I have a Debut II for sale in good condition and am selling it on behalf of my cousin, but don't really know how much to ask for it TBH. It comes with an Ortofon OM5e cartridge and I discovered that the counterweight can be adjusted to achieve a 1.5g playing weight for an OM20 or 30 stylus if needs be. The 20 was a favourite of mine at the time and would happily suit the low mass tonearm fitted to this deck. The main bearing looks fine, with clean oil and barely a mark on the tip where the ball bearing acts as thrust/support.

When new in the early noughties, we dealers had to buy these decks in quantities of four (from memory) and the profit margins were low, the theory being that we would sell more to make the shortfall and with no dealer setup required, the chains could shift loads of boxes. The sound quality of these decks was lively and "fresh," this being as much the cartridge fitted as anything else, a 20 stylus refining the sound to excellent effect. The plinth is surprisingly solid and the feet appear to give good isolation, although for serious use I'd suggest removal of the lid when playing.

I'll post some pics later if anyone's interested in a reliable little deck that won't cost the earth yet sounds really good. Bear in mind that although the current Debut has a more versatile tonearm, the price has rocketed to around £200 and Rega RP1 territory, whereas the Debut II was around £120 I seem to remember.

The belt seems fine and the motor suspension is rather sophisticated for a budget priced deck, having O ring support like old Regas, yet having some sort of counterbalancing too, to keep the motor stable (always a problem with Regas that were moved around a lot). I suspect a Speed Box could transform motor behaviour as the rest of this little deck seems up to it.

Any takers?????