Cheap turntables?

November_Rain · 27-06-2012, 01:19

What are some decent budget turntables these days? I am going retro and I would like to build up a small vinyl collection. Unfortunately my old turntable has seen better days, so I'm looking for a new one to replace it but I don't want to splash out mega bucks.

Something like this would do for me:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Black-...#ht_1436wt_905

Are these models worth buying? I'm not looking for a USB thing or a DJ system, just a simple record player. One with a phono socket to allow connection to my HiFi would be preferred but not essential.

standinman · 27-06-2012, 08:59

Get a turntable which is as expensive as you can afford you will regret it later ,if you dont aspire to a LInn sondek !!

soulboy77 · 27-06-2012, 09:12

I'm afraid you get what you pay for, there's budget and there's cheap crap. If sound quality matters you really need to up your budget and go for something like the Project Essential turntable as a bare minimum.

JulesandSand · 27-06-2012, 09:20

There's a lot of good turntables on eBay.

I recently sold my Michell Orbe SE on there.

Rega Planars for example are good.

Example

Glawster2002 · 27-06-2012, 09:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by JulesandSand

There's a lot of good turntables on eBay.

I recently sold my Michell Orbe SE on there.

Rega Planars for example are good.

Example

I've got the next model up, the Rega Planar 3, and as you say, they are excellent and have a very good reputation..

JulesandSand · 27-06-2012, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glawster2002

I've got the next model up, the Rega Planar 3, and as you say, they are excellent and have a very good reputation..

I had the Planar 2 for about 20 years before I got the Michell - it was excellent and, at 20 years old, sold it for more than I paid for it.

My first proper turntable in 1976 was one of these

mac2708 · 27-06-2012, 10:01

Have a look here
http://www.richersounds.com/products.../turntables/#1

and here
http://www.superfi.co.uk/c-182-turntables.aspx

jjne · 27-06-2012, 10:36

Projects, Rega Planar (and the cheaper relative the NAD 533), anything with "Linn" written on it

, all good.

Slightly cheaper, there's the Dual decks Richers used to sell in the 1990s which are OK, and anything Japanese from the 80s is usually not bad.

If you want dirt-cheap but still acceptable, there are a few Goodmans Delta 800 turntables around on eBay which aren't completely terrible. I bought one of these brand-new for a tenner about ten years ago from Richers and it's OK as a spare.

ISTR that the Bush TT1 (little 10" wide thing where the record hangs out the side of the deck) was given a reasonable review when it came out. Don't know if it's any good, but given that they sell for a fiver it might be worth a punt.

Long story short, buy used if the money is tight

That Steepletone is probably rubbish. The deck may be OK (it looks as if it might be the same as the aforementioned Bush that gained 4 stars at £50 in What Hifi), but the built-in amp and speakers will be awful.

Bear in mind though that with any real hifi deck, the outputs will not be at line level (and will not have been RIAA-compensated) so you'll need a phono pre-amp (£20 or so) in addition to the cost of the deck, if you don't already have one on your hifi amplifier (most newer ones don't).

Vinyl has the capacity to sound very, very good (arguably better than CD in some respects) -- don't hamstring it with a useless deck, please

56up · 27-06-2012, 10:56

I have the Project Debut turntable which is more than adequate for my small, and shrinking vinyl collection. Bridge Over Troubled Water is now 40 years old and still sounds good. The law of diminishing returns will apply, a £1000 turntable is not even close to 10 times better than a £100 one. However, a good turntable will hold a quality cartridge and track at low weights extending the usable life of a vinyl record preserving the high and low frequencies.

A bigger problem I think is the lack of suitable phono input on modern amps usually designed for home theatre applications. My amp has a pure audio setting and I use it a lot for music, but, as I am using a moving coil cartridge I still have to have a phono amp with RIAA compensation. There are cheap versions of these on the market but I really believe you should spend a bit more than £20 on this device even though It has no effect on the durability of the record. Mine is from Phono Art and sounds good. It also has usb and optical outputs.

jjne · 27-06-2012, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by 56up

There are cheap versions of these on the market but I really believe you should spend a bit more than £20 on this device even though It has no effect on the durability of the record. Mine is from Phono Art and sounds good. It also has usb and optical outputs.

I agree, but if the OP is on a budget I'd far rather he spent the bulk of his money on the engineering rather than the box with the 5532 op-amp in it.

I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre, but something like a second-hand QED Discsaver would be adequate for most purposes. These were only £40 new so £20 would be achievable.

