Cracking first post 8)
I bet the SP10 looks and sounds awesome, there’s a turntable thread that would be great for a photo if you’re so inclined!
Reluctantly I think a Technics should definitely be on a shortlist. I say reluctantly mainly through fear of recommending what I own. Depending what your want out of a TT, most of the Technics decks can just be plonked down and used, with zero fuss. And they really do sound excellent. If you wish to tweak then buy a few headshells.
Thanks v much gthack, nice rig you have there. Technics really knew what they were doing and I love the beautiful engineering. My SP10 Mk2 was ex BBC/ Broadcast. Originally I put it into a slate plinth with a SME V, but later I put it into an SH10B3 and added an EPA100 arm to re-create a SL1000. I haven’t gone down the Technics cartridge rabbit hole at this point, however, sticking with VDH, but that may come. Headshell is the original SH-100S. There is even a matching stylus pressure gauge - the SH-50P1. I don’t use an original offboard Technics power supply however, instead using a Timestep by Sound Hifi - who also make them for the SL1200 & 1210.
In terms of pics there’s not much to see as management requires all equipment except speakers to be out of sight, so I had to revert to designing a large piece of fitted furniture. During this process I managed to avoid any discussion about what the cupboard space at the bottom of the unit was for - miraculously it turned out that all the drawers fitted LPs perfectly…
Agreed here…in my home, the P10 does bass ‘right’, even with the room based bass artefacts removed. Tuneful in the extreme!
Looks great! Amazing coincidence about the cupboards too X)
I think there’s a fair bit of appreciation for that stylus pressure gauge on here too, IIRC several members own them.
To be fair, one post later you share with us your mucking around SP10 upgrades like the vintage plinth and separate third party power supply etc…not to mention turntable mats, head shells and isolation feet generally seem to be rites of passage into the Technics hobby.
Which is completely the opposite of the simplicity of @gthack post with his lovely 1200-G. Also, one would think that stylus pressure gauges and vinyl cleaning kits are not exclusive to the LP12 world!
Those were lovely old decks, massively over-engineered by Technics, and were used by London’s Capital Radio with early Naim amplification designed by Julian Vereker - the NAB300, I think, which were designed to be mounted in a rack.
The tonearms used were a one-off 12" version of the Ittok that I don’t think exist anywhere else.
I wonder if Capital still use any of this lovely old equipment, if vinyl records aren’t thought of as too old hat these days?
Firstly it would seem that you are Dutch? If so, whilst your English is exceptionally good, you should know that the term “mucking around” does not necessarily have negative connotations for a native English speaker. You can “muck around” and have fun doing it. When I was a kid, mucking around with my mates after school was a good thing and what I wanted to be doing. Mucking around listening to music on my hifi at the weekend is what I want to be doing. It’s a bit nuanced, if something has been “mucked about with” then that probably isn’t good. But “mucking around” isn’t necessarily bad.
Second I understand from your previous forum posts that you are an LP12 owner and given your offhand remark about Technics (“generally seem to be rites of passage into the Technics hobby”), there seems to be some rivalry in your mind between the two brands - so hence you interpreted my message as an attack on you.
You asserted that I’ve been upgrading my sp10, just like perhaps you have been upgrading your lp12, but that is not true. The only difference between my Sp10 mk2 and the original 1975 SL1000 version is the power supply. The SP10mk2 always required an external regulated power supply for its brushless DC motor. My particular SP10mk2 didn’t come with this as it was originally part of a built-in BBC unit that got thrown away. So I had to buy an aftermarket one. In my view the SL1000 just doesn’t need upgrading. I still even use the same rubber mat. Again, in my view, the SL1000’s engineering was light years ahead of the comparable LP12 (?Ariston RD11) when first made in the early 70s - and no doubt miles more expensive. That engineering trickled down to the 1200 and 1210 DJ decks, of which hundreds of thousands were made and which need no further introduction.
In my view Linn has had to offer upgrades over the years to the original LP12 to keep it competitive in the turntable market, particularly as such upgrades were being offered to owners by third party suppliers such as Pink Triangle, Funk Firm or Origin Live. A lot of these upgrades such as Lingo and Majik focused on power supplies to address the shortcomings of the rather rudimentary existing AC motor. Then with the Radikal, which I see you have, Linn finally bit the bullet in 2009 and offered a DC motor.
I’ve listened to many turntables since getting my first one (the NAD 5120 to accompany my 3020e) in the mid 80s. I really do like the warm sound the LP12 produced although I suspect with the Radikal’s DC motor and power supply it sounds more and more like a Direct Drive with a DC motor… But the point of my first ever post on this forum was to reply to the OP, who describes himself (assuming its a him) as a vinyl newbie with no LPs. In that situation, my clear recommendation was that he buys a “fit and forget” turntable - the Technics 1210 (although the 1200 is basically the same).
