Which turntable

[Garreth Thompson]

Hello all. I have a Sony PS-HX500 turntable. I want to upgrade and I like Audio Technica LP120 or 140.

I'm looking some advice as which way to go. It will be paired with a Yamaha RXV781 plus Wharfedale Evo 4.4 and BK Electronics Monolith subwoofer.

Any advice would be appreciated

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello all. I have a Sony PS-HX500 turntable. I want to upgrade and I like Audio Technica LP120 or 140.

I'm looking some advice as which way to go. It will be paired with a Yamaha RXV781 plus Wharfedale Evo 4.4 and BK Electronics Monolith subwoofer.

Any advice would be appreciated

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

I don't think either is a significant upgrade. Direct drive turntables are really for disc jockeys. Belt drive turntables have excellent fidelity and sonic isolation.
After that it really comes down to the arm and cartridge.

I would advise you look at the U-turn turntables. These have superbly engineered unipivot arms. If you purchased an Ortofon black cartridge say, than that is about as good as turntable reproduction can get, at realistic cost.

 

[3db]

Based on reviews from What HiFi, your move would considered to be a lateral move rather than an upgrade.

Home review

Want to rip vinyl to hi-res? This entertaining turntable has that unique ability...

www.whathifi.com

Home review

The Audio Technica LP120USB is a sturdy player that not only plays records but can copy vinyl straight to your hard-drive

www.whathifi.com

I would start looking at ProJect as they equip thei turntables with a very rigid carbon fibre tonearm that works rather well.

 

[TLS Guy]

Based on reviews from What HiFi, your move would considered to be a lateral move rather than an upgrade.

Home review

Want to rip vinyl to hi-res? This entertaining turntable has that unique ability...

www.whathifi.com

Home review

The Audio Technica LP120USB is a sturdy player that not only plays records but can copy vinyl straight to your hard-drive

www.whathifi.com

I would start looking at ProJect as they equip thei turntables with a very rigid carbon fibre tonearm that works rather well.

I favor the U-turn line. I like their arm design and they are made in the US, in New England.

 

[3db]

I favor the U-turn line. I like their arm design and they are made in the US, in New England.

Supporting business at home is a good thing. ProJects are manufactured wholly in the Czek republic. Nothing is out sourced. Either turntable would be a step up from the OPs considerations and what he currently has.

 

[lovinthehd]

What are you particularly looking for in changing the player at this price point? Why not just a new cartridge?

While I use a direct drive (Technics SL1200mk2), I never was a disc jockey except in my own mind like my favorites at various and now-defunct FM stations of the day, I chose it at the time because it was simply better than any of its belt driven competition, let alone the Dual rim drive I was graduating from. Still using it 38 years later and all it has needed is a bit of lube and grease replacement (for the arm height adjuster) and a replacement light for the pop up cue light. The ATs are lightweight copies, but a new Technics SL1200mk7 will cost $1600 or the new 1210mk2 for $2700 or the GR model for much more than that. They are extremely accurate (and can adjust speed accurately if needed), with low wow & flutter and noise specs, as well as a superb suspension. The original SP10 was considered the best in its day.

Last I looked at U-turn they were just so-so, altho assembled here in the US, plus I don't see that they offer any spec to compare with. At least they upgraded from the unipivot arm to a gimbal arm design, not sure why TLS thinks they're unipivot still. Putting a $700 cartridge on their similarly priced offerings (to the AT), meh.

 

[TLS Guy]

What are you particularly looking for in changing the player at this price point? Why not just a new cartridge?

While I use a direct drive (Technics SL1200mk2), I never was a disc jockey except in my own mind like my favorites at various and now-defunct FM stations of the day, I chose it at the time because it was simply better than any of its belt driven competition, let alone the Dual rim drive I was graduating from. Still using it 38 years later and all it has needed is a bit of lube and grease replacement (for the arm height adjuster) and a replacement light for the pop up cue light. The ATs are lightweight copies, but a new Technics SL1200mk7 will cost $1600 or the new 1210mk2 for $2700 or the GR model for much more than that. They are extremely accurate (and can adjust speed accurately if needed), with low wow & flutter and noise specs, as well as a superb suspension. The original SP10 was considered the best in its day.

Last I looked at U-turn they were just so-so, altho assembled here in the US, plus I don't see that they offer any spec to compare with. At least they upgraded from the unipivot arm to a gimbal arm design, not sure why TLS thinks they're unipivot still. Putting a $700 cartridge on their similarly priced offerings (to the AT), meh.

I did not know they changed to unipivot. When did they do that? I wonder why, as there have been some very good unipivot designs over the years. You can put a really good turntable together for less then $600.00 which is good value. A decent basic turntable is $200.00

 

[3db]

Here's an interesting read..

Toole Blind Cartridge Comparison

From Audio Scene Canada August 1980, a blind screen comparison by Floyd Toole of 2 MCs and a MM which I decided to add under its own thread rather than at least 2 others to which I might have added it.

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[TLS Guy]

Here's an interesting read..

Toole Blind Cartridge Comparison

From Audio Scene Canada August 1980, a blind screen comparison by Floyd Toole of 2 MCs and a MM which I decided to add under its own thread rather than at least 2 others to which I might have added it.

www.audiosciencereview.com

You can tell from the description and the date, that the MM cartridge was a Shure V 15 type IV. I suspect that one of the MC cartridges was from Ortofon.MC 20. Probably the other MC was of Japanese manufacture.

