Turntable Recommendations, Please

My local dealer claims the older VPIs had terrible machining tolerances and high platter runout. Any truth to this? I've never handled one but he claims the older bearings have to be lubed with thick grease to counteract the poor tolerances.

 

I think your original choices are excellent. Agree with someone else, jump to the mmf-9.3 Music Hall if you can. The mmf-7.3 is a giant killer on it's own, but with your floor issues maybe the 9.3 will give you added isolation.
My only comment on the Rega's are the arms, not a fan since there is no azimuth adjustment. Which is highly needed if you jump into the higher end cart arena with ML, Line Contact and Shibata type stylus.
I have the 7.1 and upgraded the arm and made a 7.3 basically......I have not heard better in the $2-$2500 range.

 

I’ve heard of thirty year old bearings needing some work but nothing about a design flaw. Although that design certainly isn’t around anymore and it wouldn’t be my choice. That whole suspended platter deal was kind of lame.

I am an unrepentant VPI fan boy. Their tables with the heavy aluminum platters, huge feet and uni pivot arms do it for me. The cheaper stuff not as much but if your looking for a quite, table with low resonance, they do that well.

 

Second vote for a mass-loaded design as the best counter to footfall noise; this is opposite to the Rega design philosophy.

 

I have installed many turntable systems in many homes. I have used many different table designs and can say with confidence that suspended designs are the worst for wood over frame flooring. You can have modern floors which are actually concrete slabs with wood overlay; that's not the same thing. That's a concrete floor, and a suspended design works best on that heavy surface. Well designed, non-suspended decks such as the Regas do not suffer from floor interaction on floors that have more bounce or "give" to them. The Technics 1200 decks are also very resistant to floor bounce, and they are somewhat spring isolated, but I'd not call it a suspended deck. It's just the way the feet and the chassis interact that make these designs better suited for many more varied locations than suspended decks. Theses two designs simply do not get excited by external vibration to a degree that effects playback. Spring suspended designs such as Linn and Thorens can oscillate out of control when external vibrations are introduced and their arms then become unstable and distortion from mistracking or even skipping occurs. I never have this trouble with any of my Rega deck installations.
-Bill

 

I live in a 90 year old brick house with wood floors. No turntable – suspended ot not – works on a floor stand. I am only able to use a wall shelf.

 

Except that in my experience they do suffer from exactly that. That’s why I don’t own a Rega.

 

You have made some very nice choices already. Being that you seem to like the idea of a table that's reasonably easy to set up with low maintenance with good stability and accurate tracking I'd recommend either the Rega P6 or P8. Having had a Planar 2 for 21yrs before giving it away, with it's original belt still useable, I'd buy either the P6 or P8 (heck, even a new P3!) now for a second serious system in a heartbeat. Ya gotta hear what they can do.

Oops, with bouncy floors I say get a Rega only if you get the wall mount. Otherwise the Michell Gyro SE would be a better option for your forever deck.

 

I’m still trying to make a decision as to what I should do.

I attempted to purchase this package from the member who had it posted, but after a few days of stringing me along, he got cold feet and decided to keep his gear.

I’m considering purchasing the PolyTable anyway, perhaps the Super 12 edition, although I’m not really sure which way I’m going to go or what cartridge I would use with it. Since the deck will likely exceed my planned budget, I may have to wait to upgrade my cart, I just don’t really wanna quibble over a couple hundred bucks, when I plan on having this table forever. Decisions, decisions.

 

Since the Mitchell has a spring suspension like my current deck, which is causing issues, I feel like it would NOT be a good choice. Am I missing something?

 

I believe the Michell's suspension is a rather different design to the Ariston, all I can say is that the Gyro's suspension works very well and does a good job even on suspended floors although a wall shelf is obviously a better option, as well as being beautiful the Gyro is an excellent deck with upgrade options, I'd also consider the new Rega P8 if you want a different approach to quality record playback.

 

Consider the Marantz tt15-s1, it's a great turntable made for Marantz by Clearaudio with a 1.200 euros tonearm and a 800 euros fantastic cartridge, which is extremely precise, but not crispy as 2m series by Ortofon. It covers all the frequencies correctly and naturally, I own this table it's two years now and I really love it, even if I have always been a Thorens fan, I own a 166mkv and a 320, I appreciate the philosophy of modern non suspended turntables. And last but not least the Marantz has a wonderful design.
Sorry for my poor English, I am from Milano, Italy

 

Sorry that didn't work out. You might opt for the regular Polytable with the 9" Jelco arm instead. I believe it can be ordered with the outboard speed controller as an option. I doubt you'd be sacrificing a ton of SQ going that route.

