Scott, this is a timely post as I have also been thinking about getting back in to vinyl and to give it a fair shot compared to my digital setup.  Still at the very early stages of my review and research but I do have some fundamental questions for you and fellow members:

1) Belt Drive or Direct Drive—What are the pros and cons of either philosophy?
2) Low Mass (that Rega espouses) or ‘Built Link a Tank’ philosophy of other manufacturers including Technics.
3) How important is to be able to adjust VTA/Azimuth on the fly? Rega doesn’t think it’s important, while other manufacturers do.  Who is right?
4) MM or MC? In other words, if I am going to invest in my analog chain—does it make sense to forego MM in favor of MC?  Is MC always sonically superior?

There is no such thing as a right answer here, but I can offer a few opinions based on my experience and associated research geekery in vinyl. I got bit by the vinyl bug hard back in 2008, and it’s been getting progressively worse ever since.

Scott: I’m not familiar with the SL1300, but I know that the SL1200 has been a steady presence on the best vintage table lists for at least 15 years, and the newer SL1200G has gotten sweeping praise. So, as DD tables go, that’s about as safe a bet as they come.

Moving magnet cartridges are, on the whole, easier to use (except, in my experience, where VTA is involved. More on that below.) So, if your goal is comparative simplicity, a good MM is fine. That being said, and given your existing rig, I would discourage you from looking at any Ortofon MM below $500 and thinking you’ll hear something amazingly new. For very entry-level audiophiles, the Ortofon blue is…okay, and the Ortofon bronze is…a little better than that. But having installed both on my college student’s turntable, I can say they aren’t going to knock your socks off.  ClearAudio, Soundsmith, and Grado all make outstanding MM or MI carts. If your budget permits, have a look at the ClearAudio Virtuoso, Maestro, or Charisma, or Grado’s Master or Reference lines.

Soundsmith, as I noted, also makes terrific MI cartridges, but at a price where Kamran’s question about MM v MC really starts to matter. I put off getting my first MC for years because (a) I was really happy with the carts I had, and (b) getting a MC generally requires also getting a matching step up transformer, which adds cost and space. But having made the leap 6 or 7 years ago now, it’s clear to me that, above a certain level—around $1k or so in my experience—MC carts consistently and significantly outperform MM carts. In a word, they can be dramatically more revealing and more lifelike than MM carts; but the downside is  the everpresent temptation to buy ever better and ever more expensive carts.

Although I haven’t tried it myself, one obvious way to shortcut all of this could be to pick up one of the modified Denon DL103’s that Zu Audio makes.  The Denon 103 is a legendary MC; and I’ve never seen anything but effusive praise for Zu’s version of it, which sells new for around $500.

This brings me, briefly, to the question around VTA. When I was using only MMs, no matter how carefully I set them up, I often found that I needed to go back and adjust VTA frequently to correct for differences in the thickness of LPs.  Since making the move to MCs, I almost never feel the need to do that. There are exceptions, of course, but they are very rare.

You will still need an SUT, of course, and that used to be a costly problem, but now Ned Clayton sells really good and very customizable Cinemag-1254 based SUTs on eBay for a couple hundred dollars. If you want to spend more, you can go with a Bob’s Devices SUT, which is usually based on that same Cinemag.

The turntable and cartridge are only 2 parts of a system that also includes the tonearm, of course. If you decide to go the SL1200 or 1300 route, I’d suggest doing some specific research on how the arm on that table pairs with specific carts you’re interested in.

Having mostly used belt drive and Idler wheel tables (ProJect, ClearAudio, SOTA Sapphire, and many flavors of Thorens), I can’t speak to when DDs would be better. My own sense is that, while the speed stability of a DD is a definite plus, the increased risk of motor vibration directly into the platter assembly would make me hesitant to use it in a highly resolving system where the focus is critical listening. But again, others may have more relevant experience.

