home theater system turntable

We can't know that. What system do you have? Is it a separate receiver? Does it have phono inputs? What's wrong with the old turntable, that a new belt and cartridge wouldn't fix? If you had a TT hooked up to it, did it sound good then?
We need a little more to go on..............

If the old turntable sounds good on it, a new one should too. I've never used a phono preamp, but I've heard they definitely help. I use a Pioneer PL-514 turntable, from the 70s, and it sounds great, hooked up to my Onkyo. I've been enjoying listening to my albums again. Your pioneer should have plenty of power, and sound good.

You can find turntables and cartridges, in all price ranges here:
http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Turntables?gclid=CJ_O0NunrJwCFdFJ2godP15v2w, if you're going to look for a new one.

BTW.......
Was your equipment list in your signature, in the original post? If it was, I'm sorry I did not see it, and makes me feel ridiculous asking what equipment you have. I must have been tired.......
Good luck.

I just got a circa 1981 Realistic turntable from someone on craigslist that sounds better than the mid-90s Denon DP-7f it replaced.  There are plenty of great turntables on the market.  There are lots of older ones that sound great.  Since you have a phono preamp youhave lots of options.

What model is your turntable and/or cartridge?  What is your budget for a new one?  Are you looking for a certain aesthetic?  Two good places to look for turntable gear are http://www.needledoctor.com and http://www.lpgear.com .   I just put an Audio Technica AT440MLa on my Realistic table which I got at "LP Gear" and it sounds amazing.

How's the stylus?  I've got some very old albums that sound fantastic.  I think you may have a needle problem - needles are usually easy to find and replace.  Check http://www.neeledoctor.com and http://www.lpgear.com among others.

All turntable needles are diamonds except very old ones used for 78s.  Two years should be fine - they usually last much longer than that unless you have the tracking force way to high or it is otherwise abused.  Have you tried cleaning the needle?  I'd love to see some pictures that may help. 

Denon makes some very nice turntables but it will only sound as good as the cartridge that you match to it.  Sony makes turntables and I exspect to see other companies going back to offering turntable since album sales have been going up lately. 

What model specifically? There are many Technics tables, from entry-level belt drives costing $150 (today's dollars) to $500 direct-drive models still sold now some music labels use these days to archive their own vinyl to digital form when they can't find the master tapes.

Does the tonearm use a standard cartridge or a P-mount? Unless the tonearm is damaged, the alingment of a P-mount type cartridge should always be "within spec", so I doubt the scratchy noise you hear is because of that.

But if it's a standard cart system, then alignment issues can definitely be a possible cause.

Next, that scratchy noise could be because of a setting on the phono preamp, but I couldn't find anything with Google using the model # "toc-750".

Dave: I found this preamp using TCC-750 in google and it seems straightforward i.e. no extra controls or inputs (say, for a moving coil cartridge) so unless it is defective, the scratchy noise maybe/possibly/could be coming from the type of cable being used to connect the turntable to the preamp. That's because for turntables, really the cartridge, this is one time that the type of cable really CAN make a very audible difference (I'm not a believer in "audiophile" cables as you can tell - for example $50 is my limit for a 3 foot cable for a CD player or something similar).

The capacitance of the cable is what matters here and is why most cartridge manufacturers include a capacitance specification with their cart for best performance. I am not experienced enough though to give you even a range of capacitance for a cable - I just stick to what the cart or turntable manufacturer tells me - and do not want to guess, so that is something you'll have to research on your own.

Lastly, there might be something wrong with the input you're using on your receiver. To eliminate that as a suspect, connect the preamp to another input and see what happens.

Yes I have also read many positive reviews of the Audio-Technica AT-PL120 table and would be on my own list of tables to own if I was in the market for one (the Technics SL-1200 and a couple of Denons are the others). Audio-Technica is a good company IMO and I've used their carts several times over the years. The only negative that I've seen reported is that in some peoples' opinions, the AT-PL120's built-in phono preamp doesn't sound all that good & they recommended using one of your own or a receiver's preamp if it sounds better.

Statistically speaking, I would agree with you that the problem is probably with the turntable (25 years for a highly mechanical piece of gear vs. 6 months for something with no moving parts).

So just buy this turntable and I'm sure all your problems will be solved.

Your link "this turntable" doesn't take you to a turntable. It brings you back to this thread.......