What's Different Between an Entry Level and High End Turntable?

Kurt from Pro-Ject Audio takes us through the differences in a mid-range and high-level turntable. The extra features that bring audiophile features to the highest level of vinyl listeners.

[KodeLiMe]

Me: "I just bought a turntable that costs the same as my mortgage payment."
Record People: "That's a good starter."

[greendayray]

since when is $600 an entry level turntable?

[lovelornnick]

Wow. Set the speed to 1.25x and he sounds normal

[boatboattmmrp]

I bought an at-lp60x as my first turntable, and I’m not disappointed. It does play records slightly fast, but it’s a good start. Eventually I want to upgrade to a better system down the road, but for now I can’t complain with what I’ve got. It has good audio quality and feedback. I wish people trying to get into this hobby could see that you don’t have to buy the absolute best when first trying something new

[BubblewrapMe]

The background music is extremely irritating. No need for it at all.

[JMNTN]

Spend more on the cartridge and preamp, they effect the sound way more than the turntable. at the end the turntable just spins the record and holds the cartridge, the cartridge actually produces the sound. the turntable does nothing to produce sound, you can unplug the turntable and spin it yourself and sound will still come out. You can say that heavier turntable are more resistant to vibration but unless you have some crazy subwoofers you won't hear the vibration effect from the speakers and placing the turntable on a solid surface will also help a lot

[smokinmoose]

Let's see....$1100.00 on Amazon. That leaves me $20.00 for the amp and $15.00 for the speakers. That should sound amazing!

[KingEli]

I have 150$ turntable it's perfectly fine, records don't skip and it's connected to my Yamaha amp and Cerwin Vega e710 and sounds amazing.

[beaker]

Wow Medium Density Fiberboard for $1800, what a bargain...

[ReasonablySane]

I sold Hi-Fi in the 1970's and early 80's. I own four turntables, three of which I bought from that time period (one I bought new in 1977). The fourth turntable I bought a year ago from Craigslist. It cost me $150. It has a LOT of features that none of my others (all fully manual direct drives) have. I can plug it into a computer or a standard live sound mixing board. I consider it to be a "true" entry level turntable, if price is at all a consideration.

FWIW, I also hate belt drive, though I think it looks really cool. :)

However, if you are looking to go "entry level" into the modern audiophile culture, the Pro-ject is the way to go. It's the modern equivalent of the old AR XA. Those that care only about sound quality above ALL else, will find it a good starting point. I'm old. I've been around and around the Audiophile block. I'm a bit more pragmatic about what I look for in a turntable (hence my love of direct drive). And I'm cheap. :)

BTW, I like yellow.

[Dazlidorne]

Get rid of the crappy, damaged felt mat. If you put that same felt mat on the high-end turntable, it would look like crap too.

[beitie]

For less than the "Entry Level" turntable, I was able to buy a Pioneer PL-707, a direct drive, quartz lock, fully automatic with a separate servo motor for the tonearm. I was also able to buy a capacitor kit and have it fully restored to like new electronically condition, and also buy a Sound-Smith hand built Otello M cartridge.

[MrHawkwind]

I enjoyed watching the presentation but his argument regarding mass is rather misleading. Mass is not the only solution to resonance, some would argue that mass in the wrong places stores energy which a lighter structure does not, if this wasn't the case nobody would buy an expensive Rega.

Me, I do like a well designed heavy turntable, anybody who tries to steal my Alphason will get a hernia trying to lift it ;).

[toker]

I’ll take my Thorens TD 160. It’s been serving me well for 45 years. The original Shure V15 III are getting expensive.

[Errcyco]

Mine and your definition of "entry level" is miles apart..

[Shiro_Amada]

"it's made of MDF" so the cheapest wood you can get.

Not much of an improvement in quality.

Could just buy a 50 or so year old $20-50 dollar turn table at a used electronics store. Wood cabinet, belt driven, solid metal drum, and speed control.

[SiriusXAim]

Always been a Technics and Vintage Advocate. Them are magnificent. Direct drive, so less fluttering (thats more important than vibrations), heavy and well damped.; Not necessarily the 1210 Mk2 but also the magnificent SL 1100 audiophile one!

Does not matter how much you spend, your belt will wear out and will require constant and regular replacements. About once a year or less if you are very serious about fidelity.

Vibrations from the drive on a high end DD turntable are non existent. Only reason for the high end turntable to go Belt is sleek design and simplicity. It's sleeker than housing and shielding the electronics and large motor required to direct drive it, allowing for, indeed, more damping. So yeah, theoretically, less outside vibrations but at the cost of speed accuracy.

[Aranimda]

I got myself a Compact Disc player. It's optical and uses a laser to read the music from the disc. No wear, no static because of dust and it is all digital. You can quickly skip to your favorite track and program your playlist. They say it is the future of audio mediums and will replace the vinyl record in a few years.

[GMaX-Eire-forever]

Wow, nice presentation and explanation. I do understand the concept of much higher prices for very slight improvements to quality of the sound and we all can admit, if cash was no problem, we're all owning that expensive turntable. It looks the business !

[HectorGonzalez-oion]

The difference between entry-level, mid-level and hi-end can be explained very simply. In a low-end setup the sound appears to be coming from inside a box, in a mid-level setup the sound appears to be coming from a box, and in a hi-end setup, the box disappears, there is just music. The first time you hear a hi-end setup, it is quite startling, and addictive. And unfortunately, quite expensive. When I was young I had to decide between music and a car, and I went with the music. I have no regrets!