Best Turntables for Listening
Hey All,
Tried to search this, but I’m looking for advice/recommendations for a solid turntable that I’ll use strictly for listening to vinyl. I udes to have Technics which I eventually sold (kill me), and being in the vinyl section at any music store makes me want to get back into purchasing/collecting vinyl. Does anyone have any good recommendations on what I should look, or have a trusted resource that I could do some research?
Thanks in advance!
I would say any turntable with a direct-drive. (Not belt driven)
You probably want to be more concerned with the needle, to give you the better sound quality.
Thanks. Yeah, I figured direct/belt shouldn’t be too much of an issue since it will just be a stationary player…if the 1200s are the standard for djing, is there a standard for turntables that are just for the house/apartment too, or is it all in the needle?
The sound quality specifically is the needle (and the condition of the vinyl), however turntables can fluctuate in speed when they get to the inner rings causing the tracks to be played faster. It’s not usually noticeable, but it can be. Also loud bass/thumps can cause the needle to vibrate and cause audio break up. There is a turntable the avoids both of these issues amazingly well, it’s an industry standard, especially with DJs. Three guesses! 
Edit: Also I’ve seen 1210’s fall 6 foot onto concrete and apart from some aesthetic damage, and not much at that, they shrugged it off like it was nothing.
I once dropped my novation launch pad about 4 inches, and it broke. I also plugged an LPD8 in, and it broke. Gear of that durability is very rare!
I would say any of the range from pro-Ject, rega or as an alternative to either, the Edwards Audio TT1.
Depends on your budget, the Pro-Ject turntables go from £150 to over £1500 (with stylii). The rega from £230 to £1000.
Secondhand, if you can source a Dual or Thorens you’d be laughing.
My dad has a great Rega Planar 2, belt driven but sounds beautiful. i’m not really up on hi-fi equipment, but there is a LOT to be said for the second hand hi-fi market.
Just to reiterate, belt drive is fine for listening.
+1 Rega Planar
In fact, belt drive are generally considered the best for listening.
This has got to be among the best : http://www.coherent-systems.co.uk/Oracle_Delphi.asp
Of course, £10k might be a little over budget…
I have a Music Hall MMF-5 and a Jolida JD-9 phono pre-amp. For listening, it sounds really amazing. You can buy the pair for around what was the price of a new Technics 1200. I would consider it a budget audiophile system for vinyl.
You might look at needledoctor.com as a jump-off point for research. Have fun!
A Technics with a different tonearm and an audiophile cartridge 
Some tracks just don’t sound right at 33 or 45 and need pitching up or down a little. Hifi audiophile TTs can’t do that, generally.
You can spend ridiculous amounts of money on a single TT for little gains over something like a LINN Majik LP12, which is probably the most I’d ever consider spending on a TT even if I had money to burn.
And don’t forget, you need a similar quality amp and speakers to get the most out of the TT.
At home, my father has a clearaudio Champion 2, very happy about it, but that might be out of your budget. Anyway, belt-driven turntables is better for listening, because the belt avoide making vibrations (with a direct drive, you have this problem). Also every tone-arm has his own resonance, you will hear a clear difference between them, test some brands before you buy. I would call a needle the most important part of the turntable. Make sure you choose a needle where not much pressure is needed. You don’t have to buy a complete new one. The best you can do is choosing an old but well known and recommended one, you can buy it second-hand.
Make sure all your record are clean. You can bring your records to a store where they clean it for you (cost €0,60/ record), your record will sound better and the crackling noises are mostly gone.
i just got an audio technica ATLP120 with USB, so far its been great. line and phono out as well as USB. great direct drive. only like 200 bucks or so.
http://www.hificorner.co.uk/linn-lp12-majik-hi-fi-turntable.html
Linn Majik LP12 Prices from £2,700 to £14,500
After more than 30 years the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable remains the performance standard by which all others are judged.
Introduced in 1972, the Sondek LP12 was Linn’s first product and helped demonstrate that the most important element in any quality music system is the source of the music itself.
Launched at a time when amplifiers and loudspeakers were seen as being most critical to the performance of any system, the Sondek LP12 showed that extracting more information from the record itself was the most critical challenge.
I use the Muisc Hall Cruise Control 2.0 Speed Controller to manage slight variations in pitch. Works like a champ!
