Old turntable versus new

The snag with an oldie like the NAD is that unless you know everything else works - motor, arm bearings, etc. - you might blow most of your budget and still have nothing working.  Was that the one with the slightly odd tonearm like a ruler - it was a Goldring I think!

Unless you have owned it from new and are confident with what you are considering, then I'd go for the Debut, or a used Rega of some type.

A new stylus and belt will not cost much so i would go that route, failing that the Project Genie lll is the best deck i've heard under £500.00 and that includes the new Rega RP3, my opinion only, the Rega is good but i feel the Project is better.

Brilliant, thanks for both your advice, think I am going to go the new root, as I want a new toy. Debut 3 sounds goods, Debut 3 looks to e going for around £130 at moment, rp Riga 1 at £230 so big difference . Reviews on here seem quite different, any other opinions on the two ? 

If you can buy for £130 that makes it easier!  Are they the open-box ones from Richer Sounds?

Hi,

Just out of my personal curiousity what could be an equivalent of my Ariston rd11s, I am not looking to change even though its not perfect I like the look and sound of it.

I saw Rotel RP1500 on e bay last night and thought it looked great, read some reviews which weren't so enthusiastic, I am guessing this must have been a late 70's design ?

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7253/6908350350_774c111c3d_o.jpg

Wow, thanks, chebby, I certainly didn't remember that!

The Rotel was pretty dreadful.  It was a direct drive, but the platter didn't fit very well, and it had quite a bit of rumble.  I would take a SME, which was a good point.  I boight a Dual, which was far nicer!

Your Ariston was surely on a par with the Linn LP12 in its day.  So that's about £2k today for the entry model.

If your Ariston RD11 has a long rectangular armboard then it was made by the company that formed Linn Products back in the early 70's. We sold both at that time and most parts were interchangeable with a Linn Sondek LP12 such was the similarity. Later models had a round metal, plastic or mdf arm board and were not made by Castle Engineering. Either version would play both 33 and 45, but not the LP12 - 33 only. Sonically the RD11 was easily the equivalent of an LP12 but never got the magazine backing of the Sondek. We sold thousands of LP12's over the years such was its popularity and quality.

Hi,

It's the rd11s version which I believe was after the original rd11, only from what I've read though.

I am surprised I would have to look at that sort of cash to get something approaching it, anyway I am very happy to have it back running, I remember when I replaced my old Revolver, which I stiil have, and it was a large step up in everything esp. bass and depth, I haven't stopped listening to it since I got it back running.

My biggest issue now is that I lost about 400 lps to dry rot about 10 years ago so my choice is now only about 400.
My fear is that I might start buying vinyl again............................

    Same question ''old v new''.  

    Thorens 160 super v rega,s rp3 or rp6  ?

Well in terms of cost a well-cared for s/h Thorens every time. The RP6 lists for £800, a good 160s without arm for between £100-£200 perhaps, leaving plenty for a tonearm. Even if you then got a new Rega RB302 arm (so a direct comparison with your new choices) you would still be ahead price wise. Plus spares for Thorens are cheap and plentiful (and the diy easy) so there should be no problems of longevity with whatever you decide.

The newer Rega motors should be better than the old Thorens ones, but that is not to say Thorens motors are bad at all - and in any case they are easily upgradable. But in general terms although it is a matter of personal preference, I would argue that the suspension and heavy platter method of the 160 (used of course by Linn on the LP12) is inherently better than the Rega in a situation where the tonearms are identical.

Thorens FTW, as the young ones would say.

Strange how in the 80s/90s, they (Thorens turntables) often only got 'so-so' reviews in HiFi mags. You look at the 160 (maybe less-so some of the later 166s) and they were always built like brick sh*thouses compared to some similar-priced highly-rated models from UK competitors, which were sometimes little more than a slab of veneered wood with everything screwed to the top and supported by some rubber-coned feet.  'Our' equivalent of the Thorens in terms of build-principle was the LP12, and even back then it was waaaaay more expensive.

Yes, I always thought that was odd at the time myself. My first turntable was the classic suspension German made Dual 505, I then 'upgraded' to a Warrington made Revolver (allegedly on a par with the Rega RP2), but actually I was never convinced I'd impoved anything, particularly as the Revolver was highly prone to motor rumble transmitted through the belt (although I think the arm and AT95E cartridge that came with it was an improvement on the Ortofon I had in the Dual arm).

However, I'm guessing that a lot of the so-so reviews for the original Thorens TT's in the UK came about due to there being a perception that the Thorens tonearms were not half as good as the Japanese and British tonearm opposition, although that shouldn't have come into it when looking at the armless 160S or 166BC  models.

Out of interest, have you got a Thorens arm on your 160 Major?

I have, Captain. The original (TP16?) too, which like the TT is knocking-on-the-door of 40 years service with nothing needed other than a few belt-changes and new bearing-oil. The only change I made to the arm is to get rid of the little (bakelite?) mount in the headshell. That way I could use bolts which pass through the headshell and secure the catridge in the conventional way. Every time I bought a new cartridge (rare these days) I ended up fighting with screws which were either too long, too short, or were simply a mismatch to the threads in the mount.

If I had the money to spare I'd like a 160 or 150 with the classic SME3009 (I wouldn't want to butcher my own 160 to fit a 3009, not after all these years), but I really don't play records enough to drop what appears to be "collectors' value" money on one. The same money would make a better difference elsewhere in my system.