Help me choose a turntable

[krepunk]

Hello everyone,

Thinking about it, I'm probably not one to put a lot of fuss into upgrading and tweaking my turntable, I want one that's going to work and work well without me having to spend hours researching on the internet what one small/large tweak will do.
So I'm leaning towards the Rega + stand deal that Steve has offered.

I'm just waiting for Steve to confirm that I can go to the shop on the weekend and take a listen and look at the Linn and stand, and hopefully the Rega as well.

But while I wait for that, I have been advised to give a few places a call about second or demo tt's they may be selling.

There are a number of Origin Live turntables I could afford, a 2nd hand Aurora or according to the pricelist an Aurora mk2. These come without tonearms and cartridges though.

What do you all think of the Origin Live tt's? I won't lie, they look pretty damn cool!

[Hi-Phibian]

I have said it before but perhaps not as blatantly, the Linn is not as fiddly as it is made out to be, or more fiddly then other similarly designed decks by Thorens and AR for eg.
Agreed that if you move it around it is likely to need a wee twiddle (but so will a Thorens or any loosely suspended ((wobbly)) deck) but if set up well using the black springs and castle or nylock nuts, they hardly drift.
The bitch part is that unlike some decks, springs need adjusting from below, for which you need a jig, a table with a hole, two chairs or two stacks of books.

Furthermore, I believe that to some extent the dealer servicing of Linn may have been equally if not more about getting you back in the shop which = a sales opportunity.
Linn decks may be eternally upfgradeable (to a point) but if done right they do get better with each step and a "top upgraded  model" will outperform decks it was behind an upgrade step or two ago.
To me neither of these are a downside. Typically a Linn service may include an oil change, suspension set up (replace rubbers if perished and springs if deformed) and set level and a cleaning of drive surfaces belt runs on and cleaning of or a new belt.

A rega that has been running for say 18 months that gets its bearing re lubed, belt drive surfaces cleaned and a new belt fitted/cleaned, will also sound better then before.

Linn just insisted on it, others did less so.
That simple operation btw has seen many folk who thought their used purchase (rega/Linn/Thorens/Dual) sounded a bit below what they expected walk out of my place with a smile.

[Hein]

...a well upgraded Linn keeps its PRAT (Pace Rhythm and Timing)
...a trait only a few other turntables have.

Ja, I thought that the whole Linn marketing wrt PRAT was a heap of utter bullsh!t! ...Until (about a week after) I sold mine...

I have said it before but perhaps not as blatantly, the Linn is not as fiddly as it is made out to be, or more fiddly then other similarly designed decks by Thorens and AR for eg.

Very true - I've owned most of them over the years (Rega, AR, DM Logic, Thorens, Linn etc.) and Ja, in hindsight... The bloody Goldmund needs attention every 2 weeks!!!
Time to build a new one?

...Still think the Rega + Stand - Cart, for a "newbie" is the better option... Spend the balance on "the black stuff"!!!
Build up the collection, buy a record cleaning machine (or build one) and THEN (2000+ LPs later) think about OLs and such...

...Still miss my Linn though...