Kamran’s question about low mass vs high mass tables and plinths is a perennial one, and loads of virtual ink has been spilled on it. In my own experience, I started with lower mass tables, developed a real love for the isolation that sprung tables provide, and have moved over time to a very strong preference for high mass plinths.  But here, again, nothing is simple: if you go the high mass route, you have to think very carefully about the composition of the plinth, and how its materials handle resonance.  The plinth on my current reference table is designed for constrained layer damping, with two layers of panzerholz sandwiched between two layers of slate.  It is exceptionally heavy, and exceptionally quiet. That said, I’ve looked with lust more than a few times at the super rigid, skeletal Rega Naia.

Platforms matter regardless, of course, but if you go the low mass route, paying attention to isolation becomes particularly important.

But this brings me to a much more important question I hope you’ll consider before diving back into vinyl: Why?

I’m deep into vinyl and I absolutely love it; but my immersion in turntables and in audiophile gear have grown alongside each other. This means that the gear I’m currently using (and the record collection I use it with) have grown slowly, incrementally, along with my expectations about what good sound can be.

You both have the benefit (and the concomitant disadvantage) of being very experienced audiophiles with high end to very high end digital front ends, paired with Decware amplification (thus our presence here). If you take the plunge back into vinyl at this stage, you should be prepared to start a part of the learning curve over again, bringing with it as many disappointments as there are joys, even if—as you should—you invest at a scale comparable to your current digital gear.

I apologize if this sounds preachy, I don’t mean it to be. But turntables, like much of what we love in this space, involve a lot of interconnected but highly personal choices and preferences. So, this can be a wonderful road to new experiences in music, but it’s unlikely to be easy or cheap.

Which brings me to a final, obvious point, particularly for Scott given his note about his distance from audio stores. Make sure you have early, easy access to a good used record store. New vinyl releases are easy to come by now, but they are much more expensive than they used to be.  And while you can get good deals on platforms like Discogs, they are neither quick nor cheap.  To really experience the joy of discovery that vinyl is all about, what you’ll need more than anything else is A LOT of records. The more the better. You can shell out for limited editions or rare pressings later, but the second question you should answer before jumping back into vinyl (right after “Why?”) is “Do I have ready access to a bunch of cheap cool records to start playing with? And do I have somewhere to put them all?”

Hope something in here is helpful.

Carroll

Ditto—-the feedback so far has already exceeded my expectations.

Thx cmdc and Crazy Bill!

As Scott said, I’m also going to need to read this a couple of times to really process it before responding.

Thanks beowulf— and good to hear from you!

Not that I mentioned it before, but if I were to go for Technics, the newly announced SL-1300 would be my pick as well.  No matter how good the SL-1200G is, I just can’t stand the look. By early accounts it’s sits nicely between the GR2 and G and that’s a good place to be.  The dealer I’ve been tracking in NJ is taking pre-orders for Dec (they are expecting limited quantities).

There are two Japanese brands that I keep hearing consistent praise about:

Nagaoka - MM
HANA- MC

So beowulf’s rec tracks (no pun intended).

Cmdc—Great rec on SUTs.  I read up on Bob’s Devices and his Cinemag units seem to be really highly regarded.  I hear good things about Dave Slagle’s SUT units as well.

Speaking of SUTs—if they are doing the bulk of the work while using a MC cart—does that mean one can skimp on the phono preamp? In other words, get a cheap phone pre (set it on MM) and splurge on the SUT?

If phone pre’s are still important—I was curious if anyone has any feedback on the Manley Chinook? Looks like they stopped making them, but Upsacale still sells them? The other (but solid state) brand that keeps popping up on my radar is Parasound JC3+.  Has anyone compared these to the ZP3?

I agree that, in my experience, the Phono Pre makes a huge difference, so it’s a component to choose with care. You will need a really good phono stage regardless of whether you go the MM or MC route; I just focused on the SUT because it’s an extra bit of kit you need with the latter.

Thx for the clarification James and cmdc and additional feedback Lon. Remind me to tell you about a recent dream I had — hint: it includes Michael Fremer!