[Cantankerous]

Originally Posted by gmku

Oh. That would be on the cheap side, actually. And probably not worth the 100 bucks. If you're serious about a turntable, you should be prepared to spend at least 200, and that will get you an entry-level average audio quality turntable. I myself spent about 350 a number of years back that is, admittedly, only an entry-level table into the middle range of audiophile quality. As serious as I am about LPs, I should really spend at least 500 to 700 to upgrade to a much better table, but money doesn't grow on trees around here.

At the same time, I have a very serviceable table. You can get something good for around 200.

Keep these things in mind:

1. Stick with a reliable brand like Technics, Philips, Sony, etc.
2. Buy the best cartridge you can afford. The best deal for the money is Grado. A great cartridge can make even a low-end table sound great.
3. Have an audio technician install the cartridge, because it's tricky to align it properly. Unless you do get a cheap table in which case generally the cartridge just plugs in.
4. Try to get a table with something that lets you make minor adjustments in the platter speed. These usually come with a little strobe on the side that tracks the speed to let you know if it's adjusted properly. This also allows you to slow down or speed up a track if you don't think it sounds right as recorded. I have a couple of Stones bootlegs, for example, that sound like the tape machine ran the tape too slow, so the resulting LP sounds fast. The VU LP of Max's in Kansas City is also a little like this.

my turntable was like $130 and it's fucking sped up so everything sounds about 1/2 step higher in pitch, so maybe now it goes at 34 1/2 or 35 rpm.