Turntable/Amp/Speaker advice.

[Eric]

My wife has found a few records in some local fairs. She bought them and we do not have anything to play them on!

She said get a basic turntable, but I found this as an opportunity to buy something reasonably nice

I will be needing an Amp, turntable and a set of speakers. I can probably budget around £250 maybe £350 for everything.

She does like Project Genie Mk3 Turntable, but price is a bit high I think!

I do not even mind used aslong as it is in mint condition and preferably boxed.

Would like to also run my 3D tv through it!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Mr Pig]

All used would be best.

Turntable:

Rega Planer3 (£150) LINK
Linn Basik (£150) LINK Too expensive
Rega Planer2 (£120)
Moth turntable (100)
Project Début (£100)
Systemdek One (70)


Amp:

Any Rotel with phono stage, there are too many to list but all are ok. Lots about so be fussy. LINK

Speakers:

Kef Koda II or III
Wharfdale Diamond I or II (they got worse after that) LINK
Mission, most older models are ok.
Celestion, most are ok LINK
Mordount Short, bit dull but well built

Speakers, generally the bigger the better but standmounts that come with stands. Avoid cheap floorstanding speakers like the plague.

Look for speakers that come with cables. Must be fairly thick multi-stranded copper, if not, buy some off eBay. Linn K20, Naim NAC4, Mission speaker cable, Exposure speaker cable LINK

Buy stuff local so you don't double the price with postage.

 

[Eric]

Thanks for all that info. Any combination would work fine?

Would the rotel accept inputs from my PS3/Blu ray & Sky+ box?

I think I have a Richer Sounds not too far from me in Prestwich. As said though, I would prefer used to start with. I am not a person that would notice the super high quality products.!

I did see this in the sales section.

 

[Mr Pig]

Any combination would work fine?

Yes, more or less. They'll work but not sound the same. The Rega3 is similar sounding to the Project but a good step better. The Linn is of similar quality to the Rega3 but has a lean, clean sound as opposed to the Rega's bouncy, rhythmic sound.

The Kef and Wharfdales have a warm, bouncy sound where as Mission and Celestion speakers are usually leaner and more detailed. You just need to try some stuff and change things later if need be but any combo will potentially produce a good sound.

Would the Rotel accept inputs from my PS3/Blu ray & Sky+ box?

An older integrated amp will have line-level inputs and phono input. The phono is specifically for a turntable and only accepts that. All of the others are more or less the same and will take a line-level output from anything. A CD player, Tuner, Tape deck, DVD player, Games console, anything. As long as the device has stereo phono-jack outputs on the back the amp will take it.

It will not have digital, surround-sound inputs.

I am not a person that would notice the super high quality products.!

Well, why are you bothering then? By a Midi out of Currys.

I did see this in the sales section.

Have you ever seen one of these?

Man, that's a lot of functions. It even has a saw! Just to look at it makes you want one. Heck it must be good if it can do so much.

But if you want to saw some wood one of these will do a much better job and for a fraction of the price:

So what is it you want to do? Play with toy tools or saw wood? Nothing wrong with either choice, but it's your choice. Note however that the AV amp won't have a phono input so you'd need to buy a separate one to play a turntable into it.

 

[BlueWizard]

I'm not recommending this system, but if you want everything for next to nothing, this fit that requirement -

http://superfi.co.uk/p-2415-teac-lp...tem-cd-recorder-with-integrated-speakers.aspx

Just don't expect miracles, remember, you get what you pay for.

What you really want is difficult to accomplish for less than about £500 (Amp, CD, Turntable).

Steve/bluewizard

 

[BlueWizard]

Let's be a little more realistic. For Amp, Turntable, and Speakers, it is difficult to go less than this -

Audio Technica USB Turntable AT-LP120-USB (need a cartridge of your choice) -

http://superfi.co.uk/p-3051-audio-technica-atlp120usb-usb-turntable.aspx

Denon PMA510 45w/ch amp -

http://superfi.co.uk/p-2683-denon-pma510ae-amplifier.aspx

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers -

http://superfi.co.uk/p-2442-wharfedale-diamond-91-speakers-pair.aspx

If you need a CD Player, here is the matching Denon DCD510 single CD Player -

http://superfi.co.uk/p-2764-denon-dcd510ae-cd-player.aspx

Prices -

£180 = Audio Technica Turntable (Plus about £50 to £80 for a cartridge)
£170 = Denon PMA510 45w/ch amp
£170 = Denon PMA510 CD Player
£_99/pr = Diamond 9.1 speakers

Without CD Player = £499

With CD Player = £669

That is a basic true HiFi but entry level system.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Eric]

Well, why are you bothering then? By a Midi out of Currys.

Because its an excuse to get into this and then build from it. However I do like your analogies!


Thanks for all the input though, I will certainly look into them all.

 

[Mr Pig]

What you really want is difficult to accomplish for less than about £500

No it isn't. I have, in the house right now:

Realistic Receiver, cost £10 (old but quite nice quality and quite powerful)
Systemdek One turntable, cost £30 (Needed a new mat but came with a Rega cart)
Mission 760i speakers, cost £15. (Near mint and came boxed with instructions)

So that's a grand total of £55 and it would sound better than the new system you've advocated. For £500 you could bury it!

its an excuse to get into this and then build from it

Build what? I'm not being funny, what you want to end up with should determine what you buy now. If you want a surround system then buy an AV amp. If you want better sound quality and just stereo buy a stereo amp.

 

[BlueWizard]

Mr Pig, perhaps I should have qualified my statement by saying -

"What you really want is difficult to accomplish for less than about £500 IN NEW EQUIPMENT."

Though, oddly, I thought that was implied.

As to your second point (surround vs stereo), I agree. The original poster has to decide what he wants. A stereo can do a very good job for movies, but it is not surround sound. A surround sound can do an OK job for music, but on a fixed budget, you are spreading yourself very thin.

So far, I've assume the person is looking for a stereo.

Yes, you can do very well in used equipment, but in my opinion, only if you are lucky, and you know what equipment to buy, which requires some experience, and you feel you can make a reasonable evaluation of the equipment. Turntables tend to be fragile, and I would be cautious buying a used one sight unseen. There are a lot of little parts that can get lost in the mail.

For some people, they do stellar buying used equipment and get exceptional system and extremely low prices. But in my opinion you have to have some sense of what used equipment is worthy.

I'm trying to show the Original Poster what the realistic possibilities are in NEW equipment. Now, I might not necessarily recommend the specific equipment I listed, thought there is nothing wrong with it. It just illustrates that it takes a minimum of £500 to get started with NEW equipment, if you want equipment worth having.

Yes, it can be done for less in NEW equipment, but not much less.

Steve/bluewizard