I adopted another orphan turntable today.

[JohnVF]

I won't make an argument that decks like these are the equal of something like a modern and gigantic SME Model 30/12, but I've spent a lot of time with current decks in the $1000-$10,000 range, whether my own VPI Classic or the dozens of other tables I've listened to at the stores owned and managed by friends or that I've heard at audio shows, and honestly, these types of top-tier decks from the late '70s hold up really well.

I'm not speaking of all DDs from the late '70s, but rather the top tier, the ones where the manufacturers were really showing off to each other. This table is a kind of sweet spot for sound/size/looks for me. Above it are even better tables. The GT-2000s, the Sony PS-8750s....

And of course there was a lot of junk back then, too. I don't like to do "audio absolutes". SOME DDs from the '70s were the equal or better of SOME expensive modern turntables. I'm kind of surprised to include this table in that list...I really love it. I go back and forth between it and my fully restored and slightly modded TD-124 with ease, and no loss in enjoyment or sound quality. Its just different.

Oh, and I sold the VPI....

 

[JohnVF]

Just an update...I'm still using it! Which is some sort of miracle as I switch gear around with the frequency of a Squirrel anxiously hiding acorns away in October.

I love this turntable and it's only grown on me. It's even, though probably temporarily, kicked the Thorens 124 out of my main rig as I wanted to be able to concentrate on getting the most out of it, which meant stealing some things from the Thorens setup.

It may have lost some of its inherent simplicity of looks here, but the added isolation and the TTweights platter top have taken an already great sound and just tightened it up. It's rock solid. Here it has a V-15vmr on it, a cart that really only impresses when its on something very nice. Otherwise it can just be mistaken for a boring old "mi fi" Shure (which it decidedly isn't, in the right context).

I really love this turntable.

 

[TubeHiFiNut]

Just an update...I'm still using it! Which is some sort of miracle as I switch gear around with the frequency of a Squirrel anxiously hiding acorns away in October.

I love this turntable and it's only grown on me. It's even, though probably temporarily, kicked the Thorens 124 out of my main rig as I wanted to be able to concentrate on getting the most out of it, which meant stealing some things from the Thorens setup.

It may have lost some of its inherent simplicity of looks here, but the added isolation and the TTweights platter top have taken an already great sound and just tightened it up. It's rock solid. Here it has a V-15vmr on it, a cart that really only impresses when its on something very nice. Otherwise it can just be mistaken for a boring old "mi fi" Shure (which it decidedly isn't, in the right context).

I really love this turntable.

Sure is pretty.....

 

[JohnVF]

Sure is pretty.....

If you can't tell I'm a big fan of things made out of wood. Kind of an obsession of mine.

 

[David]

I can say the thing looks prettier than the GT if anything

 

[JohnVF]

I can say the thing looks prettier than the GT if anything

Perhaps the regular black GT-2000. But I think there's a certain chutzpah to the big wood-veneered 2000L/X.

Also, that's a very fancy TARGET turntable platform under it. Not the audio shelf company, but rather the box store Target... found that very nice, heavy, cutting board on a clearance shelf. And those even more fancy cork feet are Ikea bottle stoppers.

 

[Try1256]

Perhaps the regular black GT-2000. But I think there's a certain chutzpah to the big wood-veneered 2000L/X.

Also, that's a very fancy TARGET turntable platform under it. Not the audio shelf company, but rather the box store Target... found that very nice, heavy, cutting board on a clearance shelf. And those even more fancy cork feet are Ikea bottle stoppers.

I have 2 flex racks with 1 3/4" cutting boards for shelves. I have to go to Ikea next weekend. I will have to look for the bottle stoppers.

 

[JohnVF]

I have 2 flex racks with 1 3/4" cutting boards for shelves. I have to go to Ikea next weekend. I will have to look for the bottle stoppers.

I don't think they make these anymore... they're not even in their catalogue. I want some more myself, they're really useful. Were great under my VPI Classic.

 

[S0und Dragon]

Is that a Juicy Music Tercel in the pic? I have a Peach II pre Amp and was thinking of hunting one down. They are not up for sale very often, especially the ones with the Cream option.

 

[JohnVF]

Is that a Juicy Music Tercel in the pic? I have a Peach II pre Amp and was thinking of hunting one down. They are not up for sale very often, especially the ones with the Cream option.

Good eye. Yes, that is a Tercel II, though I don't have the Cream SUT option. I wish I did. It's just a fantastic phono preamp...and has slayed many a potential replacement over the years, to the point that I've just accepted that I'll never find a phono preamp that I like better.

 

[S0und Dragon]

I know it was a long time ago. But we spoke a few times on another forum and you were really digging the Klyne Phono preamp at that time. How would you compare the two? I am on the hunt for a Tercel myself as the styling of the peach matches my preference much more than the Blueberry.

 

[JohnVF]

I know it was a long time ago. But we spoke a few times on another forum and you were really digging the Klyne Phono preamp at that time. How would you compare the two? I am on the hunt for a Tercel myself as the styling of the peach matches my preference much more than the Blueberry.

The Klyne was excellent but it was very much a solid state preamp. Clean, precise, really taught lower registers. The highs were a bit course for my taste and the imaging was sometimes flat. It was also really confusing to set up, as the many many dip switch settings for LOMC were geared towards specific cartridges. Cartridges from the early 1990s, not 2017, so it was a bit of guesswork getting it to sound its best.

