deck me some specs....no wait

Sic

Sic

Sic

Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2004
Posts
15,365
Location
SO16
spec me some decks...i don't know why, but i find myself really wanting some decks - i dont want to DJ, i dont want to get good at DJing, i want to listen to vinyl, and i don't want the entire hi-fi. assuming i'll need an amp, speakers and a deck (or 2...maybe). i don't want to spend thousands, but i don't want a piece of crap either. haven't got a clue how much this stuff costs, so i'm after your advice.

if you could give me a low-end and medium end spec, with some recommended brands, i can have a look for myself :)

thanks
 
all i want's to listen to music on them...surely you can get a semi decent setup for that?
 
Sic said:
all i want's to listen to music on them...surely you can get a semi decent setup for that?
Click to expand...

Oh right, so you just need 1 decent turntable? No idea then, you need one of the audiophiles to recommend something.
 
What exactly are they for Sic?, mixing or purely listening?. I'm on my 5th pair now so i'll try and give a point3r.
 
You wont want DJ decks if you want to listen to music! They wreck LPs in no time at all and dont sound the best in comparison to a good turntable :)

Turntables start off cheapish (£200 or so) and go up to tens of thousands! I would assume from your post you are willing to spend a fair amount, so for the £500 mark for the turntable itself isnt unreasonable. As already mentioned, look at Project turntables, the Rega Planar is quite good and if you can get one, a Linn LP12 is the daddy. You can upgrade these with new bearings/tonearms/plinths etc as you get more money so they are well worth the inital investment :)

You can do amp+speakers for £400-£500 and still get something really special :) What you want out of that will all depend on the music and what you prefer. Some will want to go down the tubes route but these really do require you to be an "enthusiast" as you really ought to leave them to warm up before use for them to sound their best. A good solid state amp is more than good enough for most people :)
 
As mentioned before rega & project youve also got goldring. On the second hand side of things there are a multitude of turntables available at budget prices, linn lp12 not quite down to budget prices but available from about £300 up, linn Basic and Axis are good secondhand buys but my favourite has to be Thorens TD160, a TD160B mk2 might be getting on in years but still looks good. You can pick one up for under £100 and replacement parts are easy to come by. A very "tweakable" turntable as well, often for not much cash if any at all.
 
Sic, you're going to need to give us a budget and include whether the requirement is also for a decent phono stage, amp and speakers. For that matter, you may also want a CDP.
Just one point, the more you spend, the better it gets (usually), so please don't come back with "as little as possible". Be realistic about the starting budget and also whether you feel that you may want to upgrade some of it later. If you'd be happy with an upgrade plan, chances are we'll make a recommendation for most money to be spent on the deck, allowing upgrades to your amp and speaker fairly quickly.
 
I have a project debut 3, which is pretty cheap but sounds great! You can get them with built in phono stages too, but my amp already has one. I would seriously recommend this as a starting point for vinyl listening.
 
BF-Bert said:
..my favourite has to be Thorens TD160..
Click to expand...
Have to agree there, (well mine is a 165 but as far as I know the only difference is the 160 had magnetic antiskate as opposed to weighted). Very good turntables and, especially for the 165 which doesn't have the same 'cultish' status of the 160, very cheap.

You will want a decent cartridge too, I don't know much about current ones as I bought my last one a few years ago, but Shure, Ortofon etc will all be decent enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom