Is There Any Point To Entry Level Vinyl?

Audio Components Vinyl
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The vinyl Gods have intervened. Made a passing comment to my mother today about shopping for a turntable. She pointed out that my Grandfather had a meticulously cared for vinyl collection bought in the 1950’s and 60’s. And my aunt still has them. Expressed curiosity to her, and she said “you can have them”.

I have no idea what they are. Likely many Nat King Cole and Harry Belafonte. And other pop jazz stuff of the day. Not sure that he was into the jazz master of the period. It’s not a vast collection, not sure how many. WIll know more next month when my mother visits her sister.

In another act from the Divine Vinyl Pantheon, stumbled across a perfect small acacia table at Target for the turntable landing pad.

Tip of the hat to Granpa in the sky. All I knew of that room growing was that no kids were allowed to enter alone, or touch anything, ever :joy:

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Sounds exciting!! A lot of thoses older orginals sounds so much better than any of the later reissues. You are in for a treat. Have you narrow down what analog rig you would like to get yet?

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@waymanchen11 Still figuring it out on the turntable. The Marantz amp has been a big expense, so need to absorb that one a bit. Not sure if the Marantz TT 15 is necessary, or if the Project Evo or Fluance is sufficient. So hard to discern through various reviews. Underwood has the Marantz TT 15 for $1350, free shipping. Tempting. Have to figure out a dust cover. If I go with the TT 15, might have to wait a few months, which is ok. Torn between seeking value vs. just getting the good one and be done for many many years to come (God Willing).

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yeah i’ll be following this with interest, that’s for sure. :grin:

My dad was a radio guy, and when my folks were divorced and we sold the house (I was maybe 10), we liquidated thousands of promo/signed/rare records for pennies a piece in the estate sale. Still makes me sick to my stomach.

Love hearing stories of collections that have been saved.

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Saw in interesting Thomas & Stereo YouTube review of the Marantz TT 15. He did a test with 2 audiophile friends to see if they could blindly determine which was the TT 15 turntable, and which was his ExeSound DAC.

With great confidence they unanimously thought the turntable was the DAC.

Apparently the Clear Audio $1000 cartridge moves in the ever more revealing direction, a similar trend to high end digital.

Perhaps not the best direction for me. Thomas said the TT 15 is excellent, but he had mixed feelings because of its overly revealing nature.

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What do you ya’ll think of UTurn in comparison to the ProJect Debut Carbon Evo and the Fluance RT85?

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Btw, the Pro-Ject Carbon Evo is back in stock on Crutchfield. Apparently Pro-Ject shipped out a bunch of them recently because my local dealer has them in stock also (I just ordered one to pick up next week). All colors available except satin blue and satin green.

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@richard.martin what color did you order? :sunglasses:

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Ha! I kind of wanted the blue or green but since they probably won’t be shipping until June or July, I went with the walnut, because I have no patience!!

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The walnut looks great. Congrats. Interested to hear how you like it.

Noticed today that my entire system has been assembled from Herb Reichert reviews :joy:.

His budget choice seems to be the Pioneer PLX 1000. Anyone has experience with it?

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I’ve never heard of UTurn.

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Continuing to wade through lots of reviews, and examine the marketplace. The Pro-Ject X1 ($1000) caught my attention. Saw a YouTube video of Heinz, the designer, explaining its virtues. Then stumbled onto the Steve Hoffman forums where there was universal disdain for the construction quality of Pro-jects in general. The called the X1’s plinth a cutting board :grinning:

Best I can tell, and please correct me, the Rega P3 seems to be the most respected turntable at the $1000 price level. Right? I see far more user reviews of the P3 than anything else. The Technics SL1500 also gets a lot of love, even though it’s not made in Japan, and is not really made by Technics, but instead, by Panasonic. But the Ortofon Red cartridge seems often derided.

I’m feeling a mid level deck is best for me. Would prefer something that automatically returns the stylus once the record ends given I mostly listen to music while cooking and don’t want to have to rush over at an inopportune moment. And I want the turntable to not try to be digital (like the Marantz)l, just a nice full, rich sounding affair. Big soundstage. Old school.

