Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Would be nice to match brands, but is not a deal breaker as long as they sound good together.

As for sound, again hard to tell probably would lean more toward a "warmer sound" with jazz being my most listen genre (although I listen to almost anything)

I’d maybe give something like the new Wharfedale Super Linton or the JBL L100s some serious consideration. If you paired them with something like a Prima Luna Evo 300 I don’t think you’d be disappointed.

Given the size and the heat the Prima Luna gives off you might need to find a new home for the CD player/potential future SACD player, you wouldn’t be stacking.

For comparison I’m running the Evo 300 with standard Lintons and it’s a great pairing, really want to get some Super Lintons into my system asap.
 
Good question, don't think I have a preference specially as I haven't had much experience with tubes.
Tubes can definitely allow you to play with the sound and tweak it for different warmth.

As for tubes, the Rogue and the Evo have been the most popular brands.
I can't remember anyone being unhappy with either.
The cool thing with Rogue is they keep putting out paths to future upgrades to further enhance the amps.

FYI-I bought some of their gear used by shopping ads and saved over 50-60%% compared to new.
Turned out great for me. I still need to upgrade my big power amp with them later this year.

Here's the integrated if you are interested.
 
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My wife was originally going to get me my first really nice watch for my 30th birthday in a few months but she came up to me yesterday and said:

I can either get you a watch or help you get a new turntable 😳. I’ve been putting away for my endgame deck for a while but now that it’s real I’m questioning if a Technics 1200G is where I want to go. I just don’t find it very beautiful hahaha. What decks should I consider (that aren’t VPI) in the 3.5-4.5K range that are beautiful and will sound as good as the 1200G?

The only one standing out currently is the Dr Feickert Volare. Looks beautiful but curious if it sounds comparable to a 1200G? Any other suggestions?

Yes I have the best wife ever
 
My wife was originally going to get me my first really nice watch for my 30th birthday in a few months but she came up to me yesterday and said:

I can either get you a watch or help you get a new turntable 😳. I’ve been putting away for my endgame deck for a while but now that it’s real I’m questioning if a Technics 1200G is where I want to go. I just don’t find it very beautiful hahaha. What decks should I consider (that aren’t VPI) in the 3.5-4.5K range that are beautiful and will sound as good as the 1200G?

The only one standing out currently is the Dr Feickert Volare. Looks beautiful but curious if it sounds comparable to a 1200G? Any other suggestions?

Yes I have the best wife ever

I love the look of the gold note decks and I’ve never heard anything but praise for them. The Pianosa should be in that price range.
 
@ElRifus - I've been able to stretch my budget by buying used components. I've found that most audiophiles take good care of their gear (for resale and aesthetic purposes) and patience is a virtue when shopping pre-owned. Avoid eBay unless you know the seller is reputable; I've had good success with Audiogon and US Audio Mart.

When buying speakers and an amp, I'd recommend shopping the speakers first then select the amp power requirements to match the speakers. When done the other way, it can be easy to limit your speaker choices or over-weight in terms of power requirements.
 
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My wife was originally going to get me my first really nice watch for my 30th birthday in a few months but she came up to me yesterday and said:

I can either get you a watch or help you get a new turntable 😳. I’ve been putting away for my endgame deck for a while but now that it’s real I’m questioning if a Technics 1200G is where I want to go. I just don’t find it very beautiful hahaha. What decks should I consider (that aren’t VPI) in the 3.5-4.5K range that are beautiful and will sound as good as the 1200G?

The only one standing out currently is the Dr Feickert Volare. Looks beautiful but curious if it sounds comparable to a 1200G? Any other suggestions?

Yes I have the best wife ever
Was in the same boat when I was looking for my endgame. Didn't love aesthetic of the 1200G. Look at getting a wood plinth to have it sit in. I've posted pics of both my 1200G and GR here before. This generation of direct drive tables are so damn good. The 1200G is my favorite piece of audio gear I have ever owned.

Check out this guys work. The fit and finish was perfect.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PLINTHSFORTURNTABLES
 
@ElRifus - I've been able to stretch my budget by buying used components. I've found that most audiophiles take good care of their gear (for resale and aesthetic purposes) and patience is a virtue when shopping pre-owned. Avoid eBay unless you know the seller is reputable; I've had good success with Audiogon and US Audio Mart.

When buying speakers and an amp, I'd recommend shopping the speakers first then select the amp power requirements to match the speakers. When done the other way, it can be easy to limit your speaker choices or over-weight in terms of power requirements.
I strongly encourage considering used gear. I've also had good experiences on Audiogon, US Audio Mart as well as The Music Room. 75% of all my gear I have or ever owned has been used, and I've never had an issue. I've saved many thousands of dollars as a result.
I also echo nailing down speakers first, then amp for the stated reasons. Good luck!
 
