Turntable & cartridge recommendations

[jcl]

My dad is getting on in years, his hearing is deteriorating, and said he'd like a turntable for his birthday to revisit his collection of vinyl before his hearing gets any worse. This is definitely not my area of expertise.

His system is modest, Paradigm Atoms, Onkyo Tx-8255, Sony dvd.

I know he has some 78s and he'd like to be able to play them, but I'm not sure what the price premium is for a TT that can handle 78s. From the far reaches of my memory I recall reading that budget turntables that handle 78s don't do it well (that may be audiofoolery) , but that's probably from 25+ years ago. I found the project Debut III, is anyone familiar with that?

Any recommendations for budget turntables, handling 78s or not? I guess cartridges too?

Thanks

 

[afterlife2]

Budget wise I'd say these two:
Read the first review on amazon. It gives you insight on 78 mode!
Amazon.com: Audio Technica ATLP120 Professional Turntable: Electronics
and
Amazon.com: Shure M97xE High-Performance Magnetic Phono Cartridge: Electronics
and buy this for just the 78 records:
http://www.amazon.com/Shure-N78S-Needle/dp/B0002BBND0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1337269257&sr=1-1
I'm sure TLS Guy will recomm. others stuff as well.

 

[racquetman]

Pro-ject

I have a Pro-ject Debut III with a Phono Box II USB (so I can rip the vinyl to my computer) and I am 100 % satisfied with it.

I've only heard it with the stock cartridge which sounds plenty good in my opinion.

My local dealer has one in his showroom that he pairs with all kinds of high end speakers and it sounds great with everything. The other customers seem happy with it also, because he sells quite a few of them.

I'm sure your dad will be more than satisfied.

 

[timoteo]

Yes the Project Debut III, Rega P1 & Music Hall MMF-2.2 are all great TTs to be had at a decent price! The Audio Technica is great as well.

The cartridges that come on them are ok. If your pops gets one & wants to get more performance, then he can upgrade the cartidge later.

 

[jcl]

Thanks for the responses. I'm waiting for him to setup the Tx-8255 before I send him a turn table. I like the push button speed control of the Atlp120, but the project in bright red looks really good. I'll probably go for the AT for ease of use for him.