Looking to upgrade my turntable

[m. zillch]

How about telling us what specifically you are dissatisfied with in the current turntable which prompted you in whole quest to upgrade?

 

[lovinthehd]

How about telling us what specifically you are dissatisfied with in the current turntable which prompted you in whole quest to upgrade?

He did state reasons some posts back....

 

[Mike Up]

True enough, but across the room is insane!

Yes, definitely not confidence inspiring. Years and years ago in 1999, I bought a Yamaha RX-V995 for $1,000 that produced a loud power supply transformer buzz just about 2 months of purchase. It was within the dealer's time frame to upgrade but not replace/return, so instead of sending it in for service, I upgraded to the RX-V2095 Receiver.

Luckily this turntables motor shown it's defect right away instead of finding it later. Besides, this is the reason I went with an Audio Technica Turntable over a Fluance, because of their numerous motor defects. Live and learn. My cheap $120 AT-LP60-USB's motor is dead quiet even with your ear next to it. Looks like Audio Technica had a bad run of motors in the AT-LP70XBT and AT-LP3XBT turntables. Such a shame.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, definitely not confidence inspiring. Years and years ago in 1999, I bought a Yamaha RX-V995 for $1,000 that produced a loud power supply transformer buzz just about 2 months of purchase. It was within the dealer's time frame to upgrade but not replace/return, so instead of sending it in for service, I upgraded to the RX-V2095 Receiver.

Luckily this turntables motor shown it's defect right away instead of finding it later. Besides, this is the reason I went with an Audio Technica Turntable over a Fluance, because of their numerous motor defects. Live and learn. My cheap $120 AT-LP60-USB's motor is dead quiet even with your ear next to it. Looks like Audio Technica had a bad run of motors in the AT-LP70XBT and AT-LP3XBT turntables. Such a shame.

I'd suspect it's more something that gets thru today's version of quality control or what's being budgeted for quality control, or whatever happened in this case, but haven't seen a report quite like this one otoh.

 

[Mike Up]

How about telling us what specifically you are dissatisfied with in the current turntable which prompted you in whole quest to upgrade?

Here you go.

 

[TLS Guy]

Ok, I'm going to try one more time with a turntable within my budget.

The $500 Denon DP-300F is on sale for $350, looks quality and has good reviews and comes with a bit lower quality cartridge than the LP3XBT, the Denon clone of the AT91 and it's 2.0g tracking force. This is suppose to be a step above the AT3600L with better highs and lows, and the lower tracking force.

The reason I went with the Audio Technica AT-LP3XBT over the Denon initially was the LP3XBT's better cartridge and $100 lower price.

The Denon at $350, lets me try the AT91 and if I want, upgrade to the AT-VM95c and still be at the same price the AT-LP3XBT is. Hopefully the motor noise will be much lower on the Denon.

I have spent a lot of time on this for you tonight. You are spinning your wheels. You can not improve over what you have with your budget. If you go to $600.00 then it starts to make sense. I can not improve your current set up even with good used equipment.

 

[Mike Up]

I have spent a lot of time on this for you tonight. You are spinning your wheels. You can not improve over what you have with your budget. If you go to $600.00 then it starts to make sense. I can not improve your current set up even with good used equipment.

Hum, I strongly disagree as the AT-LP3XBT sounded much better than the AT-LP60-USB but the motor noise was irritating as well as a bad sign of reliability to come.

This wasn't a subtle difference, but a very significant difference going from the AT-LP60-USB (AT3600L cartridge) to the AT-LP3XBT (At-VM95c cartridge). Clearer more pronounced highs, to clearer, stronger bass, and more articulate midrange.

While I know the Denon DL-85 (AT91) cartridge isn't as good as the AT-VM95c, it is better than the AT3600L. Plus the Denon DL-85 (AT91) can be upgraded with LP Gear Elliptical Stylus DSN-85E if I choose to skip the AT-VM95c/e upgrade down the road.