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AUDIO FORUMS >> Vinyl >> Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
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Message started by ANS on 10/09/20 at 15:21:31

Title: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by ANS on 10/09/20 at 15:21:31

Can you recommend a turntable in the range of $1500 that would pair well with the ZP3?
I'm looking at the Marantz TT-15S1, but I'm not sure...

Thanks for your help.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Archie on 10/09/20 at 17:28:40

Take a look at the Technics 1200GR. I'm not sure of the price point but I think it's in that range. Well worth the price.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Geno on 10/13/20 at 02:43:21

The Rega TT in the classifieds here looks to be a pretty sweet deal.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Dominick on 10/13/20 at 16:29:01

The Rega line of Turntables are a solid choice. The Rega Planar 6 would be a great choice. I like my P3 and have no complaints.

Here is a comparison between the P3 and the P6.

https://www.audioadvice.com/videos-reviews/rega-planar-3-and-planar-6-comparison/

Dom

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Lon on 10/13/20 at 16:53:54

I have to agree about Rega tables. I have an RP3 with an Exact2 cartridge and the TTPSU power supply for the motor. I use the white belt, and I have the Groovemaster Reference sub-platter, Delron platter, counterweight and record weight. Very happy with it.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by charles hidalgo on 10/15/20 at 21:01:06

This one is hard to beat at the price I am offering.. The combo was hand picked by me and the synergy is really nice.
https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649662118-audio-technica-turntablecartridgearm-and-accessories-package/

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by cmdc on 10/16/20 at 18:58:24

I just added a longer comment on this in another thread, https://www.decware.com/cgi-bin/yabb22/YaBB.pl?num=1506861885, but a used Thorens TD125, SOTA Sapphire, or ClearAudio Champion would also be excellent options in that price range. All are capable of really outstanding performance, with the Thorens the best of the lot if it's set up properly.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by metropolis7 on 11/04/20 at 15:04:44

I will put in a vote for a Rega turntable with Rega Exact cartridge.
The hefty 6 mv output of the Exact allows you to plug right into the ZP3 without a SUT, and that's a big plus.
In addition, Rega offers a plug and play installation/alignment but without any real sonic compromise. A turntable system isn't worth anything if it is not setup properly. An Exact takes minutes to align properly. No fuss, no muss.
One more thing, they're nice looking. The older models, the ones with the wooden surrounding the plinth, are a perfect aesthetic match for Decware equipment. Beautiful understated design.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Rivieraranch on 11/04/20 at 22:37:09

I'm with Archie on this one. I had fully manual Rega table labeled Goldring and switched it for a Technics 1200 with KAB modifications. The Technics is very easy to use and sounds great. For example, try and lower a record brush with the platter spinning. It slows down the platter and by extension puts wear on the belt. To lift a disc and turn it over you either have to grab it quick or turn the platter off. The arm has a height adjustment to accommodate all cartridges. A Rega arm is not height adjustable without a special little spacer things which are a pain in the ass. Uncle Lon got his table all tricked out with the subplatter and all that stuff, which you would probably need for it to sound its best. But I think that the Technics removes all this bullshit about belts and all. The modifications that KAB does are the silicone fluid arm damper, the strobe disabler, the outboard power supply; RCAs on the rear to accommodate choice of cables.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Lon on 11/05/20 at 01:55:10

I used to have a Technics. I like the Rega sound better and have not had issues or displeasure with the things you mention. Sound is the important thing with me and tables. We're all different.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by metropolis7 on 11/05/20 at 14:52:15

Rivieraranch, all true, but all that bullshit is moot if you take a few steps.
The necessity for modifications on a Rega are overstated IMO. Upgraded belts and subplatters aren't needed per se, they just improve things a bit. Grab the record with steady hands and can flip it easily. The belt issues are way overstated. The belt will eventually wear out, sure, but that's a $20 fix to buy a new one.
Regas come with a cord that basically eliminates grounding issues, a plus IMO.
Granted, if you love swapping cartridges, Rega is a PITA because of the needed spacers. But, if you are fine sticking with a Rega cartridge, it's an extremely easy way to ensure a proper alignment with no fuss.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Lon on 11/05/20 at 15:10:51

I wouldn't disagree except that the improvement with the Reference sub-platter and the Delrin platter and the counter-weight was far from "a little bit" to me.

More importantly the basic Rega "sound" suits my system to a "T" in a way several other tables haven't.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Archie on 11/05/20 at 16:42:16

It's important not to judge the sound of a KAB modified 1200Mk2, as Riviera recommends, by the sound of a stock 1200Mk2. The "shortcomings" of the original 1200s were pretty much eliminated by KAB. When Kevin did mine in 2007 though, it doubled the price. The 1200GR is better than the 1200Mk2 and the 1200G is in a whole nother class (and price).

After 13 years with DD Technics, I would never go back to a belt drive. There is room for preference and while it's not showing up in this thread, there seems to be a lot of prejudice when people argue BD vs DD TTs. I suppose there are tradeoffs between the two types but I haven't found any negatives to my 1200s that would push me towards a BD.

Upgrading any TT might turn some off so my advice (with all my prejudices, LOL) would be to go with a 1200GR (~$1.6K) if money is an issue and a 1200G (~$4K) if it is not.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Lon on 11/05/20 at 17:14:20

We're all different. I wouldn't go back to a direct drive myself. The TTPSU with my Rega is a very good controller and the final ingredient to the sound that pleases me so. Personally if shelling out more than 500 or so on a used or new table I'd be sure I could audition and return. There's a range of "sounds" and features, and one will like one more than another.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Archie on 11/05/20 at 21:41:19

I'm with you on that Lon. I think first off, someone needs to decide if they are comfortable with the idea of tweaking and upgrading a TT versus getting something acceptable off the shelf. I have a hunch you'd have to go farther up the Rega line for that as I found too with the Technics.

Title: Re: Please recommend turntable with ZP3?
Post by Lon on 11/05/20 at 22:29:24

The thing I've found with Rega and Groovetracer is that if you find you like the Rega sound (a no-brainer for me) then you can incrementally add Groovetracer mods that don't destroy the house sound but compliment it with increased detail and dynamics, as well as upgrade cartridges, get the turntable power supply and the upscaled belt etc. So at least with Rega there are many things an owner can do himself to make the table better over time. And in my experience even have a better table than climbing the next rung or so of the Rega line.

Probably can do the same with Technics, I don't know, I didn't love the sound enough to go forward.