Advice for starter turntable

If you insist on price under $500, your only option is used from Craigslist. You need to doubled price if you want o buy all new components.

I generally advise people to avoid buying their first system on the used market. You need to know not only what to look for, but how to evaluate it and how to get it into shape if necessary (which it often is with turntables). If you want a wood turntable, however, I suspect it's going to be your only option in your price range. All the advice that follows assumes you're buying new.

First, it's best to minimize your expenditure on amplification, because turntable and speakers matter much more in terms of sound quality. That means a stereo receiver, rather than a separate amp. I'd suggest a Sherwood RX-4109, which will run you $100 or so and includes a phono section to connect your turntable.

There are two ways to go on the turntable. There's the standard minimalist belt-drive unit, made by Rega, Pro-Ject, and Music Hall. All remarkably similar, so just find the best price. Don't expect to do much better than $400.

Alternatively, Audio-Technica makes a direct-drive unit, the AT-120, which goes for $200 or so. It's only weakness is a poor cartridge, but whoever you buy it from should be able to mount a better cartridge on it (for a fee, of course). You want a cartridge with an elliptical stylus and a maximum tracking force of no more than 2 grams. www.lpgear.com often sells the AT-120 as part of a package with a better cartridge.

Add: Here's the kind of package I mean.

As usual, mcnarus offers excellent advice in this area.

I concur with respect to the Sherwood receiver with built in phono amp. A better bargain is hard to find.

I also concur in his recommendation of the entry-level belt driven TTs. I have the Pro-ject Debut III myself, with an upgraded cartridge, Speedbox, acrylic platter, and phonobox. They aren't necessary really to enjoy good sound, and their improvements are only incremental, except for the upgraded cartridge.

I also have the AT-LP120 mcnarus recommends as a direct drive alternative, again with a cartridge upgrade. I use a Shure M97xE, which can regularly be found for a substantial savings online and is easy to install. With a decent rubber mat ($15-20) and that cartridge, properly aligned and with the proper tracking force adjusted, it sounds very comparable to my Pro-ject. It's a much better bargain too. It's what I would start with, and it's easier to set up (you do need an alignment protractor, however, but one comes with the Shure cartridge if you order it, and I would recommend getting a $25 tracking force gauge).

Have fun.

The Audio-Technica AT-PL60 turntable is under $80 from Amazon now; it comes with a cartridge and built-in phono preamp. That is a heck of a bargain!

They also have the Sony PX-LS250 for about the same price, but the Sony does not have a built-in phono stage.

For $399, you can get the Cambridge Audio 550A Integrated amplifier, which was $600 and would be a nice unit to build your system around.

When you get a little more money, you might want to consider the Music Hall 2.2 turntable, for around $400.

The Monitor Audio M2 is a very good pair of speakers for the price (around $300).

Both really poor turntables—bad cartridges with no ability to upgrade, requiring far too high a tracking force. If you don't want to keep your records very long, they'll do fine, I guess.

pro-ject expressions

And what amp would you recommend for -$200?

Holy wars have broken out over that question. DD advocates claim better speed accuracy. BD proponents claim lower noise. Almost nobody publishes a complete spec sheet anymore, and nobody evaluates them independently, either, so who can say?

From the user's standpoint, it's just two ways to solve a problem. Implemented properly, either works.

I will try to state the obvious differences between them...
Belt drive-- a motor moves pulley which in turn moves another pulley on the plater.. The main advantages are lower cost motors... Lighter weight... Lastly more accurate speed changes between 45/33. Because the motor speed is constant and belt is moved to different pulley like rega. The belt also shields the platter from motor vibrations. The main disadvantage--- belts tend to wear out and need to be replaced. Belts can slip and fall during shipments. The platter is generally not as well supported on direct drive units..

Direct drive-- the motor directly moves the plater. The main advantages are normally higher quality/stronger motors. Bigger more stable platters. Ability to DJ or scratch records. The cons are increased cost to replace motor. The vibrations from the motor can be transferred to the plater.

Summary
High end audiophile units are generally belt driven bc of the belt being another damper from vibrations. DJ units are direct drive as they are more durable.

Personally, unless I plan on moving a lot; or scratch records; I would not place the any emphasis on drive mode and focus on other features like tone arm/cartridge and of course platter/mat's ability to handle vibrations.

Yeah, mebbe. The main reason almost all high-end units are belt drive is because belt drives are much cheaper and easier to make. Small companies can't afford the kind of precision machining required fro good drive drives. The exceptions are a few mega-expensive units with sales in the single digits.


+1

All the information you need is already in this thread.

If I were you; I would get audio technica LP-60 if I just want basic no frills turntable. If you want something nicer, then consider the denon turntable which retails for $300... I believe that this model has upgradable cartilage. Or get the project III or rega p1 for little more money.

Bad advice. LP60 is a kids toy. It may look like TT, but is useless in real life.