New Turntable

Another deck to consider here is the Rega RP10.

I have to admit here that I love the engineering thought behind this deck and I'm rather looking forward to getting an ear on it in my own system.

Well worth an audition I would think, and IIRC Chris Murphy, who is Naim's distributor in NZ, is also distributor for Rega...

Richard Dane posted:

Another deck to consider here is the Rega RP10.

I have to admit here that I love the engineering thought behind this deck and I'm rather looking forward to getting an ear on it in my own system.

Rega just seem to be able to do things right with a no nonsense engineering approach. A Vibration Measuring Machine is on my Christmas list (the book not a turntable !)

Where to start with TTs.   I’m not a great enthusiast of the LP12, I would certainly look at the RP10, also Roksan, Avid, Well Tempered and Michell.  

Good luck.  

Regardless of the OP's final choice of turntable, can I just congratulate Mr Frog on the excellent foresight of keeping all his records.  I know there are many, many music lovers who rue the day they consigned years of music collection to the nearest skip...

Rega RP8/Alpheta2 is an exceptional value

Don’t forget a record cleaning machine. I’m a Loricraft enthusiast. It really improves the SQ.

Phil

Even when you freshly clean a already cleaned LP it will sound better, odd thing but I have found it to be so. I use an Okki Nokki and think its a marvellous machine that is not stupid money. As to the  LP12 I have owned four and several other makes and have always come back to a Linn. As far as I am concerned its about as good as it gets and will never more strive to beat it as nothing else does. It simply plays music more musically than any other. IMHO of course.  

Why not Dr.Fieckert Woodpacker 2 with your choice or arm/cartridge? Looks and plays well! 

At the risk of ruffling feathers, you are far better buying the basic Rega Planer turntable at about 220 pounds UK brand new. Get the phono preamp for about another 60 or so. See how you get on. Your money is safe, and it is a risk free purchase. The turntable is astonishingly good value for money. 

Once you have convinced yourself that you really do want to play vinyl, THEN go spend serious money. But not until then.

jon honeyball posted:

At the risk of ruffling feathers, you are far better buying the basic Rega Planer turntable at about 220 pounds UK brand new. Get the phono preamp for about another 60 or so. See how you get on. Your money is safe, and it is a risk free purchase. The turntable is astonishingly good value for money. 

Once you have convinced yourself that you really do want to play vinyl, THEN go spend serious money. But not until then.

Why say that when from the information already provided, chap is apparently prepared to spend up to 10K NZ dollars?

I thought the logic was obvious. Clearly not.

Pretty rude. Chap has made his decision at what level he wants to re-enter the turntable market.

Lets see if he is still using it after 6 months. After all, he walked away from vinyl some 20 years ago and went fully digital. Now he appears wrapped up in the romantic kitsch that is vinyl and wants back in. 

Great!

But will he really put up with noise, crackles, cleaning, handling issues, no next track etc in the longer term? He has been digital for 20 years.

Its not unreasonable to suggest this is a heart over head purchase. Which is fine, but start at 250 quid and see how you get on.

Then buy the 10k turntable.

He came here asking for advice. Thats my advice as someone who owns a full house Harban/LP12/Aro/XV1S etc. And a 220 quid Rega.

Christopher_M posted:

Pretty rude. Chap has made his decision at what level he wants to re-enter the turntable market.

What's rude about it? Seems pretty obvious to me as well. I've noticed a growing trend of late for disagreement to be interpreted by a certain type as rudeness. Participation in a forum implies a willingness to be exposed to alternatives, not necessarily wrapped up to avoid offending the over sensitive. "If you can't stand the heat......"

It really isn't advisable to lash out on an expensive vinyl replay system until you're satisfied you really do want to go down that particular avenue. Either go with Jon's suggestion, or maybe find a good basic S/H LP12. If you like what it's doing, you can improve it in lots of rewarding ways, and if you decide you don't want to bother with vinyl after all, you can probably sell it for the same price you paid.

jon honeyball posted:

Lets see if he is still using it after 6 months. After all, he walked away from vinyl some 20 years ago and went fully digital. Now he appears wrapped up in the romantic kitsch that is vinyl and wants back in. 

