Which turntables do You use?

[Boukman]

I have several TT's and my preferences tend to change:

Home: Garrard 401, SME V, Ortofon 2M Black and Lenco L70, Lenco P77 arm and Denon DL103
Office: Technics SP10, SME 3009 II, Denon DL 160 and Lenco Goldring GL88, SME 3009 II and Nagaoka MP500

The Garrard and the L70 are my favourites (maybe because they go through Croft amps and SHL5's); The SP10 is a beauty and very easy to use.

[123teemu]

Another vinyl lover here, too. My deck, love it or loathe it, is the Linn LP12 Sondek. I love it. Mine has the Linn Radikal PSU, Linn Keel subchassis for the Naim Aro, a Trampolin 2 baseplate and a Dynavector DV-20X2L cart mounted on the Aro arm. Plus an Okki Nokki for cleaning the LPs.

Br,
Teme

[Birten DC]

A Garrard 401 with Denon DL 103 on an SME 3012 tonearm... For me it doesn't get any better than that...

[muypogi]

Just arrived to complete my system based on the Compact 7. . .



Lenco L75 S16 with original Acos arm + Benz MC Gold cart on a layered rosewood plinth . . .

:-)

[Loop4fun]

Linn LP12. Keel, Ekos SE, Dynavector 20X2Low. I have not "done" digital since I had this arm and cartridge installed.

[hifi_dave]

Now, that does look interesting.

Just arrived to complete my system based on the Compact 7. . .



Lenco L75 S16 with original Acos arm + Benz MC Gold cart on a layered rosewood plinth . . .

:-)

[DSRANCE]

That's what I thought, since much butchering often needs to be done to get a non Lenco arm to properly fit - and work with the original cueing device. I believe there was an L76 model in Europe, but I didn't think the (Japanese sourced?) arm was quite like this one at the bearing end.

[A.S.]

I'm curious why anyone would select an arm other than an SME as the engineering standard of everything SME produce is simply exquisite. They have no equal (I dare suggest) in audio engineering precision. Their factory is about 20mins drive from Harbeth. If you have a chance to look around be prepared to be totally astounded at their attention to detail.

[GregD]

I'm curious why anyone would select an arm other than an SME as the engineering standard of everything SME produce is simply exquisite. They have no equal (I dare suggest) in audio engineering precision. Their factory is about 20mins drive from Harbeth. If you have a chance to look around be prepared to be totally astounded at their attention to detail.

Agreed. My SME V is just unbeatable and will out-live me I'm sure (and I'm 32!). Even the old SME 3009 arms are still just about as good as anyone really needs.

[muypogi]

That's what I thought, since much butchering often needs to be done to get a non Lenco arm to properly fit - and work with the original cueing device. I believe there was an L76 model in Europe, but I didn't think the (Japanese sourced?) arm was quite like this one at the bearing end.

Actually, the arm is the one that came with the table, everything was all original. I got the table from a guy in Spain and it was virtually in mint condition. All my Lenco specialist had to do was make the plinth, convert it to 60hz, add some missing parts and we were done! The original straight Lenco arm from the older generation L75 tables was replaced by owners as you could only put in lower-end carts. Bought this variant as it already had the S-arm which could accommodate better carts without modification. . . saves me money too.

Sounds glorious on my Luxman L-550 and my Compact 7. . . have not listened to my digital front end since I got it (Last Thursday!).

[Art K]

I'm curious why anyone would select an arm other than an SME as the engineering standard of everything SME produce is simply exquisite. They have no equal (I dare suggest) in audio engineering precision. Their factory is about 20mins drive from Harbeth. If you have a chance to look around be prepared to be totally astounded at their attention to detail.

Money. I'd have to sell my car and home to afford one. So a Rega it is for me.

[123teemu]

I'm curious why anyone would select an arm other than an SME as the engineering standard of everything SME produce is simply exquisite. They have no equal (I dare suggest) in audio engineering precision.

