I love to listen to vinyl, but I also love turntables and tonearms. Every time I go to an audio show I try to take pictures of all the turntables at the show and post them on Dagogo as “Turntable Eye Candy.” My first turntable of any quality was a Dual back in the 70s. I have owned some turntable just because of how they looked. For example I owned a B&O and a Transciptor for that reason. In both cases I didn’t keep them long because neither sounded as good as it lookeThe five best turntable i have ever owned are pictured below with a brief comment about each of them. They are listed in order of when I owned them, but probably in order of how good they are as well. The first and forth high end table I owned was the Linn Sondek LP12. I owned two different Linns because I for a good many years I couldn’t find anything better. It is still a great player to this day, but in my opinion you can do better for less money these days. Still it is a player with great PRaT and a beautiful midrange.
The Clearaudio Ambient is a turntable that makes me sometimes wonder ‘wasn’t it really good enough”. I still think it’s the best looking turntable Clearaudio has ever made. It’s a beautiful combination of a classic and modern look. I also don’t know of a better table for the money. The magnetic/ceramic bearing brought this table to a level far above its price point. It was the first Clearaudio table I heard that was both musical and detailed. I can’t remember seeing on show up on Audiogon and I think that says a lot about this table. It’s a shame that Clearaudio no longer makes it.
The Clearaudio AMG Anniversary Wood Turntable was like having the Ambient on steroids. It could also have up to three arms from 9 inches to 12 inches mounted at once. In this picture it had the three different versions of the Clearaudio Satisfy Tonearm on it but I most often kept two arms on it; one for mono and one for stereo. This was one of the clearest sounding sources I have ever heard. It had great bass and incredible midrange and top end.
The Shindo 301 Turntable was the turntable I really thought would be the last turntable I would ever own. It wasn’t quite as detailed or as transparent as the Clearaudio Anniversary, but it was close enough. The tremendous drive, scale and power it gave to music was incredible. It also was simply the most listenable turntable i had ever heard.
My current reference turntable is the AMG Viella V12 Turntable on the HRS M3X-1921 V12 Isolation Platform. This combination combines the best of the Clearaudio Anniversary with the Shindo. There are much more expensive turntables that do some things better than the AMG but none that I have heard that are as well balanced and come as close to getting everything so musical.
Well hope you enjoyed the pics and thoughts. You can click on the links and read the reviews. Soon I’ll post pictures of tables I reviewed and liked but did not choose to own and why. Then I’ll share a list of tables I wish I could hear in my system. Thanks for reading and Keep on Boppin’
Hi Beatnik, I was clued in to this website by my friend Bill Denton who always looks out and keeps me up to speed on the really good things in our hobby; this site is no exception! I enjoyed your brief review on your top 5 TT’s. I’m in the middle of building up a Linn Majik LP12 now. I look forward to perusing more on this site. BTW, can you tell me more about the speakers on display with the AMG on the header photo? I saw, heard, and continue to salivate about them now ever since seeing them in 2012 at RMAF. Love to hear your experience with them.
Glad you found my blog Larry. The Teresonic Ingeniums are the best speakers I have heard in my room even though I have had speakers up to $60,000 in for review. The second best and in some ways the best were the DeVore O/96 Orangutans. The Teresonics seem not to do well in most hotel rooms. I have only heard them reach anywhere near there potential at a couple of shows and sometime have heard them sound quite disappointing. In my room they were easy to place and sound great with good analogue. They are somewhat intolerant to some digital though they sound fantastic with the 47Labs CD player I am using. The aliveness that a 103db speaker can have is simply amazing.
Thanks for your response Beatnik. I fell in love with them at RMAF 2012 and they have never left my mind. I invision them being perfectly suited to my listening space (hell they look so good they’d make a carboard box look like an oppulent hall! Most of my listening is vinyl, traditional and smooth jazz on tube equipment. Main power is ARC VS-115 with KT-120’s, LS-27, Ref2 Phono Pre, Linn Majic LP-12 – soon with a Lyra Delos and Lingo III power supply. Do you think this rig setup would mate well with them? I’m currently playing to Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grands rated at about 90db.
Correct me if I’m wrong but are they single driver speakers? What would be the thing I would anticipate being the hardest transition to them? They are just such a radical departure to anything I’ve considered in speakers previously. As I recall, new they were priced in the $15k range? As you can see I’m loaded with enthusiastic questions. I read your rebiew of them, these are more the ownership “live with till death do you part” side of looking at them. Thanks in advance.
Yes they are single driver speakers and the hardest thing is the break in. My pair had a hook up for using during break in. This is very helpful as it keeps them from being so bright for the first four or five hundred hours. The price has gone up to $20,000, still I know of nothing else for the price like them.