sharing your experiment!... and I already have my bottle of Etchall. I haven't tried it yet, I'm waiting for my current belt to show enough wear, shouldn't be long now.
Cheers
Joel