You are 100% correct.
I had a pioneer for years that I purchased used until it threw in the towel. I’d probably end up tracking down that model when my current turntable dies.

Yup. Sometimes you might have to replace capacitors on the old stuff, but mechanically they're friggin' tanks and will outlive us if they're taken care of properly.

You're in LA, right Slop? Go to Caveman Music, they carry a bunch of vintage gear. It's not cheap (but not over expensive either) and they seem to know their stuff.

Ugh. I don't want to deal with used gear, especially relatively delicate gear like turntables.
Even if I get a good deal, I'll have to drop another $200 to $300 on a decent cartridge/stylus, which are usually included in new turntables.

If it were me, I'd just get this one: Technics SL-1300 Turntable Direct Drive Fully Automatic Vintage | eBay
$200 shipped which is fantastic.
Drop another $125 for an Ortofon headshell with 2M Red cart, and done, see you next Tuesday.

I'd be cautious, with that one. I never believe a seller when they claim not to have tested something. I take that to mean it doesn't work. Especially with a turntable, it's very easy to test, and being able to say it works makes it much more marketable.

I'd also point out that there's no dust cover in the pictures, so it's not included.

I'm like you, regarding tinkering and electronics (or anything mechanical), but this wouldn't be a good idea for slop101.

Oh, didn't see the lack of a dust cover (keep in mind that was a minute-long search of "Technics turntable" on E-bay, yes I would expect someone to research it a little more carefully), but the only other thing that stood out to me as a possible red flag was the lack of the rubber slip mat.

But it does show that you can get good vintage gear on the 'bay for an acceptable price, and I'd bet good money that vintage Technics TT will outlast anything you buy brand new today at more than twice the price.

If you aren't going vintage, I'd recommend the U-Turn Orbit. The basic model starts at $200, but you can upgrade it with a better cartridge, acrylic platter, etc. at which point it could be closer to $500. I've had mine for several years and really like it. It is belt drive instead of direct drive if that's a deal breaker (they are a PITA to change speeds). Made in the USA!

I wonder if the current TTs have some kind of digital signal processing involved. That's a dealbreaker for me. One thing you get with the vintage gear is that it is pure analog signal coming out of the RCAs.

I have an U-Turn Orbit - spent just over $400 for it like 5 years ago and it's still doing great. I did buy a pre-amp for it, so it does have outputs for an external device.

This is the pre-amp and it's made in Austria.


I also replaced the vinyl mat with a cork mat and that works well for my needs.

I suspect only the USB turntables would have any digital processing. For a non-USB turntable, there's no need to complicate anything.

Although, I suppose there could be a small preamp since there are probably a lot of receivers, unless they have phono input, that would need a preamp due to the relatively low output from a MM cartridge. Still, no reason for them to do any digital processing, though. But, who knows?

I know my Rega does not, and the U-Turn Orbit does not. I only know about the Orbit because a watched a video where someone disassembled one.

I got my Orbit installed with U-Turn's own Pluto pre-amp (it includes a bypass switch in case I ever want to use another pre-amp instead). I don't see why they would feel the need to add digital processing, the company seems like purists when it comes to turntables. I agree that probably only USB turntables have digital processing (as they would need to).

I was actually leaning towards a Linn...

Now see, that's just overkill. I mean, if you want good audio, you only need one of these:

Bergmann Galder Turntable – Alma Music and Audio (almaaudio.com)

No thanks, I love listening to music, but not enough to want to pay five figures for a turntable.

Looking at getting one of these. Haven't heard anything but praise and it's at a reasonable cost.

I think so. I got the Ortofon 2M Red cartridge on mine. Also have an Acrylic Platter and the cue lever. I noticed that their shipping time is really fast now. Back when I ordered my custom it took almost two weeks to get here, now it ships in 1-3 days, so that's awesome.

The Ortofon Red is the shit, I'll be upgrading to a Blue in the next year or so, but you really can't go wrong with the Red. Can't recommend it enough.

The only upgrades I got on mine were the cue lever and pre-amp, but I'm really wishing I had upgraded the cart to the Ortofon Red, I've heard great things about it. (and I'd imagine the Blue is even better).

So just buy one already!

I've had 3 Ortofon's - Red, Blue, Bronze. I noticed incremental improvement across all 3.

A couple years ago I acquired a used Thorens TT -- a departure from the Music Hall I was using prior. As part of this, I also wanted to try an MC cart vs MM. After making the switch to MC, I wouldn't go back. Am currently using a Denon 110. For those that have the hardware to support (MC uses different tech), I recommend looking into them.

I upgraded the stylus on my Pro-Ject to an Ortofon Red a few months back. Quite happy with it, for a $100 replacement.

The Orto Red was one of the few upgrades I made that exceeded the dollar value; I went from a $79 Shure to the $100 Ortofon, but it was much more than a 20% improvement in sound.

I'm considering it! Hopefully it's not too much of a PITA to change the cart, I've never done that before.

You can't be afraid to make minor adjustments to your TT setup.

It'd be like taking up guitar, but bringing it back to the music store every time you need to change strings and having them do it.

Gouge away!

UMG is going to raise their vinyl prices by $10-$15 this week on over 2400 titles.