56up · 27-06-2012, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjne

I agree, but if the OP is on a budget I'd far rather he spent the bulk of his money on the engineering rather than the box with the 5532 op-amp in it.

I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre, but something like a second-hand QED Discsaver would be adequate for most purposes. These were only £40 new so £20 would be achievable.

Good point, but I think I made it on my post. I look at the £50 record grinders on the market and shudder. If you buy a cheap USB turntable for converting your collection to digital then you are likely only to use it once for each record so there will be no cumulative damage. But for regular use you really needs a quality engineered product.

November_Rain · 27-06-2012, 13:09

Thanks for the replies. I guess that's the Steepleton off the menu then, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for the makes mentioned here.

turbo · 27-06-2012, 14:15

In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars. It may be possible to source one of these second hand. It is ceratinly what I would do. (I stupidly bought a Direct Drive Pionner deck in the 80s thinking DD was better than belt. The sound was awful compared to the Dual.
All the clubs used a Techniks deck. Cant remember the model number, but worth looking into.

Nigel Goodwin · 27-06-2012, 14:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo

In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars.

Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups.

chrisjr · 27-06-2012, 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo

In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars. It may be possible to source one of these second hand. It is ceratinly what I would do. (I stupidly bought a Direct Drive Pionner deck in the 80s thinking DD was better than belt. The sound was awful compared to the Dual.
All the clubs used a Techniks deck. Cant remember the model number, but worth looking into.

Most likely the Technics SL1210 or similar. And the reason they use them is because they are next to indestructible and can handle the abuse they get. Not because they sound particularly great.

Though put a decent hifi cartridge in them rather than one of the rusty nails club jocks use and you might stand a better chance of decent sound quality. Jocks tend to use cartridges that can stand having the disk spun backwards which in most cases would destroy a "normal" cartridge.

And at anything from 400 quid to over a grand brand new (according to Google) possibly a bit out of the OP's price range

turbo · 27-06-2012, 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjr

And at anything from 400 quid to over a grand brand new (according to Google) possibly a bit out of the OP's price range

Agreed. I was thinking about the second hand market. Records are a bit vintage, so why not get a vintage player?

chrisjr · 27-06-2012, 14:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbo

Agreed. I was thinking about the second hand market. Records are a bit vintage, so why not get a vintage player?

Even then I've seen second hand examples on Amazon and ebay go for 2-300 quid.

jjne · 27-06-2012, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups.

Ah well -- I've only come across one Dual (a CS515 I believe) and it seemed OK, but I didn't play with it for very long. It did seem well-built though.

My personal decks are an LP12 (fantastic), a Project Debut 1 (quite close to the LP12 actually, and only £150), a Goodmans Delta 800 (spare, OK, nothing like as good as the above but good enough for most I'd imagine) and an old BSR Quanta 800 I have in the loft (1970s DD thing, utter pile of rubbish, although the Sony tonearm and AT95 cart still makes it better than 99% of the cheap decks on sale now -- just rather rumbly).

Nigel Goodwin · 27-06-2012, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjne

Ah well -- I've only come across one Dual (a CS515 I believe) and it seemed OK, but I didn't play with it for very long. It did seem well-built though.

My personal decks are an LP12 (fantastic), a Project Debut 1 (quite close to the LP12 actually, and only £150), a Goodmans Delta 800 (spare, OK, nothing like as good as the above but good enough for most I'd imagine) and an old BSR Quanta 800 I have in the loft (1970s DD thing, utter pile of rubbish, although the Sony tonearm and AT95 cart still makes it better than 99% of the cheap decks on sale now -- just rather rumbly).

I'm from back in the Garrard 401, SME3009 and V15 era - although I never owned any of them.

A local record shop had them though, along with either a Leak or Quad amplifier (I can't remember which now?), plus a pair of LARGE Goodmans speakers. It used to sound amazing - then when you got the record you bought home it sounded rubbish

Menoetius · 27-06-2012, 17:34

I used to sell these in the 90's. A popular turntable at the time and good value for money.

Made for Nad by Rega.

jjne · 27-06-2012, 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Menoetius

I used to sell these in the 90's. A popular turntable at the time and good value for money.

Yup -- mentioned the 533 above. Stripped down version of the Rega Planar series. Typical minimalist British deck, and that's no bad thing.

