Poll: How much did you pay for your turntable?

$350 for TT back in 2004.pro-ject debut lll with ortofon OM 5.
over the years upgrades have brought in into the $800 range.
have been thinking about new TT but think i will keep it(it sounds great) and just get another OM 20 stylus or maybe go for an OM 30 in the next few months.

 

Works out to be just over US$7000 after currency conversion. I'm by no means wealthy and saved up for a couple of years to get it.
VPI Classic Signature, 3D arm, Rosewood finish. I have a Dynavector 10x5 on it.

Obviously a lot cheaper in the USA but no regrets thus far. Upgraded from a Thorens TD810 which would have been in the US$1500 range and have noticed a big difference in sound and reduction of fatigue. Not saying it's five times better or anything like that.

 

The story of my broomstick LP12

Bought Linn Basik TT for £180 from cash convertors
Swapped that and £140 for 1980s LP12/Valhalla/Ittok/Miltek Olympia in Ash plinth.

Starting working for Linn dealer and upgraded
Plinth to black plinth
Arm to Ekos 2
Cirkus bearing kit
Power Supply to Lingo 2
Cartridge to used Lyra Clavis DC, then retipped by ESC
that lot cost only about £1500 and was 12 years ago, I haven't changed a thing since.

 

Bought a red plinth Music Hall from Music Direct on sale for $299 several ears ago. It hasn't failed me yet!

 

Class act all the way

 

If memory serves correctly, I believe I spent $375 for my AR "The Turntable" back in 1984. Still in beatiful condition and with regular maintenance, still plays fine. It's probably the only piece of equipment I own that I could sell at a profit! Paired with a Shure V15 type V-MR (purchased new for $125).

 

My 'new' Marantz 6170 cost me nothing as sadly its owner died and I was left it in the will just requiring a smidgen of tlc to bring performance and cosmetics up to scratch.
I paid about GBP£80 for the Rotel RQ970 phono stage used and about GBP£35 on a used Ortofon Concorde cart which I got a replacement stylus for a while back.
Decent used equipment is too good to be tossed into the dumpster.

 

They can be retipped. In the case of Clearaudio, I can turn in my old cartridge for a "retip" credit and get a new one or upgrade to better one for an upcharge. In my case the replacement would be $1500, instead of a new one at $2750.

 

Yes just like Koetsu, at 45 percent of the new price it is re-built, a new cartridge for less than half price. They just take ages doing it.

 

No, not like Koetsu. With Clearaudio you get a brand new retail cartridge and return your old one. No waiting for anything. If you do it through Needle Doctor they'll even ship you the new cartridge first and let you return the old one after you receive the replacement.

 

It's hard to tell since it came together from several parts purchased separately over a number of years. There was an armless Rega Planar 2 from eBay, I already had an RB300 arm, then I put a P3 thicker glass platter on it, the Rega sticky-pad motor upgrade, and finally a Groovetracer subplatter. So the plinth, bearing, feet, and dust cover still remain from the old Planar 2...

 

That's amazing, with Koetsu you can be months without the love of your life.

 

They even have an upgrade path. I think I can go to the next level (the $3750 Stradivari) for a $500 upcharge (i.e. from the Concerto I have)

 

I paid $2500 for my Townshend Rock in 1996 - no plans to replace it.

 

Technics SL-1200Mk2 $549.00 at Sound Advice (1999)




Dual 1246 $3.00 at Yard Sale (2016)

 

Clearaudio Performance SE - $1400 used without cartridge

 

My main is an old Dual 1019 from the mid to late '60's. Idler-driven model with a really-heavy platter. When it was in production from 1965-'70, it was their TOTL model. Between the purchase price and additional maintenance, I probably have put about $400 into it... $500 at the most.

Great table for old rock vinyl from back in the '60's to early '70's. Old jazz and blues as well. The idler Duals don't cost too much, plus they have that rich sound and powerful bass response that brings the old rock LP's to life. Stuff like Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Doors, etc.. Great for mono as well. I've seen some people use the 1019 as a mono-specific table or playing old 78's. The 1019 makes an especially-good base for spinning old Verve and Blue Note jazz as well as early to mid '60's latin jazz. I also like it for '60's Motown stuff (The old 1st pressing stereo double LP of the Supremes' "Greatest Hits" is especially-good). And another thing I've noticed is that the 1019 and its brethren are great with tube-cut vinyl for whatever reason. It really is an excellent table for vinyl from its era. I'd say everything up to and including the early '70's. Green-label Warners are like butter (I have a green 1st pressing copy of Tower Of Power's "Bump City" that is pretty rough in terms of condition, and its obvious when you first drop the needle, but once the music starts, you can be wearing headphones and still adore every second... Warner used to cut some great vinyl, and whoever pressed them certainly knew what they were doing).

The 1019 has a couple quirks, its biggest issue being that cartridge holder, which Dual refers to as a "carrier" that clamps to the arm. If you lose a channel, 9 times out of 10 it's because of a dirty contact where the cart carrier attaches to the arm. Duals are notorious for that. And the 1019 and the other 10xx series models were designed to be excellent drop-in upgrades for console stereos, and thus, it is quite-small, which is why it is the only table I know from that era that can fit in basically any console that was designed to accommodate a turntable. At its north/south points, the deck isn't even as wide as an LP. Even still, the 1019 can sound pretty-amazing, especially with good records from its era. A hefty motor is required to get that heavy platter spinning, and I think that's where it gets that rich, powerful sound. Whatever the case, it's easy to get hooked on the Dual idler sound once you hear it, and I think that's why you often see guys (and girls) who have two or three 1019's on duty. One for stereo, one for mono, and another for 78 duty. Classic example of a piece of gear that makes that older music sound 'right'.

 

2500$ for a Project Xtension 9, including the
900 $ for it's MC Ortofon Quintet Black cartridge.

 

$730 at today's rate (£500) at the time 9-10 years ago for an early 80's Linn Sondek LP12 / Grace arm / Supex cartidge combo.
It's had a couple of 2nd hand chassis and motor upgrades and can still sound amazing.

 

I bought a package of stuff at the time. VPI Classic III w/center clamp and 3D printed JMW tonearm, Ortofon A90 cart, a JPS Aluminata 1m RCA IC and an HRS resonance-busting shelf. I traded in a 1m JPS Superconductor3 IC and gave them $12,300 (before tax) for the whole package. I ordered a custom dust cover from a regional producer for $129 and picked up a Chinese manufacture rim clamp on eBay for $275.

The VPI is the rosewood model and so listed w/the arm at $7500 so I was in the $5k-$10K bracket in the poll.

 

My Dual 1246 continues that tradition......

 

About 500GBP overall

or 100GBP if it's my wife asking...

 

My Rega P3 in 2000 was about £400 and add £90 (as was) for the AT440MLa, so around the $500-1000 mark.

 

€ 7,000 turntable, € 5,000 its arm and € 2,000 for a Japanese pick-up = I am listening to any of my records as if it was the first time ever. € 3,000 total if it's my wife asking....

 

I bought mine used about 5 years ago for $550. Has a Sumiko MMT tonearm, just like the one pictured below. Overall NM condtion with just some very light swirls on the dustcover. Still haven't felt the need to upgrade. As a bonus, it also looks very cool sitting alongside my bullnosed Large Advents, (although those are in storage at the moment).