I'm sitting here on a Sunday morning spinning a little vinyl on a lower end Phillips 437. All I can say is that Phillips's lower end is far and away above most low to mid line tables. It sounds wonderful. None of that thinness or tubbiness that many lower tables can have. It is very musical.

I want to say it isn't perfect, but the flaws for a table of this stature are pretty few. It is a bit susceptible to bass waves, but I do have it set up next to the speakers, with minimal isolation. Also the steel platter causes a bit of fiddling with the Grado Silver I have on it. This week I'll put a new belt on it and see if that improves it even more as the one on it is stretched a bit.
It came with an older Grado f3+, which seemed a bit more open sounding than the Silver, but I haven't set the table up properly yet, we'll see.

A neat thing this one has is a stylus pressure guage built into the arm rest. It is actually pretty accurate according to my shure scale, well close enough if it was all you had.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a little review as I sit here kicking back. My head hasn't been into the gear or tunes for a while, nice to relax a bit and enjoy the music. This table would serve someone very well for quite a while in a main system. I'm sure diggin' it and I have a few "better" tables around.

ENJOY!

I think they are on a par with a Dual 1225 or similar model, which makes them very good, indeed. Being belt drive and of a suspended design makes them stable and quiet. The suspension on a Philips is easy to adjust, unlike most other suspended turntables.

Everytime I find a 427 or 437 that I want to refurbish for resale, they need very little other than a clean up, lubrication, and new belt. They sell quickly and I have never had one returned. They are 70s vintage so new enough that they can use most modern cartridges with no problems. The only problem is finding replacement headshell inserts. I have only one left in my parts box and new ones cost almost as much as the turntable's retail value.

I think my buyers (consignments, mainly) like the little Philips because they are small and look good AND they are less intimidating to the novice than, say, a 212 or a Dual. And I think most of them will still be running 20 years from now with little maintenance.

I make a little money plus I'm keeping a nice piece in use and away from the local landfill.

BOTL, but not bad at all. AKer Markus recently donated one to me :-)

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