have to pay the high-end vodoo snake oil price.
What do YOU consider voodoo snake oil? That would eliminate all of the bad choices and what was left would be what you have to chose from.
I suggest you understand what you are looking for first. It seems prices is first and. Second will used work for you?
A lot of crazy things can happen, an old. 78.00 USD AR between when it was sold and 30 years after the fact. The same can be said for most TT.
Cart, and tonearm compliance is first to match and then a phono stage with fixed parameters or that you can adjust from (usually fixed)
MM and many MI carts to variable loading for MC carts. Whether the phono stage is onboard or separate is another option. A cart from 1-200.00
usd, a used phono stage like a PA Puffin (2-400.00 used) and then a simple belt drive that cost from 2-500.00 like any of the Thorens TD140-165s
90% of all the parts are interchangeable.
I've had people give me several Thoren with good parts. I've assembled at least 50 or so through the years.
TD-160 or 65s both being very close are one of my old favorites. Some have swappable armboards. I think it's the TD-150 (you just need to look)
There is the difference between a typical home TT, Broadcast, Transcription, or DJ rig.
Broadcast: The old Russco, QRK, and Sparta are broadcast, there is no need for any speed control because their job was to work 24/7/365 for 100,000 hours.
They have large fractional motors, grease or oil ports, and easy-to-service parts like drive pullies.
They Que by a simple toggle. 200-1500.00 depending on plinth, tonearm, and cart. BTW mine have a gear shifter for speed control, 33, 45, 78.
Normally they are Queued by Headphones with the stylus down on the record and the toggle flips the power off. The needle stays down on the record
and when it's time you simply flip the toggle. All broadcasts TT are supposed to hit full speed in 1/4 to 3/4 of one revolution. BTW that's the reason the
noise was added between songs, to Que properly and have at least 1 complete revolution between songs for Broadcast standards.
Transcription: On the other hand have a speed control, but still have fairly large motors that are notably quieter and usually less rumble for
transcription or playback. They were used in the recording industry so you can match speed from machine to machine. They are easy to service
and many are considered very collectible like the Thoren TD-121 or 124 or Garrard 301 or 401. All can be had, though not at such a reasonable price
in some cases. A TD121 can be as low as 3-700.00 to a Garrard 301 or TD-124 II to well over 5K.
DJ rigs can be DD or Slipper Que like the Russcos, speed control or not, dependable BUT in many cases not so easy to maintain if they have issues. The
fact that seldom there is a problem with DD is a testament to it's self. They can abuse the hell out of a DJ rig, you need to be careful in the used department
unless you use a Broadcast or Transcription rig. They are pretty easy to tune or repair.
Home use: there are 100s to choose from like the Thoren belt drives, Rega, Sony, and just a slough to choose from. They can vary from 300-30K.
This is where you can spend a bloody fortune. I can seldom hear the difference in one of my tricked-out Russcos and a 10K rig. BUT some swear they
can and usually fall in love with the looks and some BS about the difference in .001 and .002 on some obscure measurement.
Above all have fun, don't spend a fortune and like most you'll probably stop when you have 15 in boxes and a couple you really like. Don't worry about
what other say or how bad records are. After 50 years of fixing and flogging it's just a lot of fun for the majority of people that want to do just that
HAVE FUN.
Regards
