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The Vinyl Anachronist: The price of admission

by Marc Phillips

October 2007

Rega P1

Benz MC20

I just received an e-mail containing pictures from the CEDIA convention in Denver, which included a few shots of the new McIntosh turntable. Retailing for $8000, this new analog rig, the first ever to come out of Binghamton, New York, looks like one of McIntosh's many current models of preamps and power amps, only with a giant acrylic platter and tonearm placed precariously on top. Yes, there's even a giant blue meter on the front of the plinth, which indicates RPMs. Personally, I think this thing looks amazing in a fascinating, retro sort of way, and I'd buy one if I had the green. The Internet buzz, however, is a bit less enthusiastic.

While many simply don't like the looks of the McIntosh, saying that it looks like a Photoshop nightmare, a few others have complained about the fact that McIntosh chose to target the high end of the spectrum and not introduce a more modest player as their first offering. I think this is a little silly, considering that the cheapest bit of Mac gear is their “entry level” integrated amp, which still retails for $3000. (They might offer a CD player for slightly less.) McIntosh was never known for cheap, affordable kit. Why would their first table, especially considering that Clearaudio designed the whole thing, be inexpensive?

If anything, this proves that the Vinyl Renaissance as its peak. Latecomers to the turntable game aren't coming up with entry-level turntables, since there's no money in it. Ask Roy Gandy of Rega how he offers so much value for so little money. (Hint: it has something to do with investing a lot of capital, and using the best technology to manufacture more efficiently, and in high volumes.) In other words, the only way a little guy making turntables in his garage can hope to make any money is to build expensive handmade behemoths, where he can make an immediate profit on each unit sold.

So as new companies try to take advantage of the current surge of interest in vinyl, we're going to see a lot more of these expensive newcomers flood the market. And yes, we're going to see established companies such as McIntosh and Creek (who are planning to introduce a $5000 turntable within the next few months) jump in as well.

Don't call them cheap... call them affordable

This market skew, however, underlines the paucity of new and decent entry-level 'tables. Sure, it was exciting to see Rega introduce the P1 turntable earlier this year, and I think they're selling everyone they make. At the same time, it was a little disheartening to see that wobbly MDF platter, and that somewhat ordinary Ortofon OM-5e cartridge, which is actually slightly too tall for the arm. It's no wonder why a large percentage of P1 owners have opted for the glass platter upgrade offered by many Rega dealers, and have also upgraded the OM-5e to the much more musical OM-10, OM-20, OM-30 or even OM-40. For me, these upgrades, combined with a 1mm spacer underneath the arm, transform the P1 into a true Rega, something not far in performance from the old P2.

But other than the P1, what's really happening with the entry-level turntable market? Shouldn't the success of the P1 be a bellwether for the industry? Why isn't everyone climbing over each other to take advantage of this lucrative end of the market? Does it really take that much money to make a cheap turntable? No wonder the Technics SL-1200 fans grow in number with every passing month. It's a safe, reliable choice. And that SL-1200 platter certainly doesn't wobble when it spins.

You can still buy affordable turntables from the likes of Pro-Ject and others. And for the most part they're decent-sounding. But to paraphrase Thomas Marshall, what the audio world needs a good $300 turntable. I know it can be done. The other day, I heard a vintage Thorens TD-160 with an old, modest Shure cartridge, and it didn't sound half-bad. Sure, it was mated to some very expensive amplification, and a $70,000 pair of speakers. But it worked. It made music. It sounded better than most of today's entry-level 'tables as well.

So I think it's time for these manufacturers of affordable turntables to take some of their profits and put it back into the design. I don't know about you, but I'd pay an extra $100 bucks for some better isolation feet, or some sound-deadening material to be sprayed on the underside of the plinth, or for adjustable VTA on the fly... in other words, all the little things the so-called tweakers are already doing to make inexpensive turntables sound just a bit better.

The flip side (pardon the pun)

What's really strange about the sudden influx of hyper-expensive turntables, however, is that it's being countered by an equal amount of inexpensive cartridges. High-end companies such as Benz-Micro, Shelter and Clearaudio are suddenly offering good-sounding US$200 cartridges. Benz-Micro, in fact, recently introduced a low-output moving-coil version of their classic MC-20 cartridge. That's right, a US$200 low-output moving coil! Maybe they saw how many Audio-Technica OC-9s flew out of dealer's doors when they lowered the price from US$400 to US$199.

So what does this mean? Should we throw inexpensive cartridges onto our expensive turntables? Well, while I do know one individual who put a Grado Black onto a VPI Scoutmaster because he ran out of money after blowing his budget on the turntable. But no, inexpensive cartridges were designed for inexpensive turntables. At the same time, however, I find myself being very impressed with the sound from these modest devices. For instance, I am currently using the aforementioned Ortofon OM-10 on my Technics SL1200. (That's right...I now own an SL1200! So there!) And I think the little Ortofon does a very nice job of rendering a believable soundstage, coupled with a smooth yet believable presentation. I think the Ortofon is what makes the SL1200, well, tolerable.

In other words, I think that maybe these affordable yet competent cartridges are a response to the lack of choices when it comes to inexpensive turntables. I do believe that a good cartridge will easily elevate the performance of a mediocre turntable. After all, I put my Koetsu Rosewood on my SL1200, and it sounded pretty decent!

Marc Phillips has been writing about hi-fi and music under the Vinyl Anachronist banner since 1998. His earlier columns can be found on the Perfect Sound Forever website. You can discuss vinyl with Marc at Vinylanach@aol.com