Old Guy May Go Back To Vinyl

Technics, Dual, Thorens... all good.

See ya
Steve

Go for it!

Cartridges I like in that price range are the Grado Gold, the Shure MX97E and the Denon DL-103. The DL-103 is moving coil, so you'd need an appropriate phono preamp or step-up transformers.

For a new table the Technics 1200 MKII is pretty much the best way to go. If you are using a standard MM phono preamp, the Denon DL-110 and DL-160 cartridges are a some of the lower cost cartridges that will match up with the Technics tonearm. The Denon DL- 103 cartridge will also match your tonearm but you will either need a MC phono preamp or step-up transformer for it's lower output signal.

The Grado Gold is an excellent choice and is versatile because it is an moving iron design. It's output is high enough to be used with pretty well any phono. The Denon is a classic and plenty of people swear by it.

My first introduction to good vinyl playback was with a Thorens TD 166 rebuilt by GWN and using a Grado cart and an Alphason arm. Beautiful sound! When my wife heard this she gave the go ahead to set my sights on a higher end rig.

I have been reading the Vinyl Asylum over at Audio Asylum -- Audio Reviews, Audiophile Forums and Stereo Reviews lately and many have indicated that a very well tuned Thorens, a decent arm and a good cart is very hard to beat. As in, one would need to be in the $3k range for most other tables to get a significant bump in performance. That says a lot when a good condition Thorens can be picked up for about $200 with arm in some cases.

The 1200 is a very good choice too. Being direct drive, you have an exceptionally well timed unit that is built to last because it's not just meant for listening! It's meant to be handled and handled often. Throw on a good arm if it doesn't already come with one and a nice cart and you should be gold!

Other good options is the Michell Tehnodec. I believe it is in the same ballpark as a new 1200 and is produced by one of the leaders of superb analogue playback. Uncle Erik and I will be a little biassed here as we both use higher end models from this company. Make no mistake though, their looks are fantastic and they sound sublime!

IF you are open to buying used:

AudiogoN ForSale: Michell Tecnodec

That looks like an excellent solution! You would have a substantial setup and the Sonata can be retipped by Grado for quite a bit cheaper than buying a new cart.

The Grado Gold is a good cartridge but not really a good match with the Technics tonearm.Try one of the Denons mentioned above.

The Technics and Denon cartridge are a good start. If you ever feel you want to upgrade down the road,all you have to do is install a better tonearm.No need to ever sell the Technics deck.

Turntables are really expensive these days I'm afraid

1000 USD is a difficult price as most entry level decks seem to congregate in the the 5-1000 mark and the next level up is in the 1500-2500 where you get to the VPI Scout, Michell Tecnodeck, Roksan Radius etc.

Sota have a new deck at just over 1000 and the budget stalwarts like Rega, Pro-Ject and Music Hall all offer a range between these two prices.

If you fancy a bit of a tweaked up solution the best value for money at this price would be a new SL1200 + a Rega RB250 arm + Ortofon 2M cart. You'd have to fit the new arm yourself but it's really pretty simple, easier than aligning a new cart anyway....This will take on decks in the 1500-2500 bracket

2nd hand for this kind of money you can pick up a really nice old Thorens or an Oracle or Sota Sapphire even if you search around and are prepared to do a bit of servicing. There are also vintage specialists like Vinyl Nirvana who will do all the hard work of upgrading for you. These guys are definitely worth a look and a tweaked up AR or Thorens will also compete with modern decks well into the thousands.

Ahem.....er....a.... there is a guy on these very boards that also can do these modifications and has the ability to make custom plastic armboards to various specs etc. But ...a....i'll keep it on the down low.