I’m questioning if a Technics 1200G is where I want to go. I just don’t find it very beautiful hahaha.
I connect with this so much! I admittedly like the audiophile look of other brands, and I'm a sucker for a longer arm. However, I keep coming back to the idea of the Technics purely for the near zero maintenance paired with high quality sound. Never worrying about when to grease a bearing, or change a belt. It just sounds so nice.

BUT, since we're talking looks, here at the ones that constantly make me question a potential future in another direction.
VPI Prime 21 (I know you said you don't care for VPI, but I've never heard one that I didn't like)
Clearaudio Performance DC Wood AiR (Looks good, I know nothing about it)
Rega P8
Feickert (All look aweseome)

Slightly Over budget:
Linn LP12
Mark Levinson No 5105 (On sale, believe it's made by Clearaudio)
VPI Model One
Mofi MasterDeck

For me, the short list would be 1200G, P8 and VPI within the price range.
I turn 40 this year, and I secretly wish my wife would offer this instead of the big vacation we are planning, lol.
 
My wife was originally going to get me my first really nice watch for my 30th birthday in a few months but she came up to me yesterday and said:

I can either get you a watch or help you get a new turntable 😳. I’ve been putting away for my endgame deck for a while but now that it’s real I’m questioning if a Technics 1200G is where I want to go. I just don’t find it very beautiful hahaha. What decks should I consider (that aren’t VPI) in the 3.5-4.5K range that are beautiful and will sound as good as the 1200G?

The only one standing out currently is the Dr Feickert Volare. Looks beautiful but curious if it sounds comparable to a 1200G? Any other suggestions?

Yes I have the best wife ever
Do you like the 1300G?

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For the Prima Luna Evo 300 do you have any other speaker suggestions? The Wharfedale Super Linton look really good and like the price but not sure if will a perfect fit for the dimensions as is pretty wide and the walking space to the right may get tight (and not sure if wife will love the retro look)
 
Was in the same boat when I was looking for my endgame. Didn't love aesthetic of the 1200G. Look at getting a wood plinth to have it sit in. I've posted pics of both my 1200G and GR here before. This generation of direct drive tables are so damn good. The 1200G is my favorite piece of audio gear I have ever owned.

Check out this guys work. The fit and finish was perfect.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PLINTHSFORTURNTABLES
Book marked this in the case I get a 1200G, thank you!
 
I love the look of the gold note decks and I’ve never heard anything but praise for them. The Pianosa should be in that price range.
I like the more higher end ones, but Pianosa almost looks a bit too much like the Ultradeck somehow. I think I've grown tired of the matte black look on turntables, too flat for my tastes. I'm like a barracuda, I like shiny tings lol.
 
I connect with this so much! I admittedly like the audiophile look of other brands, and I'm a sucker for a longer arm. However, I keep coming back to the idea of the Technics purely for the near zero maintenance paired with high quality sound. Never worrying about when to grease a bearing, or change a belt. It just sounds so nice.

BUT, since we're talking looks, here at the ones that constantly make me question a potential future in another direction.
VPI Prime 21 (I know you said you don't care for VPI, but I've never heard one that I didn't like)
Clearaudio Performance DC Wood AiR (Looks good, I know nothing about it)
Rega P8
Feickert (All look aweseome)

Slightly Over budget:
Linn LP12
Mark Levinson No 5105 (On sale, believe it's made by Clearaudio)
VPI Model One
Mofi MasterDeck

For me, the short list would be 1200G, P8 and VPI within the price range.
I turn 40 this year, and I secretly wish my wife would offer this instead of the big vacation we are planning, lol.
So my initial desire was to get a VPI Prime but I've heard such nasty things about how finicky the tables are and how much of a pain the arm can be. Have you heard similar? I need to look more into Clearaudio decks, I haven't even considered them. Also havent heard of the Mark Levinson, checking that out now!
 
For the Prima Luna Evo 300 do you have any other speaker suggestions? The Wharfedale Super Linton look really good and like the price but not sure if will a perfect fit for the dimensions as is pretty wide and the walking space to the right may get tight (and not sure if wife will love the retro look)

That’s what I’m familiar with but any reasonably high efficiency speaker will work. The likes of klipsch, tannoy and fyne audio should be where you’re looking. Zu as well.
 
I do but it still looks like a Technics hahaha. Strangely enough I just showed a bunch of options to my wife and she liked the 1200G the most aesthetically. She took one look at the VPI Prime and was like "EW NO"
I love everything about the G.
I do wish I could turn off the strobe but I have visually blocked it out over time.

The pitch slider is somewhat useful.
The recent Monk's Music is cut 1.8% slow
Not sure how Craft and KG missed this but the Technics pitch control makes easy work to make the playback speed correct.
Same thing with vintage copies of KOB.


It's not a feature used often but it's really handy when the need arises.
 
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