Honestly, your best bet for a good turntable at a good price is to buy a good vintage one. However the finest of the vintage turntables fetch a small fortune.
New turntables are not really a very good deal, they are pretty much junk or way overpriced.
Yes, I agree. I remember when I was a kid we had a console stereo with built in turntable and AM/FM radio, and speakers. The turntable had a floating suspension and was pretty cool. Unfortunately it has 1 driver, full range speakers that didn't sound very good.
Yes, after finding these cheaply made turntables, I started researching and that is when I found that most under $1000 turntables are made by Ya Horng, and the cheaper under $550 are made mostly by Hanpin but a few made by Ya Horng.
The other less than $1000 makers are U-Turn, Pro-Ject, and Technics.
From the looks of it, the Ya Horng turntables look to be quality while the Hanpin are questionable. Just my take on it. I do keep reading of problems with the U-Turn tables while little issues with Pro-Ject. But their more affordable turntables aren't cartridge upgradeable with a fixed anti-skate. The Technics seem to be the golden standard.
If it weren't for the Fluance turntables, I think I would had just gave up and kept using the AT-LP60-USB turntable or put the albums into storage. The nicer Ya Horng turntables by various brands look nice, but they are expensive, at least to me. I do think I would try putting a new Stylus and belt onto the AT-LP60-USB just to see if it helps.
If the Fluance turntable works out for me, I may give the LP60-USB to my step son if he even would have any interest in it, as he's a digital guy.
The
Sony PS-LX350H I had, except for design flawed drifting speed, was built better than the AT-LP3XBT or the Denon DP-300F yet back in the day seemed to be around $150 to $200. Looks to have the same Audio Technica made Cartridge with a 2.5mv output with 2.0 grams of tracking force. Even with the same flip down stylus protector! Most likely a modified AT91R.