With all the press records and record players have gotten in the last year or two, I plugged in my 43 year old Sony PS-4750 with Shure V15V-MR cartridge to take a few of my old LP's for a spin, thinking I might want to re-visit the medium. I also purchased a few new LP's for added measure.
The results were mixed, that's to say, recordings said to sound better on LP than CD did not sound better to me in any manner "better" could be described; and, in fact, while some of my LP's sounded indistinguishable from the same material on CD, the annoying pops and clicks, as common as they are unique to LPs, would give away my source component every time. That reminded me of the reason I stopped listening to LP's when CD's came out back in 1982.
Now, back on the topic of how much does a decent turntable/cartridge cost, I say you've got all money can buy when you can not discern the LP from CD. In my case that result cost about $700.00. Today, I'd suspect the best result, the record player retrieving and delivering everything in the groove, could be delivered for under $1700.00. For example, a new Technics SL-1200GR, to be released in June, fitted with a Shure M97xE would appear from their specs to be able to get the job done. Of course, since records are a cult item today, the reality of it all is often dismissed by the cults non-critical thinkers. A lot of these younger folks out there today I believe are not likely to think critically since they have never been forced to do such a thing, making buying decisions instead off cues from audiophile gurus; and, believing all the guru gobbledygook, satisfaction with any equipment will be as elusive as it is temporary.
