~$2500USD turntable/cartridge budget (yet another one of these threads)

In that price range Ortofon 2M Bronze or Black should make you happy.

 

You should consider any Well Tempered in your search. The tonearms are compatible with a wide variety of cartridges and they have no bearings to wear out. Additionally
they have a wide range of adjustment that many don't even address. Most importantly they sound really good.

 

It came with the original shipping box and packing materials. It made it safely from Cliffwood NJ to Seattle, WA almost 25 years ago in that same box. However, it was semi-local to me. I drove up from Portland to Olympia to pick it up and the seller graciously offered to drive down from Seattle and meet me in Olympia to shave over an hour off my round trip driving time. He is a very nice fellow vinyl lover and took immaculate care of the table. It all looks like new, even the dust cover. It disassembles for shipping and the box has molded styrofoam inserts for the individual pieces. If I ever do sell it, which I hope I don't, I'd be perfectly comfortable shipping it in the factory supplied shipping box.

But yes, I generally prefer to buy local, or at least within a reasonable driving distance. All of my best phono related hardware involved a bit of driving. It was a 5-hour round trip to and from Olympia, my Parasound JC3 Jr. Phono stage was a 2-hour round trip drive and my previous turntable was a 4-hour round trip. Not sure why I am not getting killer deals closer to home, but when I see something I want at a good price, it's road trip time for me! I have no idea what the OP's local market is like, but it would be great if he could find something to meet his needs nearby.

 

I'm very impressed with this table, and also the cartridge. I'd only recently tried my first MC cartridge - a Denon DL-301 MkII. It's a lovely cartridge and a great bargain. I will continue to use it on my secondary table, where it is a great match for the tonearm on that table, but the Dynavector 20X2L is even better.

Enjoy your HW-19 Jr. The "vintage" VPI tables are great performers, and even better bargains!

 

I agree on both points about the VPI -- since I bought my Classic a few years back (don't have it now but it made a fan of me) I've come to really appreciate VPI's approach to turntables.

And yes on the points about swapping carts -- alignment on a unipivot arm is a miserable chore IMO and a fixed headshell means the only way to make swapping easier is getting another arm (which I did) ... but that entails a bunch of extra dough.

 

Word has it that the 1200GR coupled with the Nagaoka MP 500 is a thoroughly awesome combo.

 

I confess, I was not familiar with the PS Audio Stellar Phono, so I looked it up. Woah - that is one nice, and very flexible, phono stage. A good phono stage makes a huge difference, and you will have lots of cartridge options. I love my JC3 Jr., but wish it had two phono inputs (switchable by remote control no less).

 

Nice choices, I'm jealous...

 

I really appreciate the pictures for comparison. Also, damn those are some nice cartridges. On one hand, I don't know if I'll be changing carts that often now that I think about it. On the other, when that time comes to change cartridges I know it will be a intensive process. Do you notice a sonic difference?

 

That is a beautiful table, I'm quite jealous!

 

It truly is, but no need to be jealous. You have a lot of great options on your list. You will, no doubt, end up with an absolutely awesome turntable!

 

I can report that a fully KAB-modified 1200 MK 2 with Nagaoka MP 500 is a glorious combination.

 

I purchased a Prime Scout several months ago.

Went with the 2M Bronze instead of the Black on recommendation for its “less clinical” sound. But, and here was the clincher, the Black’s stylus is interchangeable with the Bronze cart...was told the carts are the same. So, I can change my sound...or experiment later...with a Shibata upgrade without the hassle of changing the whole cartridge. Will take about 10 seconds.

BTW, very happy with my Prime Scout, having upgraded from a
Music Hall MMF-7.

 

I have a very limited range when it comes to records (vinyl as they say now). I have limited time to listen so here is the list:

Dave Matthews Band: Crash & Under the Table and Dreaming
Peter Gabriel : So Box set (bought from Real World Records in UK)
Van Morrison: Moondance
Jack Johnson: In Between Dreams
Norah Jones: Not to Late & Come Away with Me.
The Police: Syncronicity & Ghost In the Machine
Diana Krall: The Very Best of
Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival

I have some old Rolling Stones, Van Halen, Rush, Genesis and some new Pearl Jam, but none of those (or some other Clapton) have hit the Table since I had the cartridge fitted two weeks ago.

 

well then, I'd advise you to buy more albums as a first priority and those are fairly delightful albums.

 

Technics SL1200 GR and Audio Technica ART9XA. Hear it and you'll know why....

 

I have been a SOTA fan for years - own a Sapphire series III, modded over the years - the suspension is awesome- isolates like no other, Ive mated it with a Jelco 750D - very versatile - I'm able to try various carts - Denon 103r/AT OC9 MLII/Shelter 901 iii - and with the recent Total Eclipse/Phoenix motor/tachometer upgrade - the speed stability (its weak link in the past) is unparalleled ....without the tonearm - this is doable for less than $1800-2000 (used)...this table never dies and is future proof.....although you did say you wanted to buy new....

 

I am really enjoying thr DMB stuff. I have a good digital system, but his stuff sounds better on vinyl.

I just got my vinyl system up to what I wanted. So albums are my next priority. Basically told the family get me music direct gift cards (plus I have a great little shop for used stuff) and I didn't list every record I own, just the stuff I listen to most.

 

I like where your head is at. My recommendation is to spend money like a poet on payday. Fun is fun.

 

@Dennis0675 For some reason my response to your head shell comparison is flagged and awaiting mod approval.(Probably cause I'm still new here.) Anyways, I really appreciate you pointing on the differences. To be honest, I don't know if I would be changing carts that often. Yeah, it might take some patience to get everything right, but I figure once I get it setup just right then it will be set for quite a while.

 

Y'all are making great suggestions and helping me narrow this down.

On one hand I really like the more simple but effective engineering of the Prime Scout. Heavy aluminum platter, motor detached from plinth, and belt drive. I would have to purchase a dust cover, but that honestly isn't a big buy.

On the other side, there's the GR. Seems like a more complete package, has great speed accuracy, and cartridge swapping is simple. I would have more to spend on a cartridge as well.

I'm going to stew on this for a bit before making a choice. Has anyone done a side by side comparison of these two?

 

They are both hard to let go, if we are assigning winners and losers you’d have to give the edge to VPI. You really have to be running some revealing equipment to complain about either one. But....if you are going to drop stupid money on a cart, you want to be able to get weird about setting it up. The light bulb approach is for a different situation. But again, if I only had a dozen lp’s I’d probably just chill out and buy records.

 

A small update...there are a couple of dealers that carry a variety of analog brands: Clearaudio, Dr. Feickert, EAT, MoFi, Music Hall, Pro-ject, Rega, VPI, and Well Tempered. Unfortunately, there are no Technics dealers near me. I was about to pull the trigger on the Prime Scout or GR, but I'd hope to at least hear some tables before making a leap. I'm going to schedule some demos within the next few weeks and see what I prefer from there.

 

Unless you can audition tables in your home with your gear, it's an exercise in futility IMO. Looking at tables is one thing but thinking you're going to get good info going from one place to another listening to different set-ups in their environment with different carts, is not going to help you make a good decision.

 

Well damn, that is a valid point. My room, phono stage, cartridge, amps, speakers, and etc are all variables that I wouldn't be able to replicate...unless I was able to demo in house