I thought the Pro-ject X1 would do it. Pro reviews from What HiFi and Analog Planet were great. But if it’s so good, then why are user reviews so rare? Rega RP3 user reviews are like 10 to 1 more common, and very positive.

This has brought the P3 with Elys into the lead position. Just when things are looking more clear, I saw the recent Darko video in which he goes into great detail about why he rarely plays his P3, even though the world’s top tonearm expert set the darn thing up! He likes the Technics 1200, which of course, is no longer for sale. And while I love Darko videos, his musical tastes are so atrocious that I wonder how much his ears can be trusted :rofl:

For now. Just wish the Rega had auto return - is that important? Saw a video where they took apart the Pioneer PLX 1000, apparently it’s a piece of junk.

What’s your, anyone’s, best recommendation for the $1000 neighborhood?

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FWIW, when I decided to rejoin vinyl, I had narrowed it down to the P3 ~$1000 or RT85 ~$500. I decided RT85 and could not be happier; but part of my decision was that I knew if I stuck to it, I would more than likely leverage the RT85 as a gift for close friend or family 2-3 years down the road when I was ready to step into something else.

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@senna1a Are you sticking to vinyl? What has your experience been of digital vs revisited vinyl?

I’ve strongly considered the stepped approach. It makes sense. But I think I’m going to love vinyl, and going in stages on the turntable ends up costing more in the end. I think that $1000 price point will be my end destination, thus more prudent to just go there first. At least that’s the story I’m telling myself today :joy:

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I’ve got over 250 albums now in 6-7 weeks back in, so no turning back now. :joy:

On a serious note, I’m finding I enjoy both; I can spot albums that are not fully analogue (at least I think I can), and the AAA I’m fully enjoying WAY more than digital - even with the entry rig.

If I had to do it all over again, I’d do the same thing. I’m sure a couple years down the road, I’ll get the upgrade bug, but it hasn’t hit yet. I’ll do my research and make any step up worth the change.

In your case, I think spending it one time makes total sense.

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Man, that’s some serious album investment going on there :+1:

I thought I had it bad, racked up 700 records in 4 years, quite proud of that, effort and money well spent!

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FYI my brother auditioned $1,000 range turntables and leaned toward Rega 3, and didn’t take long to finalize his decision on Rega 6, power supply, phono and their MC cart. He is very happy man. I asked him why he blew his budget, he said he just cannot resist the realism and texture of the rega sound. The synergy of all components worked really well together. In the end, for long term reliable music enjoyment, it probably worth it.

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The Technics 1500C is going to be your best bet in the $1000 price range in terms of motor and the auto lift feature plus with the removable head shells you can have more than one cartridge mounted on spares. Technics and Panasonic are the same company and both are brand names of Matsushita. I’ve got a friend that has owned one for about a year along with a P-10 and he plays them equally. To my ears the supplied Ortofon Red is crap so plan on getting a better cartridge. Most of the “supplied” cartridges from the TT manufacturers are just as bad.

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Thanks for the advice. The included Ortofon Red is the main reason giving me pause on the Technics. Not a dealbreaker, but a pause. Especially given the $499 Fluance RT85 comes with the Ortofon Blue. In my research, seems the normal spot for the Ortofon Blue to kick in is at the $1500+ range, which says a lot about the Fluance strategy of kind of kicking below the belt - in a good way.

This guy has an interesting in depth look at the Red vs Blue. They are similar with the Blue better handling sibilance.

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The Rega P3 has a very compelling upgrade path with the power supply and cartridge options. My concern is that the P3 will be too audiophile, too accurate, too lacking emotion. I have no reason to think it will be that way other than it’s so popular amongst audiophiles :smiley:

Watched videos on both the Pro-Ject and Rega factories. The Rega operation was far more my speed. Small with a very focused team. The founder has a disdain for business and money - speaking my language. Pro-Ject was the opposite, massive and seeking to get yet bigger. Which doesn’t mean Pro-Ject doesn’t make great decks, I honestly don’t know. But Rega had more of a boutique feel, which I found compelling.