What is the best all around Vintage Turntable?

rush2112guy

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Give your opinion of what you think is the best all around vintage TT! This should be interesting!!!
 
I hope you are not asking for the ultimate best. Because there is no such thing.
You will get a different answere from everyone. It's all about musical taste and
and system synergy......
 
I hope you are not asking for the ultimate best. Because there is no such thing.
You will get a different answere from everyone. It's all about musical taste and
and system synergy......

I agree but its fun to see what the members (and non-members) favorites are. :scratch2:
 
I don't know about the very best, but it works for me - haven't had an urge to upgrade since I got it. JVC QL-A75

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I would say the Garrard 401 of idler era classics. When well maintained and replinthed correctly, with a suitable modern tonearm, competitive or superior to any current table at any price. Thorens TD-124 and Garrard 301 also at the head of that vintage class. Lencos competitive or better when highly tweaked and heavy platter models.
 
Price/performance/parts availability/support, the Technics 1200 series and it's near relatives. Otherwise, any of the 'better' TT's from the Golden Period of LP in good working cdx for relatively reasonable price can be considered. Pricing can be market driven and irrational considering often overlooked lesser-known and sought-out worthy gems.
 
I like the Dual turntables. They seem to have a good reliability record and can still be serviced. The 701, 1219, and 721 are the ones that I own but there are other excellent models as well. With the ability to swap out headshells easily, I have found it really simple to test different cartridges on. They just seem to work all the time.
 
I really like my vintage idler driven Lafayette PK-245 with Empire 980 tonearm. It was made by Teac in Japan during the early 60's and was branded/sold in the US by Lafayette Electronics.

This idler turntable has a huge hysteresis motor much like the ROK B12H Ashland, which produces great torque and speed stability. A very musical sounding turntable with all that PRAT! Is it the best vintage turntable? It's really a matter of opinion. Mounted in a solid wood plynth it delivers tons of PRAT, is very musical and a joy to listen to.......which works for me!

Others might prefer the sound and performance of a belt driven table like a Thorens, Empire, AR, Rega, Linn or Technics. All of which are excellent vintage turntables. That said....it's best to audition any turntable(in your system if possible) before making a buying decision. This helps to determine if the turntable is right for you.
 
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I read elsewhere on AK that they were manufactured by CEC, who also marketed a very similar Hitachi.....can't verify it, though.

Yes, C.E.C. made the LAB-400 and a lot of the other Realistic turntables, a lot of the other vintage favorites too, like the Marantz 6100, 6200 and 6300. Some Hitachis do indeed look like they may have been made by C.E.C. but I don't know for sure.

As to the topic of this thread, I won't even try to identify the "best turntable" of the era. Too many variables but I will vote for C.E.C. as the best turntable manufacturer of the era. They made a ton of really good turntables for a huge variety of other companies (from Marantz to Sanyo) as well as making them under their own brands like C.E.C., C.D.C. and Harksound.

John
 
Give your opinion of what you think is the best all around vintage TT! This should be interesting!!!

From the era of the invention of binural recording to 33.3 RPM format.
For the wealthy.....Thorens TD-124, GD-301.
Middle class.......Grado, Empire.
Little income.....AR XA

Early affordable DD........Panasonic SP10.


In today's market, everything is pretty much the above tables modified by the new manufacturers and rebadged.

The above mentioned tables if in original condition will outperform pretty much everything in equal price range today.
 
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