Need a TT!!

[newbsterv2]

Hi all! I was lucky enough to receive a most gracious gift from a friend that works at the Chicago Library in downtown Chicago. They had an LP auction and he was nice enough to snag the complete Beethoven Symphonies conducted by Sir Georg Solti for me on vinyl. Well anyway they're as new looking as if they were just made and I need to get a turntable of decent quality to play my records. I was thinking around a $500 limit. I'm going to use the phono stage built into my Integra DTR 5.2 Receiver. So far the music hall 2.1 and 5's have caught my eye. I'm basically looking for a table that has an elliptical stylus and is very quiet. A clamp would be nice also. I'd also like a table that has adjustable azimuth, vta, and tracking force adjustments. I'd go used also if there's something in that price range that will do. My main speakers are Paradigm Monitor 7's. Their Midrange is a little recessed and the bass is very flat(to my ears) and the treble is a bit projected. I'm guessing a table that has a little bit of extra punch in the midbass as well as a smooth top end would compliment my system quite well. Thanks for any help :)

[N. Abstentia]

For that much scratch you can get a really nice table. If I had that to blow I'd be looking at Music Hall also, as well as Rega, Linn, and Thorens.

Remember, it's all in the stylus and tonearm. I picked up an old Pioneer at a yard sale for $10. Put a new Grado on it and it's the best sounding TT I've ever encountered.

I still want something cool like a Rega though :)

[rb122]

Remember, it's all in the stylus and tonearm.

Disagree. Effective isolation is also important and you won't find that in most of the less expensive tables. I will say that you are mostly correct but not totally. On the other hand, if I had an expensive table and a cheap tonearm/stylus, the resultant sound would never be as good as a cheap turntable with a decent arm/cartridge.

Some of those pioneer tables are, I think, pretty nice looking!

[slate1]

For $500, take a look at www.audiogon.com and see what you can find. You should have no problem at all picking up a used Music Hall MMF-5, Sota Moonbeam, Rega P-3, etc. I've got a friend with the Sota Moonbeam and it's not much to look at, but man does it sound great for the money!