I would imagine that an SME arm is not universally the best match to all turntables. For example, one does not see many Linn LP12's with an SME mounted on them - especially not the V. I find that the Naim Aro does work well on the LP12, though.



Br,
Teme

[muypogi]

I'm curious why anyone would select an arm other than an SME as the engineering standard of everything SME produce is simply exquisite. They have no equal (I dare suggest) in audio engineering precision. Their factory is about 20mins drive from Harbeth. If you have a chance to look around be prepared to be totally astounded at their attention to detail.

Possibly, but not everybody has SME money! :-) Need to sell the car to get a hold of SME . . .

[A.S.]

Possibly, but not everybody has SME money! :-) Need to sell the car to get a hold of SME . . .

Really? What's wrong with this example of a 3009 S2 (late version) on Ebay?

Here.

What more do you need? I have two or three of these.

One comment to add. I read about the shape of the tone arm and the minimisation of grove tracing distortion at the very beginning of my audio career (in my teens). The J shape arm, like the SME3009/12 made sense to me as the best compromise, according to the graphs I read at the time. Then - shock, horror - even SME abandoned the very concept of the J shape arm. Now, either their initial justification was untrue or they misrepresented the facts (which I don't believe) or fashion got the better of them. Whatever the truth, I simply would not buy a straight arm which (as far as my recollection goes) challenges the very arguments that dismissed straight arms in the 60s i.e. more distortion from the straight arm.

I wonder what the technical truth really is concerning arm geometry.

[muypogi]

The arm is a stretch, but doable . . but is already almost the cost of the entire Lenco table . . . :-)

Oh, and I was referring to a new SME table, not just the arm though. If I intend to sell the car, might as well get the whole shebang, don't you think?

Anyways, am perfectly happy with the Lenco + Luxman L-550 + Compact 7 combo. Possibly the most musical setup I've assembled to date. . .

[Lionheart]

Lenco L-75

[keithwwk]

Don't you people think straight arm is much easier to make than j or s arm which sure need some evaluation to determine the angle?

[Sebastien]

Hi everyone,

I'm just about to complete a long term project to assemble an exceptionnal turntable set-up who will play in the big league at a fraction of the cost. It started with the purchase of a Technics Sp-10 mkII in excellent condition with its external power supply. I took it to my audio technician to upgrade every capacitors, change a small led and adjust the speed.

Then, I order an Albert Porter plinth made of panzerholz wood that I received this week. This plinth is gorgeous. You can see it on the Porter House Audio website.

For the tonearm, I ordered a SME 312S which is also amazing. Since a long time, it was clear for my that I'll go the SME way. In the last months, I just hesitated to commit myself on a SME 10 or a Technics SP-10 mkII? Stimulated by many people who've gone the SP-10 way, I took the plunge without regret but a high stimulation.

Finally, I do have a brand new Denon DL-103R to mount tonight on the SME 312S and I last week I received a Nagaoka MP-50 cartridge.

Lots of fun ahead.

Sébastien

[Boukman]

ah, turntables.... Garrard 401 plus smeV. very pure and clean. lovely for classic. And a Garrard 402 plus sme 3009II, it rocks. And an SP10 plus 3009, very clean and easy. Currently building a Garrard 301 plus SME 3012 and a Goldring Lenco 88 plus a Jelco 12" arm. Very curious about those.

Overall - a good turntable is a good turntable. Somehow, I love the Garrards. Feels like they have more drive than belts and direct drives. May be the 'Tractor' look. With respect to arms, the SME's are great, easy to set up, precise and sound lovely.

I also have a Lenco 70 with the fabled p77 tonearm, but it somehow doesn't do it for me. sounds dull.

Guess its all about boys and their toys

[P.C.]

Hi Sébastien, love the look of Alberts plinths(as seen on Audiogon). please post a pic of your turntable when up and running if you can. Thanks Philip.