However what was not addressed was trackability. In that arena the top flight Shure V series cartridges went to the front of the pack and stayed there. As far as I was concerned I wanted the cartridge that would do the best job of playing most records.

 

[Mikado463]

I know TLS poo-who'd direct drive but in todays world the re-designed Technics 1200 is as quiet and accurate as they come. For a lot less you may want to look at one of Roy Hall's offerings .......

 

[highfigh]

You can tell from the description and the date, that the MM cartridge was a Shure V 15 type IV. I suspect that one of the MC cartridges was from Ortofon.MC 20. Probably the other MC was of Japanese manufacture.

However what was not addressed was trackability. In that arena the top flight Shure V series cartridges went to the front of the pack and stayed there. As far as I was concerned I wanted the cartridge that would do the best job of playing most records.

The bottom link showed the three brands and models- MC2 was a Denon DL-103d.

Interesting, that the turntable used was direct drive.

 

[Mikado463]

The bottom link showed the three brands and models- MC2 was a Denon DL-103d.

Interesting, that the turntable used was direct drive.

ahhh the DL-103, the longest running continuously produced cartridge ever I believe. Heck it might be the longest running of anything in audio ?

 

[fmw]

I have a Project turntable stored in a closet. It did a nice job back when I used turntables. The U-Turn looks even nicer but I have no experience with it.

 

[TLS Guy]

I know TLS poo-who'd direct drive but in todays world the re-designed Technics 1200 is as quiet and accurate as they come. For a lot less you may want to look at one of Roy Hall's offerings .......

I have nothing against them, other than it adds complication and a point of failure, which you don't need unless you are a DJ.

 

[Eppie]

Hello all. I have a Sony PS-HX500 turntable. I want to upgrade and I like Audio Technica LP120 or 140.

I'm looking some advice as which way to go. It will be paired with a Yamaha RXV781 plus Wharfedale Evo 4.4 and BK Electronics Monolith subwoofer.

Any advice would be appreciated

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

Agree with the others. If you want to step up, I would recommend Project or Rega or U-Turn. Take into account whether you want a fully automatic or manual turntable. My Project Carbon EVO, for example, is fully manual and would require a third party arm-lift to auto-lift at the end. The Rega will cost more than the Audio Technica but Project and U-Turn should have tables in the same price range and some Projects come with an Ortofon cartridge preinstalled.

 

[lovinthehd]

I have nothing against them, other than it adds complication and a point of failure, which you don't need unless you are a DJ.

Belts and rim drives are complicated if dd is. Well built dd tts are quite reliable. That's why they generally were favored by many "disc jockeys". Radio stations used disc jockeys, and at one point were a large user group before going digital. The Technics SP10 is legendary. Not Gerrard (whose reputation generally is quite overrated).

 

[highfigh]

I have nothing against them, other than it adds complication and a point of failure, which you don't need unless you are a DJ.

What added point of failure, you mean the speed control? I agree and honestly, I'm impressed that the direct drive tables with the magnetic material on the underside with the sensor head have lasted so long but the one thing I don't like about belt and idler driven platters is that the rubber tends to decrease the accuracy as it loses elasticity.

Personally, I don't care if my platter reaches 33-1/3 RPM in 1/4 of a turn, but I want it to spin accurately but the more complex direct drive tables are a concern, for me. If something in my 40 year old direct drive turntable fails and can't be repaired, I'll be sitting here with a relatively expensive paperweight. At this point, I'm planning to sell mine and buy something that's very basic, so it can be repaired, if need be.

 

[lovinthehd]

What added point of failure, you mean the speed control? I agree and honestly, I'm impressed that the direct drive tables with the magnetic material on the underside with the sensor head have lasted so long but the one thing I don't like about belt and idler driven platters is that the rubber tends to decrease the accuracy as it loses elasticity.

Personally, I don't care if my platter reaches 33-1/3 RPM in 1/4 of a turn, but I want it to spin accurately but the more complex direct drive tables are a concern, for me. If something in my 40 year old direct drive turntable fails and can't be repaired, I'll be sitting here with a relatively expensive paperweight. At this point, I'm planning to sell mine and buy something that's very basic, so it can be repaired, if need be.

You're worried now after no problems for 40 years? How big a problem are the speed controllers in real life (from a well made dd like Technics?)

 

[3db]

Lets not turn this into yet another insipid and pointless DD verses belt drive debate. Both designs offer such good performance that the effects of wow and flutter are all but inaudible. It renders the DD verses belt drive debate moot and any points being made by either camp become fan based.

 

[highfigh]

You're worried now after no problems for 40 years? How big a problem are the speed controllers in real life (from a well made dd like Technics?)

Why would I want to be forced to buy a replacement?

My comments about the complexity come from having worked at a stereo store and seeing the number of turntables that came in for service- cheap and expensive, they all can fail and at this point, I would be forced to buy parts on Ebay or someone source of used parts that may be close to failing. When my table was new, I thought the technology was interesting and never gave a 40 year life a thought and here we are, 40 years later.

There's not much difference between the speed control on a Technics and Pioneer, Sony, etc- they all have a magnetic coating on the underside of the platter with encoded areas that are the magnetic equivalent of a reluctor wheel for an engine- if you know anyone whose crank position sensors caused their engine to not start, these can be the reason. Also, the number of shops that can service audio equipment has shrunk to a tiny fraction of what were available 40 or even 25 years ago, so who's going to make the repairs?

I'm back to SIB-KISS.