Turntables

Yeah Barbarian, totally correct.

Before the LP12 there was really only the Garrard 401 idler drive, Audio Technica and Technics direct drives, the Pioneer PL12D (my first deck - cheap but real hi-fi), the Sugden and some ancient Thorens decks. None sounded great. Compared to them, the LP12 did sound good because it had the basic formula of spring suspension and belt drive. However, you can do some amazing things with Thorens decks if you have the engineering skills and they can be vastly improved. A guy in my hall of residence upgraded his Garrard 401 to an LP12 with SME 3009 arm and Shure V15 and I remember thinking that I had to have one because it urinated on my PL12D from a great height

The next real rivals were the Systemdek and the JBE slate (anyone remember that?), a deck whose only real fault was that it was direct drive, not belt. The JBE was the first deck to use heavy, non-resonant materials and was innovative though not as good sounding as the Systemdek, which I bought in 1983(?) after comparing it to an LP12 (the dealer made me!). I still have my Systemdek and it still sounds very good with a Mission 774 arm.

Then came a plethora of nearly great decks - the RD11 being one.

Then, in the 90s came the real super decks, all of which eat the Linn for breakfast. The Wilson Benesch is awesome, the SME 10 wonderful, the Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace and Annalog brilliant and the Roksan Xerxes excellent. Some (the Voyd, the Source and the top SME) I ain't had the pleasure of hearing.

The Mitchell and Oracle decks are also worth a look and have real merit (especially lookswise).

But I chose the PT Anniversary because it suits my taste. That doesn't mean it will suit everyone's but I've had no complaints yet. You pays your money...........!

From a theory point of view, the use of rigid, heavy material like slate isn't a bad idea as it takes resonances above the audible range. However, the idea was probably spoiled by using direct drive on the JBE which is a joke for top end turntables. I haven't heard the Michell marble but I'll take your word for its deficiencies. The poor sound may not be due to the marble (or slate), though; there's plenty of other factors which could turn a good idea into "pants" sound.

Tony

oliverstoned wrote: I suppose you also consider Rega planar 3 as a crap among budget deck?

I consider a Rega a toy.The Engineering is absolutly appauling

oliverstoned wrote: A toy because of its simplicity? Only musicality matters, and its very musical.

About as musical as a box of bog rolls.

I bought this crap Frog micromega CD player today that sounds better than a Rega

Er, you're having a go at the wrong person, mate! I don't like Micromega CD players AT ALL! And Shangling? Never heard one.

When I said an SME V on a Rega "worked", it meant that there were no significant problems with the use of the arm. What it showed was that the SME did not sound appreciably better than the Rega RB300 on a Planar 3. Whilst accepting that the RB300 is an excellent BUDGET arm, on a revealing deck the SME V wipes the floor with it (and any other arm, for that matter). On the Planar 3, it didn't. This is because the Rega is somewhat coloured and not as transparent as top flight decks.

That doesn't mean it's crap. It means it's excellent at the price. But that price is cheapish.

And the Linn Karma "excellent"? Coloured as hell! Unrevealing! My old Ortofon F15 E was more transparent and my old Elite MCP 555 made it sound like a 50s gramophone (until my son pulled the stylus off). I owned a full Linn system, Oliver. I was relieved when I managed to sell it, too, because it performed way below what my father paid for it. He believed Linn's  (and the dealer's) hype and regretted it when he had owned it a few months.

You are obviously young, Oliver. Firstly, you resort to insults when people disagree with you. Secondly, you can't admit you're wrong on anything. And finally, I am beginning to question whether you've actually heard a lot of the stuff you talk about, because if you had, you wouldn't make such bombastic and misinformed comments about it.