If I was recommending someone (who had the money) on what first car to buy, it would be something like a VW Golf Mk 7 or a Ford Focus (which is what I have) because those are fully sorted, trouble free cars that always work to their maximum potential when you turn the key. I wouldn’t recommend an romantic sports car that needed regular servicing from a specialist garage with the highly addictive lure of a range of (incredibly) expensive upgrade parts to make it work to its potential. I recognise that there is a market for that sports car and those upgrades - I’ve had a classic Italian car myself as well as a classic wooden powerboat and spent many many thousands on them. In the case of classic Alfas for example there is a nice market for upgrade parts from suppliers like Alfaholics. But… would I recommend the equivalent turntable to a self-declared vinyl newbie with a budget that also needs to stretch to a phono stage and vinyl - no I would not.
Audio Gold co uk has a lovely ex BBC EMT (as well as loads of other great turntables) for sale at the moment… worth a browse…
In which case I offer my humble apologies. I was not offended at all (Dutch people are very direct in general), more amused in a way by what I perceived as an inconsistency in your account, which indeed on my part I interpreted as not the height of subtleness. Meant as a challenging positive discussion, which I sincerely hope we can continue! And a belated but well meant welcome to the forum (I had missed that part).
I couldn’t agree more with your other points, I have bought a Technics SL1500 mk1 for my son as an entry in his vinyl adventures. I didn’t want to lay the burden of tweaking British hifi on him from the start, rather playing and breaking it just enjoying the vinyl ( and hiding from him the Technics forums where they do the opposite, which also amuses me given the - justified - perception of endless LP12 tweaking. Vinyl being a tangible technology simply lends itself well to indeed mucking around).
Thanks for the nice reply @daddycool - may be I was being a bity snippy myself.
When there is a newbie question like this, we need to be a bit responsible and not introduce them too quickly to the upgrade drugs on offer… although Linn and Naim may disagree…
As you haven’t got any records yet, get a simple plug and play Rega 3 or 6 to start with. Then buy records and after a while if you decide that you like vinyl, upgrade the deck you have as there are upgrade options in the Rega world.
DG…
Because it’s possible to upgrade LP12s there seems to be an assumption that buying an LP12 means endless upgrading. I really don’t get this line. That you can update an LP12 is just an added bonus but the entry level deck at £3,700 is a cracking deck looking at reviews. It’s also (imo) aesthetically beautiful kit. I’m not advising the OP to buy an LP12, my advice would be to nip down to a decent dealer and compare what’s on offer. I’m simply pointing out that the modular nature of the LP12 is no reason to ignore the deck. TBF, if you can live with the look (my wife wouldn’t have one in the house) I suspect a skeletal Rega will take some beating. Audition is surely the correct answer?
Sound advice @DiggyGun and @twofifty, key is the entry point with a simple deck to start the vinyl experience and see if one likes it enough to persist for upgrading equipment and buying records.
Upgrade paths can actually be very simple when buying new from a good dealer and having the budget, but then again what would be left for us to write about on here? 
Technics > start with a cheaper one, proceed to new 1500 or 1200GR2, continue to G
Rega > start with a demo P3, proceed to P6/Exact and P8/AniaPro and P10/Aphelion
Linn > buy a new Majik/Minos LP12, add Lingo 4, proceed to Selekt, add Radikal 2
If lightning strikes I could live with a starter system, usually the joy for the buck is enormous, and life is simpler. Just when one is into this it becomes rewarding to up the ante. In my opinion of course.
Absolutely agree. The anti-Linn/only in it for the money views that float around here sometimes are just plain…weird. Even weirder when the originators are LP12 owners who profess to love it.
It’s an irrational variant of tribalism!
Irrational is right.
I don’t mind tribalism so much - I guess I’m pretty much a Naim/Linn (amps/TT) tribalist since the 80’s…never really had much interest in hearing other brands.
I’m pretty convinced that I could not be bothered to change brand (14 yrs ago was the last time, for me just 1 component)…easier to just ascend through the hierarchy/updates of what I am confident in.
For context, does my entry level Technics sound as good as my 333? Of course not…
Do I enjoy using it less? Of course not…
Hi Glen, I had missed the part of you being the OP with that kind of a budget. You might want to do some weekend reading in the linked thread below, starting with this post of mine and then the following discussions, the gest of these is that one can do a lot worse than a new/demo Majik LP12 with Minos (or start with a Rega but you’re likely already eyeing the LP12):
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