Vintage turntable

[figgs]

Hoping for a bit of advice folks. I’m looking to buy a vintage turntable as a birthday present for my father, a northern soul fanatic with a huge vinyl collection. I’ve been doing my research and comparing vintage turntables for sale online classified ads wise. For somebody who is not really a subject matter expert such as myself it is is a bit of a minefield. There seems to be a lot replica briefcase style turntables kicking about but obviously I’m looking for something a bit more authentic than that. Somebody mentioned to me that a Sony HP-460 would be a good buy if I could find one for the right money. Would others agree? And if so, where would be the best place to concentrate my search other than on eBay? Apologies if this is is a bit of bone question and slightly off topic. Hopefully somebody will be able to point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance.

[bennyboy]

Best thing in terms of quality to look for would be separates, so turntable, amp & speakers. The retro briefcase turntables are generally fairly poor.

Do you know what your father has already? That would be a starting point, as no point in getting something that isn't an upgrade on his current gear.

[treeboy]

I'm a bit of a Hacker bore when it comes to this subject. Was up in Edinburgh last weekend, staying with a fellow board member who has recently acquired a Hacker Gondolier as the main player in the front room. I think he's well pleased with it. They have bags of welly, and sound great. They also look the part because....well, they're old. At a boot sale on Sunday morning, a seller had a Pye Black Box for £38, fully working! If I'd been in my car and not flying home, I would have picked it up in a jiffy. They're good , especially for 78s, but the Hacker is better IMO. Emerson Hi Fidelity is the other one that sounds really good. I would say steer clear of the Dansettes, even though they have the look down to a tee, unless you can bag a Dansette Major. That's a different beast to the dinky cutesy ones.
I'm using a Hacker Serenade in the front room at the moment, and I love it. It's a right old lump, but it belts it out.
A bit of pron,

Dansette Major Deluxe


Hacker Gondolier GP42 with auxiliary speaker


Hacker Serenade


Emerson Hi Fidelity