Turntable player recommendations please

[crankedup]

Decided to treat myself to a new turntable, not used one for 25 years and therefore a little out of date with my knowledge on such equipment!! Main reason for purchase is for me to re-live the whole experience of using vinyl records occasionally as opposed to my main C.D. source.
I use a NAD 3130 amp with QUAD 21 floor standers (soon to be upgraded)
No point in spending much money on a turntable as its only for nostalgia purposes, although I want to be able to hear the music.
Recommendations on a budget around £300 - £400 or is that way to low?

Thanks.

[P700DEE]

Second hand Pink Triangle LPT or Rega 3

[RobinSherwood]

Depends what you want, as the previous poster said something like a secondhand Pink Triangle LPT would certainly be a good start, it is worth also considering getting you vinyl professionally cleaned - it makes a HUGE difference!

You might be surprised how much you like vinyl if you haven't heard it for a while. I have a Pink Triangle Anniversary (upgraded by the Funk Firm) and a pretty high end CD player and which I prefer depends on the music, quality of the recording etc.,.. So it can be a slippery slope!

[crankedup]

Thank you for advise and tips, I have a horrible feeling that I may be getting vinyl-itus. I will have a read up on the recommendations.

[selym]

crankedup said:

Thank you for advise and tips, I have a horrible feeling that I may be getting vinyl-itus. I will have a read up on the recommendations.

If you are asking about a turntable then I am afraid you may have a bad case already.

You can't go wrong with a Rega; I have had mine for a few years now, although it has seen a few changes. The next change will be the whole thing for something new I reckon, but that won't be for a while.

[Marvindodgers]

I agree, for the money, you can't go wrong with a Rega. The design has been perfected over 30 years and it just works.

[RobinSherwood]

There is a Pink Triangle LPT for sale on eBay at the moment

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PINK-TRIANGLE-LPT-TURNTA...

The Funk Firm, which is run by Arthur Khoubesserian who designed the original Pink Triangle turntables maintains and upgrades LPT'a and Anniversary's as well as making new turntables arms etc.,.. under the Funk brand name. I personally believe this would give you far better sound for you money than a Rega turntable. I am not anti Rega by the way, I also own a Rega 78 which is a modern turntable for playing old 78 records.

http://www.thefunkfirm.co.uk/turntable_upgrades/Li...

[robbyd]

Maybe Rega or new Pro-Ject turntable. Just be aware though that this budget will not get anywhere close to the full potential of the medium, if you make a comparison with cd at this price... But well done for getting back to it!

[ian996]

robbyd said:

Maybe Rega or new Pro-Ject turntable. Just be aware though that this budget will not get anywhere close to the full potential of the medium, if you make a comparison with cd at this price... But well done for getting back to it!

Another vote for Project - I've never done a head-to-head with a similarly priced Rega, but both offer excellent sound quality at the budget end of the market. If nothing else, the two offer very different takes on aesthetics, with the RPM 1 being a bit more , erm, contemporary-looking than the equivilent Regas , which might or might not be a good thing, depending on personal preference.

With regards to getting close to the potential of the medium, the cost of getting to the full potential of vinyl is genuinely insane, but a circa £3-400 spend will get you something that certainly challenges the sound-quality of a similar priced digital solution. Whether it's "better" or not would be a very personal judgement, but I'd say that your budget would give you a level of performance that will surprise you.

If you managed to get something at the bottom of your budget range, consider putting the difference aside to pay for a cartridge upgrade *If* you get the vinyl bug. If you don't, you'll have saved yourself a bit of money, but if you do, swapping to something like a Sumiko Blue Point (or, ideally, a Blue Point Special) high-output moving coil with give you a big improvement.

Finally...if your vinyl is noisy, buy some kind of cleaner - it's probably covered in crap

[hab1966]

OP, just sent you a PM

[crankedup]

Thank you all very much for good advise, I have now committed to Rega turntable and am looking forward to enjoying the whole experience of dusting down my old records.

[selym]

Don't be so coy . What are the details?!

[Anthony Micallef]

Another vote here for Pro-Ject, I have the Carbon model like this one http://www.whathifi.com/pro-ject/debut-carbon/revi...

[crankedup]

selym said:

Don't be so coy . What are the details?!

Managed to spend a little more than planned, no surprise said my better half. Rega RP3 with the RB303 tone arm and Elys 2MM cartridge. I just knew that I was going down with vinyl-litus !