Prices of CD vs. record players


People seem to agree that the quality of the music obtained from vinyls is far superior to the level that is reached with (red-book) CDs. Of course this depends also on the player, and for instance a very expensive CD player will give better results than a very cheap turntable. I wanted to know at which budget level record players are better sources than cd players.

I have a CD player NAD C541i (its value is about 350 USD), that I plan to upgrade with an external DAC that costs about 1000 USD (e.g., Benchmark DAC1 - I have not decided yet). How much should I invest in turntable + tonearm + cartridge + phone stage to have a sound that definitely overcomes the quality of what I could obtain from my NAD CD player + external DAC?
sbabu
With your substantial investment in vinyl it's worth buying a table that will give you a great analog listening experience. You will need good speed stability, isolation from resonance and an affordable cartridge and phone stage.

The Teres 160 at $2240 is a great turntable that offers rock solid speed stability and the lead loaded acrylic platter works great for the money and is well worth the extra $ over the 150.

A Rega RB250 based tonearm is the way to go. If you're in the US look no further than the Expressimo Mongoose RB250 (there's a link from the Teres site). I have one and for $640 it's stunning value for money. It has deep tight bass and is very neutral; because it's medium mass it works with a wide range of cartridges.

I'm very much in love with the Denon DL-103 at around $200. It's dynamic and exciting to listen to, it's very tolerant of set-up and it punches well above it's weight.

For a phono stage I would suggest you look here to buy a used EAR834P for around $650. It's a tube circuit but doesn't sound it - it's pacey, neutral and very relaxing to listen to.

If these are beyond your budget then I would suggest looking at a Technics SL1200 from Kabusa. It's not particularly fashionable but, being a direct drive deck, it delivers great speed stability and freedom from resonance. It comes with a tonearm and you would be best fitting a moving magnet.

I wouldn't look beyond the Grado Prestige Gold. It would be a good match for the arm on the Technics and because of the moving iron design it's a very responsive cart that sounds very attractive. Because it's a high output cart you could save on the phono stage by buying a Bellari VP129 for $200.

The other alternatives are diy (check out Bix) or used. There's a thread on this list about the Lenco L75 with a title including Home Despot.
I also have to throw into the mix the Michell TecnoDec ($1,695 new - around $900 used). I recently set one up and am astounded at how good it sounds. It blows away the prior Rega (P25 & P5) tables I've run.

I've got it paired up with a Dynavector 20xL running through a Dynavector P-75 phono stage. All the PRAT of the Rega with better speed stability, quieter background, more detail - it's great.

The stock TecnoDec comes with a Michell mod'd RB-250 and is fantastic right out of the box. I happened to luck into a TecnoArm (a more fully mod'd RB-250) and it's now as good a deck as I'll ever want at this point given my other gear.