Music Hall. You will not be disappointed.

mmf 5
http://decibelchicago.stores.yahoo.net/ ... mf5tu.html

mmf 2
http://decibelchicago.stores.yahoo.net/ ... mf21t.html

Go with the 5, if you can afford it. Worth the money for the needle.

Those Projects sound ok. But honestly, the Music Halls blow them away. I had the opportunity to test these side-by-side in the store and the difference was startling.

Also, Decibel will have a ton of used stuff that will probably be in your price range. The guy's that run that place are nice and very helpful.

caix wrote:Those Projects sound ok. But honestly, the Music Halls blow them away. I had the opportunity to test these side-by-side in the store and the difference was startling.

FWIW they are both made in the same factory... there are some small differences from model to model. But over-all I found that they performed identicaly when comparing similarly priced models in the $200-$500 range

caix wrote:Those Projects sound ok. But honestly, the Music Halls blow them away. I had the opportunity to test these side-by-side in the store and the difference was startling.

FWIW they are both made in the same factory... there are some small differences from model to model. But over-all I found that they performed identicaly when comparing similarly priced models in the $200-$500 range

MrFood wrote:

yaphet wrote:Nexxtech Lab1100

I have one of these. $99, sounds good, works well, no problems with it yet.

Looks HIDEOUS.

Ok...?

Looks pretty standard to me.

The best turntables have heavy platters and isolated motor mounts. The belt drive design further isolates the motor from the platter and is used in the very best turntables. There are expensive (Platine Verdier) and modest (Music Hall, Rega, Pro-Ject, VPI) versions of this concept. I can personally recommend the VPI Scout as a moderately-priced high quality turntable that offers the potential to upgrade every part if you start wanting to make incremental investments in improvement.

If you just want an inexpensive, reliable turntable, then the Technics Direct Drive DJ turntables work fine, have adjustable speed and are available cheap everywhere.

I'm in the market for a new turntable too, right now it looks like I'm going to go for the Pro-Ject Debut III, I've read a lot of good stuff on the interwebs...

Edit: While we're on the subject of Pro-Ject, anyone used any of their little 'box II' things? I was thinking of getting the Phono, Pre and Power boxes to have as a small system that'll fit into my (probably tiny) bedroom next year...

TheMilford wrote:

caix wrote:Those Projects sound ok. But honestly, the Music Halls blow them away. I had the opportunity to test these side-by-side in the store and the difference was startling.

FWIW they are both made in the same factory... there are some small differences from model to model. But over-all I found that they performed identicaly when comparing similarly priced models in the $200-$500 range

They're made in the same factory and they have the same tone arm. The stock needle that comes with the Project isn't all that great. The stock needle that comes with the Music Hall is pretty bad ass. Also, the Projects use a steel-cut platter that's pretty light. The Music Hall has a heavy glass platter.

Anyway, the difference really is major. Just because they're made in the same factory doesn't mean they sound close at all. Like I said, the only similarity between them is the tone arm.

TheMilford wrote:

caix wrote:Those Projects sound ok. But honestly, the Music Halls blow them away. I had the opportunity to test these side-by-side in the store and the difference was startling.

FWIW they are both made in the same factory... there are some small differences from model to model. But over-all I found that they performed identicaly when comparing similarly priced models in the $200-$500 range

+1.

i have a project "debut" that it 16 years old, it wasn't called "debut" at that point as i think it was the only model. still sounds fantastic.

they run about $300 still. sumiko is a fantastic company, too, very helpful.

my platter is very heavy. when i had the cartridge changed years ago the guys at a local high-end hi-fi shop (that sold linn and VPI) said that the platter was quite impressive for the price. perhaps they changed platters on later models.

I'd get a Music Hall. Maybe we should pool our resources and
buy some wholesale.

I recently replaced my cranky old ELAC with a Pro-ject Debut III (in sexy piano gloss black), and I love it. It's a very sleek, solid piece of hardware, and it sounds great. I would hug it, but I don't want to adjust the counterweight again.

If you get something cheaper, you'll probably regret it.