Vinyl addicts

cwilson

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I am thinking of changing my turntable over the next few months, and have so far put together the following shortlist. What would you add to it, and why. I need to keep the cost for deck/arm down to around £1500, partially because if it climbs above that I would just find the extra money for a P9.
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Rega p7
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NAS Acespace
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Challenger
 
What to add?....depending on budget,the best combination of cartridge and phonostage you can,assuming your current one is not up to the level of the TTs you are considering here.

Phonostages....EAR,Whest,Trichord,Tom Evans and a few others.

Cartridges...you should be looking into the £500+ bracket to get the best out of any of the TTs,and that leads you into Lyra,Zyx,Shelter,as well as others such as Ortofon,Denon and Dynavector.

The real problem is getting to try any of them out before buying.
 
My intention would be to sort the deck/arm initially, and transfer the denon cart over to it. That would give me the chance to settle in to the changes the deck is/can bring. From their it would be time to sort out the cart/stage.

From what I have heard so far the cart would either be a Dynavector 20x,
or maybe a Ortofon Rondo Bronze. I have a Rega phono MC stage at the moment, and will probably use that initially, as I think it will be easier to try alternate stages at a later date.

I tend to think of the deck and arm as something that once purchased will stay with me for a long time, and possibly the phone stage, but carts are to an extent a consumable item, and have to be changed at some point anyway.
 
The Dynavector is a very good cartridge,but do try to audition some of the others I've mentioned,as they are all very worthy,and my own choice was a Lyra....excellent imaging,clear and very well defined without being sharp.

The Rega is a very decent phonostage as well,and should serve you well until you decide to upgrade,when the real problems start!....I found that getting hold of suitable ones to try was bad enough,but trying them with different cartridges was even worse.....good luck!

Each of the decks you've shortlisted has their own strengths and weaknesses,and overall the Rega's arm is amongst the best for the money and in general terms overall,although obviously they are available separately.
 
Go on, go all the way. Get a p9. Just save a bit longer. I'm off to Audio room in the morning to have the Dynavector fitted to my P3. Maybe i will push the boat out and get a new P5. Whatever i choose i hope you pop round one night for a brew and have a good listen.
 
I'll take you up on that- just watch your credit card on thursday:)
 
Cash always. I'm tempted to go for the 5. I may get the result though with the P3 10x5 combo. It's worth a try.

BTW. I'm going to demo a full spec lp12 as well. After hearing the old one on sunday i can't believe how poor it sounded. I have always been curious about this deck and want to hear for myself what all the fuss is about. I have no intension to buy...so it won't be a case of curiousity killed the cat..or will it:rolleyes:
 
BTW. I'm going to demo a full spec lp12 as well. After hearing the old one on sunday i can't believe how poor it sounded. I have always been curious about this deck and want to hear for myself what all the fuss is about. I have no intension to buy...so it won't be a case of curiousity killed the cat..or will it:rolleyes:
Probably. ;) I've never liked them. For me, as someone who heard the line "I've given up on vinyl", followed by the line, "my last TT was an LP12" a thousand times when working in hifi, I feel the LP12 and it's adherents have a lot to answer for.

It's not 'musical', it's woolly sounding. Get over it guys..........:D Sorry Alex!

Get the P9. Great deck. Or, dare I say it, add the Xerxes 20 to your list. Both are in the same area sound wise. Anything but woolly.................:D
 
Biggest problem for the P9 is the P7- I have never been able to tell them apart. We tested a P9 briefly as listening room turntable but felt it wasn't actually any better (with a Sumiko Blackbird in each) than a Pro-ject RPM10. It wasn't better than the TT we eventually went for but that isn't sold in the UK so doesn't really count.
 
Biggest problem for the P9 is the P7- I have never been able to tell them apart. We tested a P9 briefly as listening room turntable but felt it wasn't actually any better (with a Sumiko Blackbird in each) than a Pro-ject RPM10. It wasn't better than the TT we eventually went for but that isn't sold in the UK so doesn't really count.
Go on Ed, spill the beans...........:D
 
Go on Ed, spill the beans...........:D

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Ours has an SME armboard and a 30/9 rather than the RB250 clone in the pic. Unbelievably good for a bit under £2k.
 
Loverly! :D There seems to be a real trend for the 'skeletal' design now. With Avid and one or two others leading the way. Although, to be fair, the drum design goes way back.

I remember some of the early 80's efforts from the likes of Ariston et al.
 
Looks lovely. What is it ?
 
Its a Transrotor ZET1. I don't want to hijack the OP's thread any more than this so suffice to say its brill, but if I were an individual buying a TT who didn't have 37 engineers to hand, I wouldn't buy a TT with no UK representation.
 

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