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

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

Of the 'tables listed the Lenco is by FAR the best, but requires some sense of adventure and elbow-grease to maximize. Here's what the owner of a near-TNT'd VPI HW-19 with a SME V/Koetsu Rosewood Signature had to say about a maximized Lenco (which can be bought in stock/used form for roughly $200-$300 on eBay): "Here's the bottom line of my initial impression. This turntable - the Black Beauty - with a $150 cartridge is blowing away my former rig that had a $3500 cartridge mounted on a VPI HW-19 MkIV tricked out as close as you can get to the TNT level. I'll need to try other arms and cartridges to get a fuller sense of what this table can do, but there's no doubt that it's huge jump beyond the VPI."

If you're not into DIY - and you need to be a least a little bit DIY to restore any vintage turntable, to the extent of fitting a new belt and cleaning and re-lubing the bearings - then the choices do indeed become bewildering. The best-value deck in the Rega arsenal is the P3, the Technics '1200 is indeed superb value for money, and Audio Technica now have a DD out which matches the Technics build-quality-wise at a lower price, see review here: AT-PL120.

If some restoration is in you but not much, then the Thorenses are killer, the TD-160 especially being very musical and with powerful bass. The TD-125 is more detailed and neutral, and versatile due to its removable armboard. Then there are the AR turntables, and the Aristons...have fun!