THE DECKS ARE STACKED IN YOUR FAVOUR

The mid-price turntable market is full of quality products waiting to reward the discerning buyer

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As we have already seen in our round-up of affordable turntables (see p30), there are plenty of very capable record players out there at tempting prices. But if you have between £500 and £1000 to spend, you automatically gain access to a whole new level of performance.

At this level manufacturers can afford to spend more on parts and design, and, on a device as delicate as a record player, that can make a huge difference. In short, better materials plus better engineering means much better performance. It also means greater potential for a successful upgrade; these decks are well able to do justice to a more expensive cartridge should you want one.

Of course, there are one or two things that you, the buyer, need to think about. At this price, it is particularly important to do all you can to house your turntable away from other components in your system (especially the speakers) to minimise signal interference. And if you have a wooden floor, consider placing your deck on a wall shelf to avoid the vibration created by footfall in the room.

Think, too, about which features you want and which you don't. Do you, for example, need an onboard phono stage or electronic speed control? The Technics SL-1500C has both, while the more purist Rega Planar 3 has neither.

On these pages we review our favourite mid-priced decks; if you play your cards right, you could win big.

Dual CS 518

This Dual is easy to use, has a built-in phono stage and sounds great

£649

View online review whf.cm/DualCS518