Menoetius · 27-06-2012, 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjne

I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre

How do you find the Musical Fidelity?
I'm in the market for a new preamp for my LP12 and have been looking at the Creek OBH-15 as they do a high gain MC version, which will match my high output Denon DL-160 cart.

cp2 · 27-06-2012, 18:15

I have a Pioneer PL-512 turnable which in its day was a good budget deck I think. Hardly worth a lot of money I thought, especially as non-use over the years probably means a new belt would possibly be required.
However, having checked out the cartridge, a Nagaoka MP-11, maybe I should think again!

Gary Brenton · 28-06-2012, 00:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin

Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups.

I agree what you say about What Hi-Fi reviews....I have just brought a Denon DM38DAB system and the FM tuner is as bad as it gets. This system has a 5 star review would you believe? (I should take my own following advice)

The FM tuner sounds like someone next door is using a chainsaw judging by the constant interference and buzzing noises I get from it...and the very low sensitivity makes it even worse...

I don't believe in reviews simply because everyone is different....and what one person likes, another person will dislike.

riley4821 · 28-06-2012, 01:27

You wont go far wrong with a Pro-Ject Expression MK1.
You should be able to pick one up second hand for around £100-£130. Excellent carbon fibre arm which will work with a wide range of cartridges. I used a light weight Ortofon M/C with good results.
You can upgrade at a later date, Pro-Ject sell an Acrylic platter which again will improve the sound.
Spares are readly available and are cheap as chips.
If you want to spend more, the RPM 4/5 are a good step up.
Phono stages, starters are the NAD PP1 or Cambridge Audio.
You can pick up some very good deals second hand.

27-06-2012, 01:19	#1
November_Rain Guest Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 8,506	Cheap turntables? What are some decent budget turntables these days? I am going retro and I would like to build up a small vinyl collection. Unfortunately my old turntable has seen better days, so I'm looking for a new one to replace it but I don't want to splash out mega bucks. Something like this would do for me: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Black-...#ht_1436wt_905 Are these models worth buying? I'm not looking for a USB thing or a DJ system, just a simple record player. One with a phono socket to allow connection to my HiFi would be preferred but not essential.

27-06-2012, 08:59	#2
standinman Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 158	Get a turntable which is as expensive as you can afford you will regret it later ,if you dont aspire to a LInn sondek !!

27-06-2012, 09:12	#3
soulboy77 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Herts Posts: 17,005	I'm afraid you get what you pay for, there's budget and there's cheap crap. If sound quality matters you really need to up your budget and go for something like the Project Essential turntable as a bare minimum.

27-06-2012, 09:20	#4
JulesandSand Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Caledonia Posts: 5,687	There's a lot of good turntables on eBay. I recently sold my Michell Orbe SE on there. Rega Planars for example are good. Example

27-06-2012, 09:39	#5
Glawster2002 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nailsworth, Gloucestershire Posts: 10,404	Quote: Originally Posted by JulesandSand There's a lot of good turntables on eBay. I recently sold my Michell Orbe SE on there. Rega Planars for example are good. Example I've got the next model up, the Rega Planar 3, and as you say, they are excellent and have a very good reputation..

27-06-2012, 09:44	#6
JulesandSand Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Caledonia Posts: 5,687	Quote: Originally Posted by Glawster2002 I've got the next model up, the Rega Planar 3, and as you say, they are excellent and have a very good reputation.. I had the Planar 2 for about 20 years before I got the Michell - it was excellent and, at 20 years old, sold it for more than I paid for it. My first proper turntable in 1976 was one of *these*

27-06-2012, 10:01	#7
mac2708 Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 3,196	Have a look here http://www.richersounds.com/products.../turntables/#1 and here http://www.superfi.co.uk/c-182-turntables.aspx

27-06-2012, 10:36	#8
jjne Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 6,487	Projects, Rega Planar (and the cheaper relative the NAD 533), anything with "Linn" written on it , all good. Slightly cheaper, there's the Dual decks Richers used to sell in the 1990s which are OK, and anything Japanese from the 80s is usually not bad. If you want dirt-cheap but still acceptable, there are a few Goodmans Delta 800 turntables around on eBay which aren't completely terrible. I bought one of these brand-new for a tenner about ten years ago from Richers and it's OK as a spare. ISTR that the Bush TT1 (little 10" wide thing where the record hangs out the side of the deck) was given a reasonable review when it came out. Don't know if it's any good, but given that they sell for a fiver it might be worth a punt. Long story short, buy used if the money is tight That Steepletone is probably rubbish. The deck may be OK (it looks as if it might be the same as the aforementioned Bush that gained 4 stars at £50 in What Hifi), but the built-in amp and speakers will be awful. Bear in mind though that with any real hifi deck, the outputs will not be at line level (and will not have been RIAA-compensated) so you'll need a phono pre-amp (£20 or so) in addition to the cost of the deck, if you don't already have one on your hifi amplifier (most newer ones don't). Vinyl has the capacity to sound very, very good (arguably better than CD in some respects) -- don't hamstring it with a useless deck, please

