Best turntable $500 and below?

garland09

What's everyones' opinion for the best turntable for under $500? I'm looking to get a new turntable and want some advice. I don't have the patience to wait for a high end vintage table to show up on local Craigslist.

buck502000

project makes some nice ones.....

JojoRice

I've got an Audio Technica LP 120 and I love it. You can find them new in the $250-300 range.

HesCalledDyer

I'll echo both comments above. I have a Project Debut Carbon and absolutely love it. And the AT LP120 was in my final three when I narrowed down my purchase. (Denon DP-300f was the other but I ruled it out because I didn't want a fully auto table.)

Tim Simmons

Rega P1

JB23237

Rega p1 sounds great

NB283405

U-turn Audio Orbit Plus

garland09

I'm debating between the pro-Jett debut carbon esprit and the u turn orbit plus. Anybody here been able to listen to the two to compare?

earthquakes making waves

Go vintage. Got a Pioneer PL530, serviced, with a Grado Silver stylus mounted for $320 on craigslist along with a pioneer sa9500ii for $300, a pair of klh model 6's for $80 and a pair of Advent Large speakers for $100. Incredible setup that sounds amazing for under $1000. When I run it all together it compares to friends of mine that have dropped $5000 - 10000 on their setup easily and even my bud that has a $25000 setup can't believe the sound I get from this setup, all for under $1000 which left me room for more vinyl. Trust me, vintage, they don't make them like they used to on all accounts. If I went with anything newer I am going to build a nice tube preamp and or amp, actually doesn't cost too much if you are able to build from schematics, which I know some can't. My preamp ( that will be for all my components phono, cd, tuner, a couple auxiliary, etc ) build I'm copying from a $6000 preamp I found the specs for and I can buy all the components for $800-900 with about a 1 - 2 day build time depending on my urgency. I really wanted a tube preamp that would act for all my components, not just my turntable, tube warmth works on everything so why not use it. And you learn so much and it's fun.
Build and go vintage!

BIGDaddyWil

^^^^^^^^Photos PLEASE!!!!!! I love my vintage Pioneer stuff!!!

HesCalledDyer

garland09 said:

I'm debating between the pro-Jett debut carbon esprit and the u turn orbit plus. Anybody here been able to listen to the two to compare?

Yes. A buddy of mine has a U-turn and he loves it. His system is a little more powerful than mine. Both of us have equivalent amps but he's running full 7-channel surround whereas I'm just running two vintage Epi 100's. The punch in the face factor aside, the clarity on the U-turn is pretty well matched with my Pro-ject. We both upgraded our styli - I have an Ortofon 2m blue, he has a Grado Black1. One advantage the U-turn has over the Pro-ject is you can switch speed much easier since the drive belt is exposed. On the Pro-ject you have to remove the platter to change the belt.
I've heard & read nothing but praise for the U-turn tables, so you should be confident if you go that route.

garland09

HesCalledDyer said:

garland09 said:

I'm debating between the pro-Jett debut carbon esprit and the u turn orbit plus. Anybody here been able to listen to the two to compare?

Yes. A buddy of mine has a U-turn and he loves it. His system is a little more powerful than mine. Both of us have equivalent amps but he's running full 7-channel surround whereas I'm just running two vintage Epi 100's. The punch in the face factor aside, the clarity on the U-turn is pretty well matched with my Pro-ject. We both upgraded our styli - I have an Ortofon 2m blue, he has a Grado Black1. One advantage the U-turn has over the Pro-ject is you can switch speed much easier since the drive belt is exposed. On the Pro-ject you have to remove the platter to change the belt.
I've heard & read nothing but praise for the U-turn tables, so you should be confident if you go that route.

Thanks. I keep going back and forth on these two. The carbon esprit has the speed box so I think it's a push of the button to switch to 45 but it's also $599. So you can't tell much of a sound difference?

HesCalledDyer

garland09 said:

HesCalledDyer said:

garland09 said:

I'm debating between the pro-Jett debut carbon esprit and the u turn orbit plus. Anybody here been able to listen to the two to compare?

Yes. A buddy of mine has a U-turn and he loves it. His system is a little more powerful than mine. Both of us have equivalent amps but he's running full 7-channel surround whereas I'm just running two vintage Epi 100's. The punch in the face factor aside, the clarity on the U-turn is pretty well matched with my Pro-ject. We both upgraded our styli - I have an Ortofon 2m blue, he has a Grado Black1. One advantage the U-turn has over the Pro-ject is you can switch speed much easier since the drive belt is exposed. On the Pro-ject you have to remove the platter to change the belt.
I've heard & read nothing but praise for the U-turn tables, so you should be confident if you go that route.

