by duficity » 08 Aug 2012 18:58
YOu need to decide whether you need or want a suspended or ridging table. What is it about your table that you think is lacking? Bass, soundstage, imaging, PRAT, musicality, dynamics? Suspended tables tend to sound a certain way and rigid sound another. In my experience, suspended tables tend to sound quieter, more musical, have better flow and smoother highs. rigid high mass tables tend to have strong bass, more dynamics and a tighter sound. thats without going into the differences between idler, belt and direct drive.
Once you get to a certain point, these differences are miniscule, more so depending on the music you listen to. For small acoustic bands, jazz, blues or chamber you might want more detail and soundstaging, so a suspended table might suit your needs more. For classic rock or orchestral, you might prefer the impact of a rigid table.
For new tables, I think the break point on mid level to high end is about $2000, plus arm and cartridge. Excellent tables in that range include the VPI Classic, Sota Star and Nova, Avid, Rega p9, Well tempered, Townshend Rock 7, Clearaudio Classic Wood, Transrotor Fat Bob, Oracle Delphi V. Used examples of any of these are well worth their price. What you should get from these is better bearings and platters, better motors and better plinths.
For tonearms, once you get past the basic and very good Jelco and Rega arms, your next level is SME 309, Audiomods IV, Graham, Helius Omega, Clearaudio and Roksan, mostly in the $2000 range new. Any of those is better than your basic arm. Next step up is triplanar, schroeder, graham phantom, durant etc. Prices get pretty high with those.
For cartridges, I think the Lyra delos, Ortofon Kontrapunkt B, dynavector 17d3 and Benz micro glider II offer the best value and performance. For MM, ortofon 2m black. You dont say what your current cartridge is, so its hard to say what would be the next step up.
