1) Close 'n' Play somthing or another. Used for Children's records 2) my dad's Garrard turntable, which I found out later, spun a little fast. It certainly made music more uh exciting! 3) In college I had long-term borrow of my-then-GF-now-wife's Technics table, an inexpensive base model with the p-mount cartridge 4) after an apartment fire took out my stereo, I bought a used Thorens TD-166 that I used with Grado Black. Adcom GFP565 preamp, Snell J3 speakers, H-K Citation amp 5) after college I bought a Rotel RP900 - which was a rebadged Systemdek with a Rega arm? Glass platter, very simple design. 6) later on - after going digital and then back to analog - it was a used VPI HW19 Mark III with a Rega RB300 tonearm. Also a SDS power supply. Various carts, including an aluminum bodied Denon DL-103R 7) An 1980s-made Pansasonic linear tracker... and then a Dual CS5000 for the family stereo, which has been one of my longest lasting components. 8) VPI Aries 1 with the JMW10.5 tonearm / SDS power supply / Dynavector 10X5 --- a few years where I sold off my expensive stereo, including the VPI Aries. Downsized for a house with no listening room so my son could get into one of the best schools in the area. The Dual CS5000 was my only turntable for 5 years. Tried multiple lower priced cars until I settled on the Ortofon OM20. -- 9) Thorens TD309 with an Ortofon 2M Bronze; part of my slow climb in increasing my audio gear quality / listening experience.
Sony X45 Rega 1 (sold it same day arrived - junk TT) Technics SL-Q3 Garrard 401 Dual 1019 (junk TT) Luxman PD-272
1980 - A Pioneer PL-100. Low end Japanese belt drive. Not bad, but nothing special. 1983 - A Thorens TD-166 MKII . This was my first really good TT. 1987 - Sold the Thorens and purchased a Pre-Valhalla Linn LP-12 with a Basik tonearm 1988 - Upgraded the Linn Basik arm to an ET-2 tonearm 2016 - Upgraded my prehistoric Linn with a Phoenix Labs power supply 2018 - Purchased an SL-1210GR to see if it lived up to all of the Hype. It did. I kept the Linn, but the Technics has received more use recently
Gerrard 301 in a gigantic Sme plinth, maybe I could have stuck with it. 70s Thorens Td160. Then an early Linn, then a later Linn. Now on my second Michell Orbe, can't see me changing this.
Jan 2018 to Oct 2018 - Rega Planar 1 (updated w/ glass platter & Naga MP110 after a few months). Sold to a good friend when the P6 was offered to me. Sept 2018 to current - Rega Planar 6
I couldn’t possibly tell you brands of the several turntables I used through the ‘80s, ‘90s, and first part of the ‘00s. I can tell you I really didn’t know any better regarding sound quality, nor was I all that concerned, as long as they played records. There were a couple of suitcases, a 3-in-1 with 8-track and radio, a couple of other random turntables that people were unloading at thrift stores. They often weren’t fully functional when I got them, and they sometimes weren’t operating all that great once I “fixed” them (because I had no idea what I was doing...). It was fun. I lost it all, which was a bummer, and getting back into it seemed overwhelming, until... 2016 - Fluance RT80, received as a gift. It was pretty good at its price point, especially good at free. I did have reliability issues with it, multiple warranty repairs/replacements (I ultimately had three different turntables over the course of the warranty period...), and a desire to upgrade starting very early on. There were occasional feedback issues, there was (I realize in hindsight) motor noise, there was wobble in the platter and no adjusting VTA. Worst of all, I could hear the wow & flutter, leading me to believe the motors were in the process of failing well before they each finally stopped keeping anything near a constant speed. But it got me back, solving my chicken vs. egg problem by giving me something to play records on so I had a reason to begin collecting records. It was a push I needed, and when it finally began to malfunction out of warranty... 2019 - Technics SL-1210GR. So much better. No noise, no feedback, speed is right. I can’t see myself replacing this one any time in the foreseeable future (perhaps adding something else in a multi-TT system, though). It’s not the best-looking turntable (IMHO), but it does what it is supposed to and sounds great.
As a famous Dutch philosopher (Johan Cruiff) once said: “ Every disadvantage has an advantage”. In your case it forced you to get a proper turntable!
