Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

debianlinux said:
That price point is likely the most popular, thus the most competitive, thus the one with the most right answers.
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Gear building is a reverse funnel in my opinion, at the narrow end, smaller budgets, your options are going to be limited. But as you get to the wider end, options are a plenty, more "personal" choice comes into play, and as mentioned, there are more than a few "right/best" options.
 
Tbh I would think that the turntable is the most utilitarian and objective part of a vinyl setup, maybe only matched by the phono preamp..

I learn something new every day
 
AnthonyI said:
Gear building is a reverse funnel in my opinion, at the narrow end, smaller budgets, your options are going to be limited. But as you get to the wider end, options are a plenty, more "personal" choice comes into play, and as mentioned, there are more than a few "right/best" options.
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Within reason. I’d say most units, in terms of volume, will shift at approx 500 and approx 1000. I think that’s why we see multiple decent tables at these price points.
 
duke86fan said:
Tbh I would think that the turntable is the most utilitarian and objective part of a vinyl setup, maybe only matched by the phono preamp..

I learn something new every day
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@duke86fan There are always necessary sacrifices in materials, design, build quality, etc until you get up to the real big-ticket tables. So it's a matter of determining what your priorities are in a turntable, and trying to find a deck within your budget that fits those priorities best.
 
kvetcha said:
@duke86fan There are always necessary sacrifices in materials, design, build quality, etc until you get up to the real big-ticket tables. So it's a matter of determining what your priorities are in a turntable, and trying to find a deck within your budget that fits those priorities best.
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And once you get to the big-ticket turntables, the ticket itself becomes the sacrifice. Consider the Clearaudio Statement. It looks poerfect in every way. It also costs more than my house.
 
When it’s time to upgrade the turntable, the hardest thing for me, will be giving up the automatic features. Unless I’ve missed something, those don’t exist in the $1,500 or so price range.
 
apholden said:
And once you get to the big-ticket turntables, the ticket itself becomes the sacrifice. Consider the Clearaudio Statement. It looks poerfect in every way. It also costs more than my house.
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Personally, that doesn't do a thing for me. But if we're delving into that realm, and I'm not in the market, but would be happy as a clam with a 301 :)
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Ginormousthumbs said:
Automatic return would be fantastic to have.
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There are some "Automatic" features that make me cringe, not that you shouldn't want them, but a while back a friend had an experience with the return and it left a nice scratch across the entirety of the album because he was in another room doing whatever and then heard the sound non of us EVER want to hear, lol.

I wish you no such misfortune ;)
 
apholden said:
That looks like a work of art. Even so, I think I'll hang onto my U-Turn a while longer.
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Again, we're in that "Fantasy" part of the discussion, lol. That 301 is a "reboot" so to speak, but I would take a vintage as well, but they are pricey in optimal condition. That being said, and the gist of the conversation in mind, budget, checking off as many of the boxes you can and what appeals to you visually are probably the best attack points. All that being said, I don't see the UltraDeck or PLX going anywhere any day soon ;)
 
I don’t like how either of those super expensive turntables look but then I find the design of most high cost hifi electronics extremely disappointing, at that price it’s a disgrace that none of them seem to have any idea of how to design something simple and good looking.
 
Joe Mac said:
I don’t like how either of those super expensive turntables look but then I find the design of most high cost hifi electronics, at that price it’s a disgrace that none of them seem to have any idea of how to design something simple and good looking.
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Just like music my friend, everyone has a different "Favorite flavor" ;)
 
Joe Mac said:
I don’t like how either of those super expensive turntables look but then I find the design of most high cost hifi electronics extremely disappointing, at that price it’s a disgrace that none of them seem to have any idea of how to design something simple and good looking.
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And actually, to be perfectly honest, if I had the money I don't know if I would be willing to drop it. It's funny that when we don't have something we "think" we want it, then when we can, we tend to ponder about it much more than we thought. "Wanting what you can't have".

I got a $150 GC from work, and there are plenty of "big ticket" pressings on my want list that I would just pine over, how to save or whatever to get them in time. Now I have this GC and don't know what I want to do with it...........and we're talking $150, lol
 
AnthonyI said:
And actually, to be perfectly honest, if I had the money I don't know if I would be willing to drop it. It's funny that when we don't have something we "think" we want it, then when we can, we tend to ponder about it much more than we thought. "Wanting what you can't have".

I got a $150 GC from work, and there are plenty of "big ticket" pressings on my want list that I would just pine over, how to save or whatever to get them in time. Now I have this GC and don't know what I want to do with it...........and we're talking $150, lol
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Perhaps but everything is budget specific. If earning what I do I saved that I wouldn’t just because I could do so much more with that money in my life. If I was rich I wouldn’t think twice about it.

What I will say is that making something that chunky and out proportion and covering with highly polished dark wood immediately makes it look really dated. The fact that it’s lines aren’t clean just adds to that. The clearaudio? Well it’s just been hit with the ugliest stick. These things have to go in our homes!
 
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AnthonyI said:
There are some "Automatic" features that make me cringe, not that you shouldn't want them, but a while back a friend had an experience with the return and it left a nice scratch across the entirety of the album because he was in another room doing whatever and then heard the sound non of us EVER want to hear, lol.

I wish you no such misfortune ;)
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Fortunately that has never happened to me 🤞🏻
Owning both styles of tables, automatic and manual, I’m use to it. If I found a table that I really liked and it didn’t have that feature, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker.
 
AnthonyI said:
And actually, to be perfectly honest, if I had the money I don't know if I would be willing to drop it. It's funny that when we don't have something we "think" we want it, then when we can, we tend to ponder about it much more than we thought. "Wanting what you can't have".

I got a $150 GC from work, and there are plenty of "big ticket" pressings on my want list that I would just pine over, how to save or whatever to get them in time. Now I have this GC and don't know what I want to do with it...........and we're talking $150, lol
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I completely identify with this. I pined over the Ultradeck for years. All my other component upgrades were around the Ultradeck being the future turntable. Then one day the money and the availability of a used, factory refurbished version overlapped. Despite the years of wanting one, and being able to get a discounted version (which was ideal for me), I was suddenly unsure if I wanted it. So weird.

Sometimes the chase is more fun than the purchase. But then delivery day comes, and THAT'S the best!
 
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