Nick,
As a Spacedeck/Spacearm/Shelter 501 owner, and having a friend with a Scoutmaster/JMW9/Denon103 & Dyna17d (i.e. Slipknot1), I would heartily recommend either of these tables. Haven't heard any of the new Thorens tables, but most of the raves seem to be from mag reviewers where they advertise.
Tough choice between the 'Nott & the VPI.
In the Spacedeck's favor, you get tremendous airy soundstage(hence the name), plenty of "PRAT", very high speed stability(w/o separate speed controller--although that is an upgrade option), natural timbre, option to add 2nd arm pod. Downside to some is the lack of finger tab on the tonearm, lack of power button(I actually like the feel of manually spinning the table to start it up!), uncommunicative corporate culture(guess you could just call them concise ;-) .
VPI gives you more slam on the bottom end, a slightly drier tonal balance IMHO, a clear and well defined upgrade path, and enough sales quantity to allow companies to design complementary accesories(e.g. Ghinko Cloud platforms) specifically designed to mate w/the VPIs.
Either of these table/arm combos would mate well with a number of different cartridges. Don't take the phono stage for granted, too. You'll want to make sure that your phono stage has appropriate settings for the cartridge you choose. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! Cheers,
Spencer
As a Spacedeck/Spacearm/Shelter 501 owner, and having a friend with a Scoutmaster/JMW9/Denon103 & Dyna17d (i.e. Slipknot1), I would heartily recommend either of these tables. Haven't heard any of the new Thorens tables, but most of the raves seem to be from mag reviewers where they advertise.
Tough choice between the 'Nott & the VPI.
In the Spacedeck's favor, you get tremendous airy soundstage(hence the name), plenty of "PRAT", very high speed stability(w/o separate speed controller--although that is an upgrade option), natural timbre, option to add 2nd arm pod. Downside to some is the lack of finger tab on the tonearm, lack of power button(I actually like the feel of manually spinning the table to start it up!), uncommunicative corporate culture(guess you could just call them concise ;-) .
VPI gives you more slam on the bottom end, a slightly drier tonal balance IMHO, a clear and well defined upgrade path, and enough sales quantity to allow companies to design complementary accesories(e.g. Ghinko Cloud platforms) specifically designed to mate w/the VPIs.
Either of these table/arm combos would mate well with a number of different cartridges. Don't take the phono stage for granted, too. You'll want to make sure that your phono stage has appropriate settings for the cartridge you choose. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress! Cheers,
Spencer