I think living with a entry-level cart for a while is a good idea. Better to cry once and get a solid foundation that will avoid future upgraditis.

 

Have you even considered a Technics SL1200GR? If not, you should. It's a killer table, and is incredibly insensitive to vibration.

 

I used a Rega RP3 on my very bouncy wooden floor for a couple of years, I eventually combated the bounce by fitting the SRM Silent Base to the Rega (check the company out) and then further sat the turntable on a stand alone vibration deck. These two cost about £220 but they work a treat. The turntable doesn't jump anymore - and obviously sounds better too. You don't need to wall mount your turntable. Regas are great decks - simple to set up, great sound, minimal maintenance

 

With volume up to at least halfway lower stylus to record. Do you get howling

Or acoustic feedback.??
Wall shelf is only answer . Its not the turntable

 

Regarding the floor, is this on a main level with basement or crawl space below? I have a 100+ year old house and had the same issue. I bought an adjustable steel column and installed it directly below my rack, giving solid support from the basement floor up to the bottom of the floor joist. I can jump on my living room floor now with no skipping, cost was around $40.

 

FWIW I have a upstairs floor that is made of tongue in groove deck wood and it has some terrible spots where it bounces a cabinet from 8+ ft. away, the whole floor is bouncy and would need a major rebuild to tighten up.
I used to put equipment including a MMF 7.1 (this one has a 9cc arm so it is like the 7.3) which I had on top of a big block of Mesquite wood and it was relatively stable but you could still hear footfalls transmit into the sound, it was tolerable, you just needed to not walk in a certain area... I also have a juggernaut Sony PS X-6 DD and it was a bit better on that cabinet (the cabinet with sliding doors is built along the edge of a deck in a loft, I used sand bags to deaden the movement/resonance of these doors at the floor), I also have a Clearaudio/Marantz TT15s and it was terrible (our dog would be scratching herself 10ft. away on the rug in the middle of the room and this deck would completely lose it) no matter what on that cabinet top.
What I ended up doing was move it all onto very dreadnought heavy stands away from the cabinet near and along the major beam at the edge in the middle of the deck (along the edge) where it is open with no cabinet.
I also got a stout table just big enough for a tt platform that is placed right next to a massive support post that is original to the building and is supremely set, just above a main beam for the deck that is attached to that post.
This is a very tight and isolated spot and with a little platform treatment on top of the table allows whichever deck to play undisturbed no matter what.
As of now I have two tts in that middle front area and it could be any of the three, they all play well isolated now.
When I was evolving to this more discerning placement situation I realized finally that the Clearaudio deck was more susceptible because it desperately needed the platter support/spindle lubed, once that was done it was no longer hyper sensitive.
I had a Dual 701 for awhile and it helped me find the best spots because it was also a suspended table and very telling of bouncy floors.
So along with whatever you are doing to address the wood floor/ tt situation, look at where the floor is more stable such as where it is solidly attach to support beams. This may help.
IMO the Marantz tt15s is the best bang for buck with that Virtuoso cart but it may well need a bit more attention as far as an isolation base is concerned, you really get a well made and great sounding deck for that money.

 

Regarding the Music Hall mmf9.3: I have one, in an upstairs room with a suspended floor and it is very resistant to transmitted vibrations. I started with it on a wall shelf, as per received wisdom, but eventually tried it on my steel rack with no issues at all. The triple plinth idea really works well and the motor is well isolated. I love it, it's an excellent machine, with great sound.

 

Good choice.

 

I own a VPI Scout. Don’t be afraid of the setup. It’s really not that big of a deal and I’ve never had issues. Take your time and you’ll be fine!

 

I had a Scout years ago when they first came out. Setup is actually really easy and it was a terrific table and still is today.

 

Or buy a single level home built on a concrete slab. That's my next stop.

 

Good plan. Bit more expensive, though.

 

I bought a new VPI in 1988. Never ever had any issues. A friend is still using it to this day...I sold it to purchase a Classic 3 back in 2012. Both excellent tables. I do not believe older VPI’s had bad machining.
At all. Personally, given the budget, I’d buy a used VPI.