TT suggestions -- please


I've decided to go to the well and purchase a new TT as opposed to upgrading my HW19. I have set a budget of 2,500. My speakers are Innersound Eros, driven by the ESL crossover amp and an Aragon 4004. I have a Coda preamp and a Monolithic phono pre. I am asking for what you think will be a good match with this setup. My room is not on a slab, so I am wondering if this necessarily eliminates non-suspension type TTs.

One dealer suggested a Nottingham Spacedeck. The Nottingham is supposedly warmer, like Linns, and with my stats, supposedly be a good fit. Any truth to this?

Thanks in advance.

Mike
1musiclover
Mike, it's very hard to say whether it will be a factor or not. I have a traditional suspended wood floor on joists, over a crawl space. I have my Teres near the outer wall, and I have no problems with any "dancing" of the TT during play, even when I walk over to it. I don't have to tip-toe around. My large Rottweiler even rough-houses around on the floor right in front of the TT while it's playing, and there is no effect on the TT. On the other hand, I used to have a Linn LP12 that is a suspended TT, and that used to skip any time I walked across the room. And it was properly set up, because I am a Linn setup technician.

So it is very hard to predict what type of behavior will occur on a wood floor. All I can say is that I got better results on my wood floor with a non-suspended TT. I don't know what will happen in your case.

I will say that the Teres will handily outperform anything else you can get near that price range. If the wood floor is a problem, you can address the floor problems by bracing the floor joists underneath. If it is on the 2nd story, then I'm not sure how to handle it. I can only say that getting a suspended TT is no safe bet for that problem either. I found that out with my Linn.
I would be the last person to argue with Tom, but I really like the Sota TTs and you should be able to get a better model at the price range you are looking in. You can buy factory refurbished tables right from them too. It's like getting the best of both worlds. A table fresh from the factory but without the New price tag.
Check www.sotaturntables.com if you are interested.
Good luck
That's good to know Tom. My room is over a crawl space also and I don't have any problems with my HW19 right now. Is there any truth to the Linns and the Nottinghams being warmer, and that I should consider that with my Innersound's?

Are there any Michell owners out there with stats willing to comment?
The "warmth" of the British tables, especially Linn, comes from a midbass coloration inherent to the table. It sounds warm, but actually lacks some of the lowest bass, and is not as tight in the bottom end as some other tables. The British tables do excel at PRaT, and sound very musical, so the colorations do not bother some folks, because they are getting a good musical presentation. I enjoyed my Linn for many years, and the colorations didn't bother me at all. But now that I have the Teres, I am getting all the PRaT of my Linn, and killer, tight, deep bottom end, and about twice as much detail, without the colorations. There is simply no contest between the two.

I think that the Teres 245 will give significantly better bottom end to your system, and it is not a "dry" sounding TT at all. It has tremendous impact and dynamics. I'm using Lowther single-drivers, which are notorious for weak bottom end, and my bass response is very good for as deep as the speaker will go(about 40Hz). I am not wanting for warmth in the bottom. The Teres will really deliver the bass. Very tonally accurate too. Naturally it helps to have a good arm and cartridge with it, also.

I have the Origin Live Silver tonearm, and a Shelter 501 on my 245, and this thing performs exceptionally well. Way beyond the norm for the price range it cost. My whole rig was only $3750. In my estimation, you'd have to pay triple for any new TT that would have a chance to beat it.
TWL -- what is your Teres sitting on? How does this affect sound quality of a turntable? Is it a significant issue, or relatively minor? I have a very heavy wooden cabinet that is VERY rigid (solid cherry, probably over 100lbs).

The reason I ask, is that I've been contemplating upgrading my Technics to a different TT, after I realized I'm getting a large tax return. Since I live in a small apartment, there really isn't any choice of where I place the TT. I could set it up on the bottom of the cabinet, or on a shelf...