27-06-2012, 10:56	#9
56up Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Worcestershire, UK Posts: 779	I have the Project Debut turntable which is more than adequate for my small, and shrinking vinyl collection. Bridge Over Troubled Water is now 40 years old and still sounds good. The law of diminishing returns will apply, a £1000 turntable is not even close to 10 times better than a £100 one. However, a good turntable will hold a quality cartridge and track at low weights extending the usable life of a vinyl record preserving the high and low frequencies. A bigger problem I think is the lack of suitable phono input on modern amps usually designed for home theatre applications. My amp has a pure audio setting and I use it a lot for music, but, as I am using a moving coil cartridge I still have to have a phono amp with RIAA compensation. There are cheap versions of these on the market but I really believe you should spend a bit more than £20 on this device even though It has no effect on the durability of the record. Mine is from Phono Art and sounds good. It also has usb and optical outputs.

27-06-2012, 11:19	#10
jjne Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 6,487	Quote: Originally Posted by 56up There are cheap versions of these on the market but I really believe you should spend a bit more than £20 on this device even though It has no effect on the durability of the record. Mine is from Phono Art and sounds good. It also has usb and optical outputs. I agree, but if the OP is on a budget I'd far rather he spent the bulk of his money on the engineering rather than the box with the 5532 op-amp in it. I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre, but something like a second-hand QED Discsaver would be adequate for most purposes. These were only £40 new so £20 would be achievable.

27-06-2012, 11:50	#11
56up Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Worcestershire, UK Posts: 779	Quote: Originally Posted by jjne I agree, but if the OP is on a budget I'd far rather he spent the bulk of his money on the engineering rather than the box with the 5532 op-amp in it. I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre, but something like a second-hand QED Discsaver would be adequate for most purposes. These were only £40 new so £20 would be achievable. Good point, but I think I made it on my post. I look at the £50 record grinders on the market and shudder. If you buy a cheap USB turntable for converting your collection to digital then you are likely only to use it once for each record so there will be no cumulative damage. But for regular use you really needs a quality engineered product.

27-06-2012, 13:09	#12
November_Rain Guest Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 8,506	Thanks for the replies. I guess that's the Steepleton off the menu then, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for the makes mentioned here.

27-06-2012, 14:15	#13
turbo Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Fleet, Hampshire Posts: 178	In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars. It may be possible to source one of these second hand. It is ceratinly what I would do. (I stupidly bought a Direct Drive Pionner deck in the 80s thinking DD was better than belt. The sound was awful compared to the Dual. All the clubs used a Techniks deck. Cant remember the model number, but worth looking into.

27-06-2012, 14:24	#14
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by turbo In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars. Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups.

27-06-2012, 14:26	#15
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Quote: Originally Posted by turbo In the days when Rega Planar 3 was well out of my price bracket, the budget alternative was the Dual CS505. It was the only budget player that What Hi-Fi ever recommended and scored 5 stars. It may be possible to source one of these second hand. It is ceratinly what I would do. (I stupidly bought a Direct Drive Pionner deck in the 80s thinking DD was better than belt. The sound was awful compared to the Dual. All the clubs used a Techniks deck. Cant remember the model number, but worth looking into. Most likely the Technics SL1210 or similar. And the reason they use them is because they are next to indestructible and can handle the abuse they get. Not because they sound particularly great. Though put a decent hifi cartridge in them rather than one of the rusty nails club jocks use and you might stand a better chance of decent sound quality. Jocks tend to use cartridges that can stand having the disk spun backwards which in most cases would destroy a "normal" cartridge. And at anything from 400 quid to over a grand brand new (according to Google) possibly a bit out of the OP's price range

27-06-2012, 14:28	#16
turbo Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Fleet, Hampshire Posts: 178	Quote: Originally Posted by chrisjr And at anything from 400 quid to over a grand brand new (according to Google) possibly a bit out of the OP's price range Agreed. I was thinking about the second hand market. Records are a bit vintage, so why not get a vintage player?

