Purchase advice: Old turntable vs. new....


Ok, so I have been slowly building my system over the past few years. I’ve upgraded my turntable 3 times and I have the bug again.

My question is this: Does a turntable today with all the newest philosophies, techniques, and materials, better a well made, well regarded vintage model? Right now, I have a Music Hall 7.3 and I’m mostly happy with it. But I’m always reading up on these classic tables like the Linn LP12 or the Yamaha GT-2000 and it really gets me wondering if I would be getting what I pay for, when opting for a vintage table.

Specifically, I have been looking at the Yamaha for a month or so, browsing Japanese auction proxy sites for the right deal. I’ve been seeing them listed for about $1700-2500 (accounting for fees and shipping).

Would one of these "Gigantic and Tremendous" specimens compare favorably with a modern turntable in the same range? Say, my 7.3 or something like a Rega P6, VPI, MoFi, etc?

Thanks for reading and any guidance you could give me in my dilemma.

-Anthony
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Have you looked into idler drive TT's? I've restored a Garrard 401 and built a plinth. It is beautiful, and sounds magnificent.

Dan
I've heard OF them, haha... I should do some reading up.

What did you use for the plinth? Did you have trouble finding parts?
Pick up a clean 401 for about $900 or rebuilt for $2000. Birch ply plinth (not those hollow ones) $400. 12" Jelco TK 850 $900. Audiosilente idler $105.
World class.

Sorry for the delay in my reply. My plinth is  6-1" MDF segments stacked, with top, sides and face fashioned out slabs of Purpleheart, faceplate is 1" thick, top and side pieces are 3/8" thick Purpleheart as well.

I mounted a Dynavector 501 arm, and used Edensound Bear Paw footers that are 6lbs. each, one in each corner. Parts are available on Ebay from Perfect Sound in the UK, and other places.

You can get a look at it on Virtual Systems under Done For Now, "The Summit". It is a fine, fine thing.

Bes