Pioneer PL-530

Never been so excited by a cartridge pairing to my turntable.. this Nagaoka MP200 on my Pioneer PL-530x will give me so much joy it’s incredible.

You can get some amazing deals on used turntables that are going to be in your price range. I picked up a Pioneer PL-530... my current player... for $200. It needed some slight work but it's an $800 turntable man. For you, I'd look at a used Fluance 82 for $200 or 83 for $300 used... new they are about $100 more.

Pioneer PL-S40. Came with no lid and some quirks (and features) but I think I got a good deal. Sounds nice, new cartridge coming soon.

I still use my dad's Pioneer PL-530 turntable from the 70's almost every day. I wish I knew what happened to his Pioneer SX-1050 receiver! I've got the turntable paired with a Pioneer SX-750 and Polk Monitor 7's. Sounds great!

I would say a Nagaoka MP-100 would be fine for the budget you stated. I have a PL-530 myself but it's paired to a Micro Acoustics MA-2002E electret transducer cartridge.

I think it is a good pairing. While the AT is not my favorite cart, that would fall to the Nagaoka MP-200. However the AT cart sounds better on the Pioneer compared to the table it was on, a Technics SL-1900. Both of these greatly exceed your budget, but are outstanding performers that would pair well with the PL-530.

For 100$ I always preferred the pioneer pl-990 simply because it has a strobe light and speed adjustment from the front. Not many people seem to consider that turntable, but it is an excellent value.

You would need a preamp and then a bluetooth transmitter connected to the preamp (although I’m not a fan of using BT with vinyl). I had a Rega Planar 3, which was a great table, paired with a Sumiko blue point special which I used as a work turntable for background music for my work setup (I worked at an e-waste warehouse and I finally brought the Rega home when the warehouse closed for good in 2020. As the Rega was an ewaste find, it was practically free), until I traded it for my Pioneer PL-530 which was serving me well until it recently began having mechanical issues. Had i not needed a swappable headshell, I would have kept the Rega (it also had a glass platter).

I have a Pioneer PL-530 and it is an incredibly nice fully automatic turntable. PL-570 is a Quartz version... but both are in the $750-$1K range. I honestly don't think that there is ANY performance hit in the Auto range if you get a good one. Dual, Pioneer, and Thorens are the best of the line, closely followed by Marantz and Sansui later on... but they are all awesome if you ask me.

Picked up a Pioneer PL-530 the other day and this cart was installed. Sounds pretty good, but I have a Stanton 881s which I threw on it.

Anyways, any help or info is appreciated.

On mobile, sorry if the format is wonky.