I need help finding a great turntable for my budget avaible in Europe

[Flilex]

Hello everyone,
I'm new into Vinyl and i want to get myself a turntable to play my records.

My budget for the Turntable itself is around 300 to 350€ / 340 to 400$. I've spent some hours researching but my knowledge about how good each of them performs in reality is quite limited. I've read a lot about Pro-Ject and Rega are good options in Europe. Since i'm from Germany U-turn and Fluance are no real options because of their availability here. In conclusion: I'm looking for a fun Turntable with upgrade options that‘s avaible in Europe. I hope someone can help me with that and tell me which model of Pro-Ject, Rega or maybe even another brand might be a good choice for me and my budget : )

Thanks in advance!

[bjorn]

You can't really go wrong with either Pro-Ject or Rega, though from what I've read, Rega's are perhaps a bit less user-friendly because you have to use spacers if you ever need to adjust tonearm height. Based on personal experience, I'd also avoid decks where you have to lift the platter to change speeds, unless you are OK with adding a Speedbox at some point soon.

Probably the best thing you could do is find a hi-fi dealer and try a few out for yourself. Since you're in Germany, there should be something not too far from you, and the trip would definitely be worth it. Another thing to consider is whether it might be worth saving a bit longer and jumping up to something in the €1000-€1500 range. Once you hit that price range, I think the returns diminish dramatically going up any higher. I did that a few years ago, and I will probably stick with that turntable until I kick the bucket. There isn't really anything that I can see breaking on it other than the belt or motor, which are easily replaced. I just don't see any reason to ever upgrade again.