I bought the Tercel on a whim wanting something a bit more colorful than the Klyne and man does it deliver. It's extremely musical, a master of tone and transparency especially for a tubed device. I supposed it could be slightly tighter in the bass but it's actually fairly nimble on its feet. The tubes in it vary the sound greatly. There's a really nasty review out there on it by a guy who seemingly has never owned a tube unit in his life...played it cold out of the box, seems to have given it one album's chance, and deemed it the worse thing ever. Sad for him because after warming up for a day it's among the best phono stages I've ever heard. And sounded exactly as he described for about 2 albums.

I'm very happy with it. I sometimes debate having a SS option with more loading options for LOMC but I'm never letting go of it.

 

[S0und Dragon]

Thank you for that. I am going back and forth between a Tercel and a middle of the line Sutherland unit as my next Phono Pre. I was also eyeing another Jasmine Pre as I had the LP 2.0 and liked it. But I am not in the mood to mod another component and the Jasmine, while decent out of the box really benefit from upgraded Caps and cleaner solder connections. At least mine did. The Tercel is my favorite option, but they are not easy to come by especially if you want one with the cream option.

 

[JohnVF]

I went looking for another Tercel awhile back and never found one. I was also trying to find one with the internal SUT option as I get tired of trying to find hiding places for my SUTs that don't let hum intrude on the system. I imagine the Peach is a really nice preamp, it sure looks like it from the photos. The Tercel would seem to be a natural match to it. I'm about to go looking for another set of 12at7s for it. I have two sets, military grade Mullards and another pair that came with it where the markings have worn off, I have no idea what they are. The Mullard ones sound excellent (and don't have the typical Mullard bloom, more precise and impactful) but I'm just curious what else this thing can do. FWIW it's very quiet.

 

[JohnVF]

I dug this out again today. I was running my Sony 2251/Fidelity Research FR-24mkII for a bit, then my Yamaha PF-1000 for a week.

And....

I'm still in love with it. I seriously adore this turntable. If I had to marry any turntable I've ever owned it would be this one. Its not the prettiest, its not the flashiest, its not the most expensive, its not the most highly regarded, its not the one people think is cool when they come over and see all of my turntables, its not really any of that. But its never a pain in the ass. And it sounds at least as good, to my ears, as any of the tables I've owned, and better than 90% of them.

 

[fiddlefye]

I du

I dug this out again today. I was running my Sony 2251/Fidelity Research FR-24mkII for a bit, then my Yamaha PF-1000 for a week.

And....

I'm still in love with it. I seriously adore this turntable. If I had to marry any turntable I've ever owned it would be this one. Its not the prettiest, its not the flashiest, its not the most expensive, its not the most highly regarded, its not the one people think is cool when they come over and see all of my turntables, its not really any of that. But its never a pain in the ass. And it sounds at least as good, to my ears, as any of the tables I've owned, and better than 90% of them.

I dunno, I think it a really lovely looking table. It has lots of the really good bits from further up the line (not that there was much higher to go) and has some real panache. That it also manages to be easy to work with and sound delicious would be enough for me. I was never a DD fan until I landed with one of the really good ones and discovered that they are an almost completely different topic from the garden varieties. I suppose the same can be said of all drive types, but with the DD there is a real jump in musicality after a certain level is reached.

 

[JohnVF]

I used to hate DDs. The ones I'd had were cold, uninvolving and, well, I just didn't like how they sounded. Now, of the 6 turntables I regularly have out, 4 are DD. One is belt, another is idler.

 

[fiddlefye]

I used to hate DDs. The ones I'd had were cold, uninvolving and, well, I just didn't like how they sounded. Now, of the 6 turntables I regularly have out, 4 are DD. One is belt, another is idler.

I've not owned that many DD tables and currently have three. One is a Technics SL-D2 from the low end of the totem pole and more than adequate as a lender or if needed for party use. Then there is the SP-15 which really is not bad, but still in the end not a great improvement over such decks as the Denon DP-1200 I had - heading out to market. The last is the DP-80 and a completely different critter. The SL-D2 stays because it is cheap and occasionally useful and the DP-80 is... what it is. In the end I'll probably "gift" the SL-D2 when I find the right person for it.

Apart from those I have three idler tables (one in use) and number of belt drives.

 

[JohnVF]

I've not owned that many DD tables and currently have three. One is a Technics SL-D2 from the low end of the totem pole and more than adequate as a lender or if needed for party use. Then there is the SP-15 which really is not bad, but still in the end not a great improvement over such decks as the Denon DP-1200 I had - heading out to market. The last is the DP-80 and a completely different critter. The SL-D2 stays because it is cheap and occasionally useful and the DP-80 is... what it is. In the end I'll probably "gift" the SL-D2 when I find the right person for it.

Apart from those I have three idler tables (one in use) and number of belt drives.

I would describe the YP-D8 as a perfectly competent if not exceptional motor, with a world-class arm, all tied together in a very nice and heavy plinth. It just works and works extremely well. Its a very dynamic table with clean, deep, solid bass. They eventually super-sized it to make the GT-2000 but this more sensibly sized package works great for me.

 

[airdronian]

I would describe the YP-D8 as a perfectly competent if not exceptional motor, with a world-class arm, all tied together in a very nice and heavy plinth. It just works and works extremely well. Its a very dynamic table with clean, deep, solid bass. They eventually super-sized it to make the GT-2000 but this more sensibly sized package works great for me.

I wasn't really sure what the YP-D8 was all about so just looked at some images and such. Very nice, and an interesting arm design.