Great!

But will he really put up with noise, crackles, cleaning, handling issues, no next track etc in the longer term? He has been digital for 20 years.

Its not unreasonable to suggest this is a heart over head purchase. Which is fine, but start at 250 quid and see how you get on.

Then buy the 10k turntable.

He came here asking for advice. Thats my advice as someone who owns a full house Harban/LP12/Aro/XV1S etc. And a 220 quid Rega.

Well it could be a chicken and egg situation that puts him off. But I’m sure yours was just a well meant comment.

Personally, having an RP10/Aphelion/Aria, I don’t recognise what you say about vinyl SQ. I certainly am not in the LP12 camp having a hassle free vinyl system that doesn’t need the services of a well known LP12 dealer who might not be able to travel to NZ!

Vinyl like everything else sounds amazing when the timing of the rest of the system is spot on and records are properly cleaned.

Phil

Plus 1,

I don’t hear noise and crackles that often, but when I do, it honestly doesn’t bother me. There are a lot of people who are bothered by it, but I put it down to OCD or some other physiological disorder.

We don’t know why Mr Frog moved away from vinyl. I did so for 15 years, reason, a couple of toddlers who would have trashed a turntable very quickly.

Without knowing Mr Frogs life story, why speculate/make assumptions.

i concur with the "go slow" approach here: i'd get a secondhand LP12 and have it and a new cartridge set up by the Linn dealer. if you get back into spinning LPs, have the dealer install a Radikal and look for an Aro. 

I have to agree with Jon as that is exactly what I did. I was amazed by the P3, it lasted a year until I was sure it wasn’t a fad. Now happily live with a decent LP12 and buying lots of vinyl records.

Crackles and pops could be an issue for the OP after so long listening to digital. But if you can hear through/past this then nothing quite surpasses it. As for the faff, I never clean records other than playing them. I do look after them though.

Agree an entry level second hand LP12 is also a good way to go. Set up and warranty issues all covered this way.

Stu

So, lets say somebody starts a thread. New Car.

Tells us they’ve not owned a car for 20 years, but they’ve test driven a Mercedesxxx, BMWxxx, Lexusxxx and porchexxxx and would like advise from people who’ve driven these cars (Don’t forget, he’s listened the expensive turntables he’s mentioned).

Would anybody seriously suggest he buys a little fiat 500, drives it around for 12 months, just to check out if he likes driving a car.

At last! Someone gets it.

Hi Mr Frog,

I'm sorry I can't help you with the comparisons you seek in the price range you have specified.

Anecdotally I can tell you that my Linn is my second but I haven't really tested it against the  competition. Like Richard the higher end Rega decks appeal to me and I have enjoyed hearing the RP8 with the IOS phonostage. This takes me to the one point where I hope I can help. Please don't overlook the importance of matching cartridge to phonostage, as well as to arm and record player. A good dealer (possibly your most important decision) should be able to help.

Whichever deck you choose, enjoy your records.

Cheers, Chris

I think we should allow Mr Frog to decide if he considers Jon Honeyball's well intentioned suggestion to be rude, rather than telling him it was rude (and trying to making his mind up for him - I'm sure he's a fully competent adult and on points of rudeness or otherwise, I'm equally sure he can decide for himself!).

Huge posted:

I think we should allow Mr Frog to decide if he considers Jon Honeyball's well intentioned suggestion to be rude, rather than telling him it was rude (and trying to making his mind up for him - I'm sure he's a fully competent adult and on points of rudeness or otherwise, I'm equally sure he can decide for himself!).

It’s seems pretty obvious Christopher was suggesting Jon was being rude to him, not to Mr Frog. Clearly not.

Oops, sorry didn’t mean to be so rude.

Indeed, clearly not, as I read it another way.

But then I'm dyslexic!  Ho hum, no probs!