Mine was an early 80s, Valhalla but pre-circus job with an Ittok on it and for most of its 20-odd years with me, an AT OC9. I though it was the dog's bollocks at the time. I got it with my first credit card not long after getting my first job, in about 1982. I seem to recall it was about £400. About the same as the four or five year old VW Golf I was running at the time.
Not anything like as VFM as a properly set up s/h TD124, which for well under £100 back then could probably have shown it a clean pair of heels. But what did I know then? At that time I read the magazines and bouncy tables were where it was at.
Fast forward from 1982 to 2013 and my new LP12 with upgrades all over it ,is a very good deck indeed and is a much better deck now than 1982, well it pleases me anyway and looks very nice.
VFM.. blimey, not at all in comparison to other TTs. If I add it all up it cost a lot! But all things relatively speaking,
I've certainly had enough value out of it as it hasn't stopped Spinning my collection and has done since day one.
And I suppose that's the litmus test.
"lack of passion is fatal"
Vinyl: Thorens TD-124mk2 / SME-312 Aluminium 'special' / SME M2-9R / STEREO: Etsuro Urushi Cobalt / Shure M3D / Ortofon SPU A95 / Cartridge Man Music Master / Shure - SC35C (US) / SAEC C3 MC MONO: Miyajima Zero B 0.7mil mono / Miyajima Premium 1.0 / Amps & SUTs: Radford STA25 mk3 / AD Audio 'Satchmo2' pre & LCR phono / Hashimoto HM-7 SUT / ETR-MONO SUT Digital: Audio Note 4.1 (with DAC5 upgrades) DAC / Roon / Tidal Speakers: Tannoy 12" MGs' in RFC custom 'Rutland' Cabinets with RFC crossovers / Tannoy ST-100 Super Tweeters Cables: LFD Grainless phono / RFC Mercury / Duelund DCA16GA tinned copper / Kimber 12TC / SW1X Audio Design USB-SPdif / Duelund DCA20GA interconnects / SW1X Audio SPDIF Aero 6 / Mains Power Conditioner / Box Furniture rack / Audiodesk Systeme Vinyl Cleaner / a very beautiful & understanding Wife!
I believe a fully fitted, upgraded, "breathed upon" and blessed by Ivor, Linn LP12 costs several grand to buy these days.
I lived with a standard LP12 for about a year in the early '80, whilst its owner was working abroad, so was able to compare it with my Thorens TD124/II (ten yeas old and cost me £38). There was absolutely nothing about the Linn which caused me to think about replacing the Thorens.
Barry
Location: Dagenham Essex
Posts: 11,215
I'm Allen.
I own a PIONEER PL-570X ( Black ) super machine
[
It'd be a damn sight nicer without that horrible label plastered onto the left-hand side, spoiling the lovely wood veneer... Whoever's idea that was should be shot, for being guilty of aesthetics indecency!
Sonically, I reckon it'd be comparable with the likes of a Pioneer PL-71, and therefore more than decent, although the auto shut-off mechanism may spoil the party slightly.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!
Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!
Location: Huntingdonshire
Posts: 1,413
I'm Andrew.
Very similar in looks to my Pioneer PL-550. I notice that the platter doesn't seem as substantial and the arm looks a tad feeble maybe.
Very cool looking although that decal does indeed spoil it.
I think VFM is a personal thing.
One man buys a turntable for cheap, to have it sat unloved and unused in a corner of the room.
Another man spends a fortune on his deck, and spends even more money and time tinkering with it, and in return the turntable gives him joy every day.
Which one had the real VFM?