Low Budget Vinyl Source - Page 4

No particular order. Japanese manufacturers were just as profligate with ranges of different models every few months back then as they are today.

Generally at this end of the market higher models had more automation but these days are usually availble for the same amount as the simpler ones. This is sometimes a mixed blessing though as there is obviously more to go wrong...


Since you are in the UK don't overlook the homegrown beltdrives from the '80s as these are common and therefore much better value for money than elsewhere in the world.

Ariston, Linn, STD, Rega, Walker, Logic, Manticore, Systemdek etc...

Also Dual CS505 and Thorens TD150/160 varients are much more cheap and plentiful than overseas and can often be had for the same price as theat Kenwood, which is a very nice deck BTW.

If you are willing to spend over 100 then look for something where the arm can be replaced with a modern one as this is where the most progress has been made since the '70s.

Well the list was written in response to mainly younger Head-Fiers who had grown up with CD or MP3 and wanted to check out vinyl without blowing the kind of cash a "budget" deck like the Regas command these days, especially outside Europe.

In the UK I think we kind of kept the faith with vinyl a bit longer and this crossed over into the whole Acid House / Rave movement of the late '80s and '90s so it never really went out of fashion.

Therefore there has always been a brisk trade in turntables in the classifieds and on ebay, although prices seem to be going up of late as more older people, perhaps disillusioned with digital, return to it.

Generally with turntables you get a much bigger increase in quality between budget, mid price and high end ones than you do with digital. If you want to go to a shop and hear this then check out a Pro-Ject Debut (approx £150) compared to a Roksan Radius 5 (£750) compared to a Michel Orbe (£2000)

Anyway if I were you for starters I'd go for a Thorens TD150/160 as there seem to be a good half dozen on there at the moment. These are quite a step up in quality over the Pioneers and definitely worth paying a little over 100 for.
If you don't want to spend that much there are also a few nice Dual 505s on there which should go for well under a ton. You can get a really good Cambridge phonostage from Richer Sounds for 50 quid and an Audio Technica AT-95E can be had for 25.
Most of the decks in the list at the begining should be under 50 if that's all you want to spend.

Yeah I heard about that. Apparently the best quality digital copy is the .mp3 version on the PS3 game which comes from a less compressed pre-master. Disapointing as the older Metalica stuff from the '90s had this epic production...

Well I remember friends playing DC, Maiden, UFO etc on a Dual CS-505.2 and it sounded pretty damn good. To be fair I was about 15 at the time....

Budget decks like this will sound a little lightweight in the bass compared to a more expensive deck but the first thing you learn about vinyl is that it's so tweakable. You can tailor it to suit by changing the cart or the VTA or even the thickness of the mat and any number of things will slightly alter the tonal balance and fine tune it to sound exactly how you want.

Bit of a collectors piece but pretty fiddly and often found damaged 2nd hand. Plus it's meant to be a total bitch to set up. I'd go for something easier to deal with first time around.
The Thorens isn't the heaviest in the bass either but it makes up for it with amazing rhythmical ability. You won't find anything that sounds as good on drums this side of a Linn Sondek.

But arn't you mainly listening on headphones? to be brutally frank they don't go that low anyway so I doubt you'll ever notice. You need full range speakers in a 20ft square room to be really able to hear this kind of stuff.