(1978) Fisher Price (1980's) JVC-AL-A150 (2011) Pro-Ject Essential (1970's) Dual 1918 (2018) U-Turn Orbit (2019) Marantz TT15
It pushed me into caring about sound quality again. I went from a cheap HTIB system to the much upgraded amp and speakers I have now because I wanted to outclass the Fluance in preparation for the eventual upgrade. I had considered diving back in with better CD gear prior to that, but I never took the plunge (apartment living and a more mobile existence before I bought my house was a big factor). Now all formats sound better, thanks to the push from that cheap turntable.
Garrard (forgot the model number long ago) AR XA Dual 1019 Onkyo 1260 (I think) AR XA (back to original from over 50 years ago)
I forgot about the couple of linear-tracking turntables I had at some point. One sounded really good and I regret getting rid of it as it needed to be repaired at some point and I got rid of it instead. Whatever turntable I got after that was probably a downgrade. The other linear tracker I had didn't sound very good at all and it was hard to change the cartridge on it. It tracked fantastically - I had a very badly warped record which wouldn't play on any other of my other turntables but played flawlessly on it.
I think you meant Pro-Ject RPM10 and not Rega. Or is that A Rega RP10 And how is the REGA PM10 compared to the Technics SL 1200G ?
The first turntable I purchased myself was a Technics SL-BD10 and then gave it away when I abandoned records in the 90s. Since then it have been quite a ride as you can see from the list below. Dual CS 455 Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Music Hall MMF5 Pro-ject Xpression III Rega P3-24 Music Hall MMF7 Marantz TT15S1 VPI Scout Clearaudio Concept VPI Classic VPI Prime Current is a VPI HW-19 that I restored to better than new condition. Selling the Prime was a hard choice but in the end I decided to cash out as I was starting to see where the line of diminishing returns was for me personally. If you told me when I gave my SL-BD10 to a friend with a few dozen records that I would own an additional dozen turntables and 400-500 records twenty plus years later, I would have though you were a complete nut job.
As a kid in the 70s: Some kind of small Voice Of Music portable phonograph. As an adult in the 80s: My dad gave me a Dual 510, which I'm still using. The end.
The only turntable I ever had is the Thorens TD 160 that I purchased new in 1973. Still is my daily driver.
You may be interested in the very recent and completely re-designed TD-160, now called TD-1600 or 1601 (with automatic lift/switch off). A new Thorens era coming?
1. My dad's old Dual something or other 2. Staunton Str8 80 3. Music Hall MMF5.1 4. VPI Prime 5. VPI Prime Signature
1. Kenwood. Not sure exactly what model but it may have been the P-26. After years of bugging him to fix and replace his needle he finally did so around 2007. 2. Pioneer PL-990 in 2012 3. Pro-debut Carbon about 6 months later in 2012 4. Rega P6 - Finally upgraded this week. Received from MusicDirect but its broken and waiting for replacement. Hurry up!
I started with Dual ??? in 1975 for X-mas. I only remember that it sounded much better than my parents radio! Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd , Deep Purple,..... sounded great, but mainly because it was a totally new type of music. I guess I had no idea how good it could really be with audiophile equipment. It was good enough then to get me hooked. When I started to earn in 1985 I got a Thorens 321 with an SME III arm. Some records sounded quite ok, but I guess with growing up, you start to pay more attention to quality. Juvenile audio innocence was slowly fading... So, I upgraded to an SME IV arm in 1991. This was an amazing improvement! This experience triggered many other system upgrades as well as carts. I finally had my TD-321 fully pimped over the years. It was really good, but I just longed for a bit more resolution in orchestral recordings. So, I went for a Michell Gyro SE in 2019. This time with upgrades included, much based on very helpful recommendations by this Forum! It has pylon suspension, HR power supply and the Orbe clamp. And it delivered all I wanted (more resolution) and more (magic).
My first turntable was a JVC direct drive paired usually with an Audio Technica elliptical cart of some sort that I bought at the PX. The sound was pretty good. I'd also use a Sure cart of some sort that i'd buy at Radio Shack. It still sounded quite good. My second table was a Music Hall 2 that is a belt drive. Not a good table at all. I paired it with several brands of cart, from Goldring, to Sure, to Audio Technica, to Grado. My next, and current table is the Music Hall 5 and it's been a consistent performer. I've been using it with an Audio Technica 150 mlx. A random older gentleman gave me his vintage Pioneer table still with the original cart. The motor and belt need to be replaced, though. I powered it up once and it's still pretty nice. But, I really need to replace that cart. It's a very old Pioneer PC 50, probably came with the table. He had the tracking set too high and it carved a lot of the records he also gave me. If I ever get some money to play with, i'm going for a Technics.
