The
Denon 200USB is about the lowest of the low in terms if a functional turntable. It has a poor tonearm and it tracks heavy. However for someone on a desperation budget, it is functional. This is about as low as I would go in a turntable, and in reality, I wouldn't go that low, or I would have to be pretty desperate.
The
DENON DP300F is pretty good, but needs a cartridge upgrade. There is a version of this
DP300 that comes with the
Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, but the turntable at Richer Sounds is the only place that I know of in the UK that sells this turntable, even though Denon has been selling it around the world for years. In fact, in the USA at NeedleDoctor, the
Denon DP300F with Ortofon 2M Red is one of their most popular Turnable Packages.
DENON DP300 Black Turntable
I would check with Richer and see if you can buy the turntable with a cartridge upgrade pre-installed.
Grado, Gold Ring, Ortofon, Audio Technica, Rega are all worthy upgrades in about the £100 range.
The advantage of the
Denon DP300F is that it is an automatic turntable. Push one button, the motor starts, the tonearm lifts and moves to the record, it plays to the end, then the tonearm returns and the motor shuts off. That is a very handy feature, but I also think it is the one factors that has kept it out of the UK market. It has always been available in the UE and the USA, and I assume other parts of the world.
With a budget of £1200, you can get an extremely nice Turntable and Phono Pre-Amp. If fact, you can do it for considerably less than that.
For a Phono Pre-Amp, though there are many to choose from, you probably don't need more than the
Cambridge CP1 MM (moving magnet) Phono Pre-Amp which is a modest
£79.
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CP1Black MM Phono Pre Amp
Or if you want to go all out, then th
e Cambridge CP2 MM/MC (moving coil) Pre-Amp for £129 -
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO CP2 Silver MM/MC Phono Pre Amp
Now you can spend £500 to £5000 if you want, but the Cambridge are pretty good and more than enough to do the job.
As to turntables, the
Rega Planar 1 with Performance Pack is only about £333. That's plenty cheap and a very decent turntable.
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...planar-1-turntable-including-performance-pack
The
Rega Planar 2 with Performance Pack is still a very reasonable
£475 -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...planar-2-turntable-including-performance-pack
How far you want to take it is really up to you.
The
Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 Cartridge upgrade is still only a modest
£625 -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/.../rega-planar-3-turntable-inc-elys-2-cartridge
I can keep going, the
Rega Planar 6 with Exact-MM Cartridge is £1098 -
Rega RP6 Turntable Inc Exact MM Cartridge from HiFix
Most people would be thrilled to have the
Planar 2 or the
Planar 3, they would be over the moon to have a
Planar 6 turntable.
I would say, probably for the best balance of quality and price, the
Planar 3 with Elys 2 Cartridge would be very good and well under your maximum budget.
If it matter to you, REGA makes their own Phono Pre-Amps -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/.../rega-fono-mini-a2d-phono-pre-amplifier-black
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...o-pre-amplifiers/rega-fono-mm-mk2-phono-stage
How far do you want to take it? Though I wouldn't cheap out, neither would I get too carried away.
We can go through the same process with
PROJECT turntables.
A very good choice at a very reasonable price is the
PROJECT Debut Carbon with 2M Red Cartridge - £350 -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...-turntables/project-debut-carbon-dc-turntable
But you can take this turntable one step farther as well, with the
Project Debut Carbon Esprit - £450 - Also with
Ortofon 2M Red cartridge -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...bles/project-debut-carbon-esprit-sb-turntable
Project Xpression Carbon w/ 2M Red - £599 -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/hi-fi-turntables/hifi-turntables/project-1-xpression-carbon-ukx
Project Xperience SB w/ 2M Silver - £1100 -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/hi-fi-turntables/hifi-turntables/project-2-xperience-sb-turntable
Project also makes its own
Phono Pre-Amps -
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...lifiers/project-phono-box-mm-mc-pre-amplifier
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/.../project-phono-box-usb-variable-pre-amplifier
https://www.hifix.co.uk/turntables/...ers/project-phono-box-ds-series-pre-amplifier
I would say a turntable in roughly the £600
(±£200) range and a Phono Pre-Amp in roughly the £100
(±£50) would serve you extremely well. However, if you want to move up closer to £1000 on the turntable that is purely up to you.
If you only ever intend to have Moving Magnet MM which is the most common type, then a Phono Pre-Amp like the
Project Phono Box DS (£229) is overkill. Still, your money, your life.
I would speculate that you would be thrilled with the
Rega Planar 3 with Elys 2 cartridge or the
Project Xpression with 2M Red.
Then it is simply a matter of determining which Phono Pre-Amp to buy. The
Cambridge CP1 at £129 is nice in that it would match your other equipment and would have both MM and MC cartridge support.
Those options keep you well under budget, yet deliver very nice turntables.
Steve/bluewizard