What is better for newbies to purchase, a Rega RP1 or Japan surplus vintage Sansui? Lets discuss about sound quality, maintenance, parts availability and resale value. Thanks PDVD.
I've gone the route of vintage tables, and of course if you can find a nice mint/working direct drive table that would ideal.
Of course, if you want instant reliability and want it fuss free, a Rega RP-1 would be your best bet. I have Queen turntable that is based on the RP-1 (but with an RP-3) motor and coupled with an Ortofon Red cart, sounds the same if not a bit better than my vintage idler Pioneer (when it was running properly).
SQ for me depends more on the cart and phono stage rather than the table, if we are talking about this price range (eg RP-1 vs vintage).