I've written plenty of justifiable praise for the Dual CS-5000 I "won" on eBay recently for only $299.95. Now, there are three others on eBay, which might be "won" for a lot less.

One has no belt, but the other two seem to be absolutely pristine. Of those two, the current bid on one is $199.95, and the other a mere one dollar, which is certain not to last. Still, anyone interested in a really good audiophile-grade turntable and who doesn't want to spend the ludicrous amounts most new models cost would do well to check these out! Good luck!

I have no doubt that the CS-5000 is good, no great, but if I am going to put $300 down on a TT, it will have to be a linear tracker.

Laz

Laz,

Don´t get me wrong, but I very much doubt you can get an half decent linear tracker for $300.

Decent linear trackers are very, very expensive. Most Technics, Piooners, etc. available in the 70´s and 80´s just don´t cut it, IMO.

Jorge

I have to agree with Jorge. A linear tracker for $300? Not very likely.

As of now, there are no CS-5000's on eBay. When last I looked, one was listed at $300, and had several days to go before the bidding would end. I continue to be delighted with the performance of mine, and can't imagine any turntable available anywhere for only $300 that's as good. There are certainly better tables out there - ClearAudio, for example - but at a price I'm not willing to spend. And there are others (Denons for example) that are much more expensive, but nowhere near as good.

My two cents for this morning.

Ed,

For the amount of money we are talking about, another very viable alternative is the "Thorens" route.

Thorens made outstanding decks, if not particularly good arms, unlike the Duals, and their 145 / 160 models offer very good value for money. Where they are a lot more flexible than Duals is in the amount of tweaking / upgrading they will allow you, starting with the possibility of mounting just about any tonearm you care to choose.

Jorge

Thorens did make some fine turntables (when did turntables start to be called "decks?"), but their tonearms are a bit too clunky for me. If I could couple their motor/platter with an arm like that on the CS-5000, then I think I'd have something interesting, but I've never replaced a tonearm on any turntable, and am not too anxious to try now.

The CS-5000 is far from the best turntable out there, but it offers the best compromise: a very good (if not stellar) belt driven motor/platter, and a very fine (if not the ne plus ultra) tonearm. Best of all, it sounds great!