New Vinyl Setup

My concern here is that turntables are the hardest things to ship without damage, with the possible exception of large, heavy speakers. The best thing to do is use the zip code search engine off of "my page" and buy locally. Barring that, know your seller, and make sure that she has extensive experience in shipping turntables. I cannot emphasize the risks strongly enough.

FWIW, start 'small'. Don't focus on high end stuff and take it one step at a time. If I were starting out I would buy a TT without suspension system for two reasons. You don't have to tune it and it can be shipped with less probability of damage. Get one with a tonearm that is easy to set up and use, keep it simple. Get a cartridge that is easy to set up and is not as sensitive to VTA variables in LP's beyond simple initial set up. Then do a little reading and learn to set it up yourself as Tvad suggested.

I've seen some inexpensive new packages by Rega which would be excellent TT's to start with.

FWIW

Assuming you don't buy some POS, which you can avoid with some meager homework, there is really no advantage to buying new vs. new.

Now, just for food for thought, there are advantages for buying a little higher up the food chain than the normal suggestions for starter tables. (No, I'm not in the audio business.) Obviously, if you go here you should be committed to this undertaking prior to making such a purchase. The advantage is that you'll have equipment with much better adjustment capabilities to allow you to learn and you'll skip that effort of buying and selling as you move up.

That is, if you know you're already afflicted.

;)

there are advantages for buying a little higher up the food chain than the normal suggestions for starter tables. (No, I'm not in the audio business.) Obviously, if you go here you should be committed to this undertaking prior to making such a purchase. The advantage is that you'll have equipment with much better adjustment capabilities to allow you to learn and you'll skip that effort of buying and selling as you move up.

That is, if you know you're already afflicted.

;)
Dan_ed (System | Threads | Answers)

That makes perfect sense to me. It bolsters the adage, "Buy cheap, buy again."

The key is knowing that you're fully committed to the endeavor...and willing to commit the necessary funds to obtain the gear.

Dan_ed, what would be your three suggestions for table/arm combos and their associated used costs?

Now you've gone and put me on the spot, Tvad. :) But I'm game for taking a few risks here.

My experiences with the starter tables was a mixed bag. They are certainly good enough to have shown me what vinyl can be. But in my case I'm a hands-on type and willing to put time into tweaking things. Arms, tables, cartridge, equipment stands, etc. After about a year or so I realized that many of the parameter adjustments I wanted to learn about were just not supported well enough to help me learn these things properly. This is part of the point I was trying to make the other day in that thread about the test LPs.

I realize that not everyone is going to keep moving up and investing more and more in vinyl playback like I've done. However, it sure seems that more people do end up moving up than remain completely satisfied with that starter table (these are the lucky few). I have always gone over the top in my hobbies whether it was race cars or woodworking, so I always new what was going to happen for me.

One combo I have experience with that I can offer is a Basis 1400 with either the Rega or (even better) a Vector tonearm. These can be had for around $1K, maybe a bit more if it includes a Vector. The one adjustment that is not as micro-adjustable with this combination is VTA. However, the business card shim trick works well and there is only one set screw. This makes it pretty easy to do. The Basis motors are rock solid.

I think the Graham 2.2 is another great tonearm value. It has all of the micro adjustment capability and has been mated with many different tables over the years. Such a combination would run closer to $3K, I would expect. While it may be a bit fussy to extract the maximum performance, the 2.2 is an excellent tool for learning.

I know that's only two but these are the ones I'm most familiar with. Hopefully, some else will chime in with some more suggestions. I'd bet Doug, Raul, Thom Mackris, to name a few, would have some great suggestions along these lines.

I should have probably added that buying used is the better value most of the time, but perhaps that is obvious.