Vinylphiles...used/new TT/Cart combo under $700?

Mine was a Lenco 75, here is my Audiogon thread on the topic of restoring and building a pretty base for it.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vbudg&1082337040&openusid&zzAlbertporter&4&5#Albertporter

I eventually sold it, was running it into a EAR 835P (the chrome one) with NOS Telefunken tubes. The Shure cartridge was surprisingly good for the money, bought it brand new.

The only reason I sold it was to make room for more LP's. I even moved my record cleaning machine into my photo studio for the same reason. Chasing software is a sickness with me :-).

hi Tvad, you'll have a hard time beating the Rega P3 for about $400 used, but you won't get 78.

Low cost cartridge options:

Denon DL103 (low output MC) - about $175 new
Denon DL160 (high output MC) - about $180 new
Grado Reference Sonata - about $200-350 used

Here's a detailed review of the Denon DL160 with an excellent followup discussion:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1031089600&read&keyw&zzdenon

I appreciate your input Mingles. Thank you.

Go for the Lenco. Lots of fun to rebuild. Just takes some time, not too technical. Add a Rega arm and Denon 103. You get excellent sound. The L75 is 16, 45, 33 and 78.
Email me if you need more info.
Good luck.

Second the HW-19... a friend has it with the Audioquest arm and it's a giant-killer. Not the best-looking table in the world, which may be why it's underrated.

The Thorens TD-160/TD-145 (full manual/autolift at end of side) and their progeny are excellent with the standard TP-16 arm, and should still be around for about $200. They may well need work, at the very least a tuneup, but even for an extra $200-250 you're getting a table that will blow away any Rega or Music Hall or Pro-Ject... ANY one of them.

Better would be a Thorens TD-125 Mk II, and they often come with vintage arms that are worth the price of the table... SME 3009, 3012, or if you're lucky an Ortofon arm. Again, they will need a tuneup from someone experienced at the very least.

Another possibility is an SL-1200. Fit with an Ortofon Concorde plug-in cartridge and you're out maybe $550 with all new gear. I haven't found the much-vaunted damping trough to make a whole hell of a lot of difference... we have one running a Dyna 10x5 at the office... but this is a great table either way.

Patrick