Advice Needed: Used MCS 6205 vs New Pro-Ject Debut Carbon

Bustopowicz said:

Hello all,
I decided to get back into vinyl after a long digitally driven absence. I’m not an audiophile by any means, more of a hobbyist.
I’ll be spinning old LPs from my youth, (mostly 70s classic rock and jazz) along with some nice new stuff I've been buying. (Beatles Mono recordings, re-mastered Zep and some more contemporary choices like Steve Earle and Trampled by Turtles, along with a bit of classical, you know, for Sunday mornings)
Anyway; I am wondering the better way to go here. I acquired an MCS 6205 that needs a belt, needle and cartridge and dustcover and some general cleaning. I've also been reading about the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon turntable and it has some excellent reviews for the level of turntable it is.
So, some advice would be great…I know I’d spend about 25% on the MCS repair as I would on the new Pro-Ject, but which is overall better for casual yet frequent listening?
Thanks!

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Four days and not one of you magnificent cats would do the simple courtesy of replying to this new member or even welcoming him. What a joke!

Welcome Bustop... I would have to say without hesitation that the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon would hands down be the better approach. A modern table with a modern arm that on its worst day will outclass the MCS.

For those old '70's records, I would also recommend that you consider a record cleaner along the lines of the Spin Clean. Small amount of change up front, but would give you more satisfying results downstream.

I have kind of a weird obsession with MCS as it was my first receiver I bought as a young lad with my hard earned lawn mowing money. Still looking for the right 3125 for nostalgia reasons. My receiver is a 3233, MCS turntable forget # but manual everything, belt drive and my speakers were Quadraflex ST19's, now my garage system.

That being said, ditch the turntable and get the Pro-ject or maybe a Rega.

I have a Spin Clean and my Discwasher/Zerostat, from the 70"s, and my process with garage sale/Goodwill/trinket stores is to use the DW first, to knock off the heavy stuff and the final wash with the Spin Clean.

I have the Goodwill app on my phone and I drive around a lot with my job and when ever I am in a area I click the app and if its close I go.

Once while in a Goodwill the guy came out with a stack of about 30 Lp's and set them down and it was someone's collection and they all looked like they had only been played once or twice, no spindle marks, clean vinyl, covers in perfect condition. Needless to say the entire collection came home with me right there.

MCS huh? Project considered entry level but decent. ANY turntable {belt drive) SETUP properly, decent cartridge (Shure M97HE, or GRADO) that runs QUIETLY will give good results, I had trouble with my Project debut 3 from day 1,. I now use old school tables with sonic results. BTW your taste in music is good! I have a Yamaha PX2 Linear tracker saving to repair It is NICE got it for 12 bucks, I have 3500 Lp's and enjoy them (VG+ to mint only) I think to a point you get what you pay for but alot of money grabbers out there I'd bet Steve Earle could write a song about it. I can't locate my glasses hope this is legible. I am 62 been at this along time PAX

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge, but MCS turntables were made for JC Penney by various good Japanese manufacturers.

Does your MCS 6205 look pretty much like the turntable in this picture?

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n243/mrow2/Record%20Turntables/SL-BD33aa.jpg