from the Sundazed website...

[velvetfan]

TaaDaaa! Beautiful Box set arrived today! Everyone else, yours is on the way. I am gonna have to break down and invest in a new turntable; I miss listening to vinyl. I just submitted re-fi papers on my house to eliminate some credit card debt so I think I'll pull out enough for a nice turntable so I can start playing vinyl again. I've gotten lazy with cd's but almost everyone will agree, cd's are no match for the rich depth of vinyl. And mp3's?...don't get me started. Anybody got any suggestions for a decent turntable and where to get it? I'm talking $4-600; not thousands or tens of thousands or even higher....I'll never be that audiophile. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[bobbldr]

I am a big proponent of vinyl for sure, but the sonic difference between vinyl and a cd on recordings that were originally recorded from the audience on a cassette (or reel to reel)? I don't know about that.

[velvetfan]

I am a big proponent of vinyl for sure, but the sonic difference between vinyl and a cd on recordings that were originally recorded from the audience on a cassette (or reel to reel)? I don't know about that.

Good point. I should have specified that I mean mostly on studio or properly recorded live recordings. Bootlegs don't show quite the difference between vinyl and cd. I stand corrected.

[pilgrim]

Got my Quine vinyl last night. The remastering is wonderful. I never really wanted to listen to the Quine CDs as much as I would have expected because of the poor mastering--there was something cold about them. The songs came across more as museum pieces than living breathing rock 'n' roll. On vinyl, Lou's vocals sounded so much warmer and more natural, and the sound generally had more space to it. Not as compressed/cleaned up or pushed to my ears. The vinyl was more akin to listening to Live 1969, and I absolutely LOVED it.

In particular, the 24-minute Sister Ray was always interesting on CD, but last night it was a revelation. Bob Irwin's mastering job finally gave me the Quine tapes I had hoped for from the beginning. Anyone else listen to it last night?

[pilgrim]

Also some of the guitar freak-outs, like on I Can't Stand It or Foggy Notion, always kind of glossed together for me on the CD versions. I was hanging on every note last night--it sounded so good!

[iaredatsun]

Anybody got any suggestions for a decent turntable and where to get it? I'm talking $4-600; not thousands or tens of thousands or even higher....I'll never be that audiophile. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I don't know how more recent turntables like the Pro-Jects line up but the solid plinth Rega designs have had good press for 30 years. The P2 with RB250 arm is $545.00 and then a Rega Bias 2 cartridge ($145) could be good place to start looking but that is $100 over your budget. (i just looked in some US place called LPGear for that price). So they also do a Rega P1 which is a fair bit cheaper with a new arm design. I've had the old Rega Planar3 and RB300 for years and recently upgraded some various parts of it and still like it. The Rega is British and a USA built turntable might be cheaper (I presume you are there).

[iaredatsun]

Also some of the guitar freak-outs, like on I Can't Stand It or Foggy Notion, always kind of glossed together for me on the CD versions. I was hanging on every note last night--it sounded so good!

You make it sound so tempting. I never wanted to listen to the CDs for the reasons you describe.

[velvetfan]

Anybody got any suggestions for a decent turntable and where to get it? I'm talking $4-600; not thousands or tens of thousands or even higher....I'll never be that audiophile. Appreciate any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I don't know how more recent turntables like the Pro-Jects line up but the solid plinth Rega designs have had good press for 30 years. The P2 with RB250 arm is $545.00 and then a Rega Bias 2 cartridge ($145) could be good place to start looking but that is $100 over your budget. (i just looked in some US place called LPGear for that price). So they also do a Rega P1 which is a fair bit cheaper with a new arm design. I've had the old Rega Planar3 and RB300 for years and recently upgraded some various parts of it and still like it. The Rega is British and a USA built turntable might be cheaper (I presume you are there).

Yes, I'm in the U.S. I have never had a really good turntable, usually some type of $200 Pioneer, but I want to treat myself so thanks for the lead. I really never did much research and when I started to google, Christ, they ranged from $80 up to one that was about $90,000! And that was without the cartridge! I evidently am not an audiophile. I even got some literature from a Japanese company that developed a laser turntable that avoided wear to your vinyl but those ran around $40K! I will never be in that world unless I win the lotto. Thanks again

[bleach]

Another vote here for a Rega Planar deck its well built & looks great, I have had one for about 10 yrs and never felt the need to update. I bought mine secondhand for ?200 its alot of deck for that sort of money. On a budget the Project is really good and gets great reviews in the UK they do a funky looking all red model for ?200 if you want something different. Its basically a stripped down modern Planar copy, its cheap because its made in Czech Republic.

I'm not a vinyl obsessive though I will admit when things sound better on CD! Although Live 1969 sounds amazing on my 70s pressing, just great you could almost be in those small rooms with Lou and the gang...

[MJG196]

Another vote here for a Rega Planar deck its well built & looks great, I have had one for about 10 yrs and never felt the need to update. I bought mine secondhand for ?200 its alot of deck for that sort of money. On a budget the Project is really good and gets great reviews in the UK they do a funky looking all red model for ?200 if you want something different. Its basically a stripped down modern Planar copy, its cheap because its made in Czech Republic.

100% agree from a USA perspective.

Let's get something clear here, though. I don't know if this was touched on in another page of this thread, but no matter how good your turntable is, it comes down to your AMP and SPEAKERS. I can have a $10,000 turntable (yes, they exist), but if I have a sub-par amplifier and lousy speakers it is going to sound like shit.

Seek out the November 2001 Rolling Stone Magazine (w/ Alicia Keys on the cover) for a fantastic article titled, "The Budget Audiophile." It'll get your blood pumping about picking up some new (old) gear. Like bleach, I have been using the same gear for years and have never felt the urge to update.