Question Which record player and speaker

Crunx

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Hi All,

I'm looking at venturing into the world of vinyl. Mainly for my love of music and after inheriting a large collection of records as well.

I have a budget of £600 - 1000 for a record player and speakers.

Is it possible to get an adequate set up with this budget?

All suggested equipment welcome.

Chris
 
This Onkyo A9010 (Black) and Q Acoustics Q3020 (Graphite) and this Audio Technica LP3 (Black) is a great starting point and fits well within your budget. You could swap out the speakers for something a bit larger or invest in some good speaker stands and a decent stand for the turntable and amp. The LP3 is automatic, so just plonk the record on the turntable and it will lower the tonearm at the beginning of the side and lift it off at the end.

If you wanted a turntable that looks a bit more hifi, this Project Debut III S Audiophile Black is an excellent turntable upgrade. They need more setting up in terms of getting tracking and weight correct, but the sound is superb. Fully manual, so you will be a bit more involved in putting the needle on the record, but it's hardly a chore!!
 
If it was me I'd buy a pair of powered speakers and a turntable with built in phono amp. It would keep it minimalist
 
I guess that depends on the upgrade path.

The built in phono amps on most of the turntables are OK at best. Different pre-amps give very different tonal performances and being able to upgrade individual components has a much bigger difference with vinyl than digital sources.
 
If you are willing to go second hand then how about the following -

Nad 1000 pro preamp with mm phono input, nads of this age have very good phono Preamp’s in them - should go for around £250 or less NAD 1000 Monitor Series Preamplifier. MM/MC Phono Output. 99p NR | eBay

If you want to save a bit, with a slight reduction in quality there is the nad 1020 for £100-150. Example NAD 1020 PREAMPLIFIER 240V UK version | eBay or wait around for a nad 1240 to appear.

Info on nad Preamp’s here Three Best Preamps from NAD: 1300, 1240 and 1130?

Rega planar 3 with rb300 (a classic and very good tonearm that go for £200ish on its own) and goldring e1 cartridge, currently £325 but may go for around £400-450.

REGA PLANAR 3, RB300 TONEARM | eBay

Leaving about £350-400 for active speakers -

Big, powerful and fairly warm for a studio monitor, Mackie hr824’s with 250w of amp per speaker and 8” driver that goes down to 37hz f3, worth a cheeky offer.

Mackie HR824 MK1 - pair of studio quality powered monitors | eBay

This is close to £2.5k of kit new for around your £1k budget.
 
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You don't want a Record Player, you want a Turntable, Amp, and Speakers.

So, I would break it down like this, though this is no more than a starting point. But it is a good starting point -

£250 = Turntable
£250 = Amp/Receiver
£500 = Speaker Pair
---------------------------
£1000 = total


Next, to buy an amp, you and we have to understand specifically what you want the Amp to do. Do you want or need Network Streaming? DAC (digital to analog converter)? Tone Controls? Or other features?

This turntable is at historic lows in the UK, and very appealing -

£199/ea = Audio Technica AT-LP120 turntable with Cartridge -

Audio Technica AT-LP120 HC Silver USB Turntable - Turntables - AudioVisual Online - UK Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

Audio Technica AT-LP120 HC Gloss Black USB Turntable - Turntables - AudioVisual Online - UK Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

Amp/Receiver -

Yamaha AS501 Integrated w/DAC, 85w/ch - £260 -

Yamaha A-S501

Yamaha RN602 Network Receiver, 80w/ch, Network Streaming, DAC, ... - £320 -

https://petertyson.co.uk/yamaha-r-n602

Speakers -

Monitor Audio Silver 2 (8") Bookshelf - £453/pr - (£650/pr Retail) -

Monitor Audio Silver 2 Rosenut Bookshelf Speakers (Pair) - Bookshelf Speakers - AudioVisual Online - UK Home Cinema and Hifi Specialists

So, let's take a sample system -

£200/ea = AT-LP120 Turntable
£320/ea = Yamaha RN602 Network Receiver
£453/pr = Monitor Audio Silver 2 Speakers
------------------------------
£973 = Total


Of course, there are other options, but this illustrates what is possible within your budget.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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Thanks for all the great advice. So nice to chat with some helpful people.

I've got plenty to consider now.
 

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