Well I've gone and done it!

[howlindawg]

With such a limited budget I'd be looking at some of the better decks from the less fashionable manufacturers.

Something like this or this perhaps.

[DSJR]

The Dual 5000 I agree with, as long as it hasn't been got at by former owners (the supplied cartridge made it sound too bleached and whiter-than-white, but this can easily be sorted eventually), but NOT the RD80! have you ever had to set up a few of these and then move them? the bearings weren't made from particularly good materials either I remember and I never cared for the sonics...

If a springy belt drive appeals, the best of the cheap ones is probably the AR EB101, which tends to go for £100 or just a little more at present. The sound was great, the Jelco sourced (?) arm will take the better magnetics and tolerant MC's out there, belts can be sourced and there's plenty of info on the web about them and the main AR decks. The AR XB1 looks awful, but is actually a great little deck, the arm working fine with 1.25 - 1.5g trackers, believe it or not.

Me? I'd try to find a good Dual 1019, or 1216/1218/1219 (the 1229 may need work on the arm mounting collar), make sure the "steurpimpel" is intact and moving the arm around on auto, fit any half decent cartridge you like in any of them and then sit back and glory in idler driven bliss...

[MCRU]

I have a technics SL1800 here, you will need a head shell and cartridge and the lid is broken (I never use the lid anyway as I dust mine every day). free if you want it, just pay the UPS charge. It worked fine before I sent the headshell to keiths!

[keiths]

It worked fine before I sent the headshell to keiths!

And when my Sumiko headshell arrives (been on back-order now for 6 weeks... ), you can have the original headshell

[MCRU]

And when my Sumiko headshell arrives (been on back-order now for 6 weeks... ), you can have the original headshell

not bad for £30 for a sumiko, even though they are from the USA sounding Japanese!

[Jac Hawk]

Excellent move, Mike, and good first record. Check out e-Bay for bargains. A decent Rega might be just the ticket.

Hopefully you'll be buying a few more records before you wear Time Out out

To be honnest i've got Time Out on CD, It's just such a great album, an icon of it's time.

[DSJR]

The SL1800 was another old goodie with a sprung (sort-of) sub-tray with the motor and arm on, giving better isolation than the previous 1500 model. use it with a Herbies mat and Sumiko shell (I have doubts about the original technics shell) and thoroughly soak the main bearing and you'll have a good old deck there and for not much money.

[Jac Hawk]

Ok I lurv this forum, i shall be in a day or two's time the proud owner of a Techy SL1800 courtesy of Dave Brook, (thanks very much Dave) however not knowing anything about this deck I would be interested to find out what cartridges would suit/sound best?

[MartinT]

Nice one Mike and very generous of Dave. A light tracking MM would best suit. Anything from an old Shure to an AT ML440. If you need a cheapie to get started with, the AT95/110 are fine. You might find that a high output MC like the Denon DL110 will just work and they're excellent.

[MCRU]