27-06-2012, 14:32	#17
chrisjr Forum Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Reading Posts: 27,916	Quote: Originally Posted by turbo Agreed. I was thinking about the second hand market. Records are a bit vintage, so why not get a vintage player? Even then I've seen second hand examples on Amazon and ebay go for 2-300 quid.

27-06-2012, 14:41	#18
jjne Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 6,487	Quote: Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups. Ah well -- I've only come across one Dual (a CS515 I believe) and it seemed OK, but I didn't play with it for very long. It did seem well-built though. My personal decks are an LP12 (fantastic), a Project Debut 1 (quite close to the LP12 actually, and only £150), a Goodmans Delta 800 (spare, OK, nothing like as good as the above but good enough for most I'd imagine) and an old BSR Quanta 800 I have in the loft (1970s DD thing, utter pile of rubbish, although the Sony tonearm and AT95 cart still makes it better than 99% of the cheap decks on sale now -- just rather rumbly).

27-06-2012, 15:50	#19
Nigel Goodwin Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: North Derbyshire Posts: 41,789	Quote: Originally Posted by jjne Ah well -- I've only come across one Dual (a CS515 I believe) and it seemed OK, but I didn't play with it for very long. It did seem well-built though. My personal decks are an LP12 (fantastic), a Project Debut 1 (quite close to the LP12 actually, and only £150), a Goodmans Delta 800 (spare, OK, nothing like as good as the above but good enough for most I'd imagine) and an old BSR Quanta 800 I have in the loft (1970s DD thing, utter pile of rubbish, although the Sony tonearm and AT95 cart still makes it better than 99% of the cheap decks on sale now -- just rather rumbly). I'm from back in the Garrard 401, SME3009 and V15 era - although I never owned any of them. A local record shop had them though, along with either a Leak or Quad amplifier (I can't remember which now?), plus a pair of LARGE Goodmans speakers. It used to sound amazing - then when you got the record you bought home it sounded rubbish

27-06-2012, 17:34	#20
Menoetius Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,093	I used to sell these in the 90's. A popular turntable at the time and good value for money. Made for Nad by Rega.

DS Forums

Cheap turntables?

27-06-2012, 17:37	#21
jjne Inactive Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 6,487	Quote: Originally Posted by Menoetius I used to sell these in the 90's. A popular turntable at the time and good value for money. Yup -- mentioned the 533 above. Stripped down version of the Rega Planar series. Typical minimalist British deck, and that's no bad thing.

27-06-2012, 17:56	#22
Menoetius Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,093	Quote: Originally Posted by jjne I myself have a Musical Fidelity X-LP which is a high quality pre How do you find the Musical Fidelity? I'm in the market for a new preamp for my LP12 and have been looking at the Creek OBH-15 as they do a high gain MC version, which will match my high output Denon DL-160 cart.

27-06-2012, 18:15	#23
cp2 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Standish, near Wigan Posts: 525	I have a Pioneer PL-512 turnable which in its day was a good budget deck I think. Hardly worth a lot of money I thought, especially as non-use over the years probably means a new belt would possibly be required. However, having checked out the cartridge, a Nagaoka MP-11, maybe I should think again!

28-06-2012, 00:30	#24
Gary Brenton Inactive Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Walsall (West Midlands) Posts: 637	Quote: Originally Posted by Nigel Goodwin Unfortunately Wot HiFi reviews were commonly based on advertising revenue, not on actual tests - I've always been exceptionally unimpressed with Dual decks and pickups. I agree what you say about What Hi-Fi reviews....I have just brought a Denon DM38DAB system and the FM tuner is as bad as it gets. This system has a 5 star review would you believe? (I should take my own following advice) The FM tuner sounds like someone next door is using a chainsaw judging by the constant interference and buzzing noises I get from it...and the very low sensitivity makes it even worse... I don't believe in reviews simply because everyone is different....and what one person likes, another person will dislike.

28-06-2012, 01:27	#25
riley4821 Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 2	You wont go far wrong with a Pro-Ject Expression MK1. You should be able to pick one up second hand for around £100-£130. Excellent carbon fibre arm which will work with a wide range of cartridges. I used a light weight Ortofon M/C with good results. You can upgrade at a later date, Pro-Ject sell an Acrylic platter which again will improve the sound. Spares are readly available and are cheap as chips. If you want to spend more, the RPM 4/5 are a good step up. Phono stages, starters are the NAD PP1 or Cambridge Audio. You can pick up some very good deals second hand.