Thanks. I keep going back and forth on these two. The carbon esprit has the speed box so I think it's a push of the button to switch to 45 but it's also $599. So you can't tell much of a sound difference?

While I haven't been able to listen to them side by side, I can say I was quite impressed with the clarity and range of the U-turn. I'd have no problem buying one now that I've heard it in person. I don't claim to be an audiophile by any means but I can say both systems sounded clear & dynamic.
As for the Speed Box, I've never personally used one but I'm leery of it. Maybe someone else can weigh in on this but from my understanding, It requires you to set you drive belt on the 45rpm ring, and essentially what it does is slow the motor down to 33. While I'm not familiar with the inner workings of a motor and don't know for sure if that would stress the motor with usage over time, I can't imagine it helps it any either. I have read a lot of review from folks who have used the Speed Box and say they experience increased vibration and loss of sound quality. I've read reviews that swear by it, too, so who really knows? I personally don't mind lifting the platter and manually switching the belt.

SomethingCreative

NB283405 said:

U-turn Audio Orbit Plus

I got the base model+external preamp for christmas and its pretty awesome. It just simply sounds better than anything Ive had before, no noise, very clear. I've listened to 3 records already that until this turntable I thought were crappy, distorted pressings. Another cool thing is you can start small and most of the accessories you can order later and install yourself.

https://uturnaudio.com/

mookieblalock

Audio Technica 1240 is pretty sweet and priced regularly around $450

asnipes

Denon dp300f, sounds great out of the box and very upgradeable, or go vintage.

mace1229

asnipes said:

Denon dp300f, sounds great out of the box and very upgradeable, or go vintage.

What do you look for in vintage? I picked up a 1960's magnavox at an estate sale about 5 or 6 years ago. Was a cool tatent piece beIn a 2-piece cabinet player with speakers.
Seems like it doesn't sound as good as it did a few years ago though.
Bass and treble knobs only make small differences. Sounds decent on most songs, but one that sounds terrible is Glorified G, the main guitar riff and barely be heard on it.
Could this be fixed with a new cartridge, or something wrong with the speakers, or just not a good old system?

evsgjamm

Drop between $350-$500 on a table and you'll be ok, pretty much no matter which table you select. Just get'r done and get spinnin the black circles.
No regrets.

I researched TT's for a couple years and finally settled on a music hall mmf 2.2 LE. It's great. Fits right in that entry level budget TT for the "audiophile" enthusiast. Go get em tiger. hahahhahaaaaaa aaa aa a . a a a . a a. bye

BIGDaddyWil

evsgjamm said:

Drop between $350-$500 on a table and you'll be ok, pretty much no matter which table you select. Just get'r done and get spinnin the black circles.
No regrets.

I researched TT's for a couple years and finally settled on a music hall mmf 2.2 LE. It's great. Fits right in that entry level budget TT for the "audiophile" enthusiast. Go get em tiger. hahahhahaaaaaa aaa aa a . a a a . a a. bye

I love my Music Hall 2.2 LE! I believe it's down to $299 on some websites. The new version is the Music Hall 2.3.

lexicondevil

I have a Pro-ject Debut Carbon and a speedbox and love it. I upgraded from a Numark Pro tt2 with a Shure cart. This is going through my 70's Marantz 2245. Initially it was interesting lifting up the platter and changing the placement of the belt, but then I just got a speedbox and it's much better. Also went with the acrylic platter. I can't say that I can definitively tell a difference in sound, but the frosted platter looks cool . I've heard mixed reviews of the early U-turn tables, but maybe they've improved now. I'd personally go with Pro-ject because they've been around longer and I haven't really heard anyone say they don't like them as a hi fi entry level table.

dudeman

I have a 2245 too. It doesn't seem to matter what I plug into it, everything just sounds great. It's a celebrated receiver for that reason, I guess.

Currently, I'm using a reconditioned Dual 1019 with an AT LS-400 cart. Sounds like a million bucks.

brianlux

I too have a Pro-ject Carbon Debut. It sounds great and I don't mind that you have to lift the platter off and move the band to change speeds (I don't play 45's that often) but there is one draw back for me which is that the motor is audible when listening to quiet music or passages. The vast majority of the time, I don't hear the motor but when I do, it's a bit irritating. Not sure how to resolve that issue.

But otherwise, for the money, quite satisfied.