anarchyinthebronx wrote:I'm thinking of getting this one. http://cgi.ebay.com/REGA-PLANAR-3-TURNT ... .m20.l1116 What does everyone think?Yeah! The arm on the Rega 3 is very good. Better than the arm on the 2. Just make sure the guy packs it right - take the inner platter out of the bearing sleeve, cover the bearing sleeve so oil doesn't get out. Don't lose the ball. Also, I know may here love grado cartridges -and for the money they are nice and smooth sounding, but when that thing wears out, get a nicer MM cartridge, and that whole set up will really sing.Do it, do it.

anarchyinthebronx wrote:I'm thinking of getting this one. http://cgi.ebay.com/REGA-PLANAR-3-TURNT ... .m20.l1116 What does everyone think?If you don't mind having a purple turntable, that's a great price. The motor in the P-3 is the same as in the p9 and p7 ($$$). Good value, you could always upgrade the cartridge later.

Pardon a relative noob butting in here, but I've been doing some listening around for a good turntable myself, and the Goldring GR1.2 sounds brilliant for the price to my ear. It's in essence a Rega clone, or a rebranded Rega, from what I understand, but it already comes with a decent enough MM cartridge and lends itself to aftermarket mods very readily.You should be able to pick one up for around $300US, if you want you could probably flick the cartridge for $50-100 leaving you another 250-300 for other improvements.FWIW.

enframed wrote:the$inmusicisallmine wrote:Also, I know may here love grado cartridges -and for the money they are nice and smooth sounding, but when that thing wears out, get a nicer MM cartridge, and that whole set up will really sing.Do it, do it.i'd suggest a high output moving coil.I'm not a fan of Grado cartridges at all. A friend of mine with a similar turntable spent a good amount of money on a Grado cartridge, and the same record sounded much better on my table with a less-expensive Ortofon cartridge. Maybe at the higher end there are noticeable differences, but at least in my price range I prefer Ortofon.

It's reakin' Puerto Rican.

yeah, it looks subliminally puerto rican.

slowriot wrote:enframed wrote:the$inmusicisallmine wrote:Also, I know may here love grado cartridges -and for the money they are nice and smooth sounding, but when that thing wears out, get a nicer MM cartridge, and that whole set up will really sing.Do it, do it.i'd suggest a high output moving coil.I'm not a fan of Grado cartridges at all. A friend of mine with a similar turntable spent a good amount of money on a Grado cartridge, i don't know about the high end (reference series type stuff) grados but the lower end (<$300) tend to be bass heavy. you may be able to alleviate that with a VTA adjustment but i've never tried.

enframed wrote:slowriot wrote:enframed wrote:the$inmusicisallmine wrote:Lots of stuff about the shortcomings of GradosGrado seems to have really made their reputation on cartridges for $40-60, which are admittedly decent, and their high end wood body stuff. In the $100-$200 range there is a variety of better quality options than Grado's offerings. I use a Shure M97xe right now, and while not the most involving cart, it's honest and most importantly, tracks poorly pressed and worn records like an absolute champ for the $$$ - and this is really important if you listen to a lot of rock vinyl.

Anyone know anything about the Sansui XP-99? Decent?Someone gave me one, essentially new in the box, about 10 years ago. There is a mechanical issue with it, but it's been so long since the gift, that I don't recall exactly what it is. I do know that it's labeled as requiring 220V, yet doesn't have a British- or Euro-style plug end, but that's besides the point.Think it's worth spending some money on to repair?

hm.. kinda surprised by all the 1200 hate goin' on. yeah, they're dj tables.. but i'd probably take one over a verdier... and you CAN opt out on the 'puerto rican' if you want. if all the speed crap pisses you off-- look into an sp10 and a plinth.. talk about flexibility...it's kinda hilarious to be splitting hairs sub $500 for a 'table too.. in my experience, tables that cheap seldom sound super bomber anyhow, and to my ears, the mdf regas sound.. well.. kinda dead.. as do a LOT of belt drivers.. direct drive may be kinda a 'service' technology.. but cripes.. it's $500, not $3k... and even still, the 1200's got some real drive to it. i swapped out a sota sapphire for a rek-o-cut idler i bought for $40, refurbed it, built a plinth out of layered plywood, and called my days with belt drives over. you could always look into something like a lenco l75- it's not perfect, but its gonna have some boogie to it that a cheapy belt drive probably won't. sure, it'll be sorta wonky and 70's stylee... but shit... unless you're listening to girls with guitars... i dunno.. it's kinda nice to have a little grab goin on...