Entry Level Turntable and Speakers

bsoltan

bsoltan

bsoltan

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Looking for some advice for an entry level Turntable and Speakers. Budget up to £500.
I don't have a big vinyl collection, but my wife and I have a few. It's mostly folk, americana, indie-pop, and soundtracks but could expand to anything.
She would be happy buying a £50 all-in-one unit from Amazon but I'm trying to get something a bit more budget-audiophile. :D

I've not made any audio purchases for a long time as I've stuck to pc+headphones for years, and my only speaker currently is an Alexa Smart Speaker. If the speakers could link to that by Bluetooth/Audio-out it would be a bonus but not required.
I'm also after something that looks sleek and tidy on a living room sideboard, not wanting anything too big.

So far I just browsed on RicherSounds and the Pro-Ject E1 and some Active/Powered Speakers is what's looking good.
With speakers I see at least one mentions "built-in phono pre-amp so that you can plug a turntable straight in". Is this something I need to look for specifically or would any Active/Powered speakers work?

Thanks for the advice.
 
You'll need a phono stage somewhere, either in the record deck, a seperate phono stage box, or inside an integrated amplifier.

But you'll need these items

Sources- record deck, streamer
Amplifier
Speakers

£500 isn't a lot, I'd probably be looking at second hand

How about Wiim amp, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 and record player of your choice? You'd need record player with built in phono stage, as the Wiim amp lacks one.
 
Personally I'd avoid active speakers as typically

Not remote control
Not enough inputs

Although there are exceptions to that, they're really more suited for desktop use. Plus with that Wiim amp, or Wiim Amp pro (more power afaik better dac) it has a streamer as well so good VFM

be aware some amplifiers will digitise analogue inputs, prior to processing -the wiim do. If you don't want that look for a standard "analogue stereo integrated amplifier"
 
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hornetstinger said:
You'll need a phono stage somewhere, either in the record deck, a seperate phono stage box, or inside an integrated amplifier.

But you'll need these items

Sources- record deck, streamer
Amplifier
Speakers

£500 isn't a lot, I'd probably be looking at second hand

How about Wiim amp, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 and record player of your choice? You'd need record player with built in phono stage, as the Wiim amp lacks one.
Click to expand...

Perfect info thank you. I'm very much a novice and didn't want to make the mistake of getting something that would miss out the Amplifier part and not work properly!

Ideally I'd prefer not to have another separate Amp and box, but I'll look into the WiiM Amp, initial readings make it look good.
As an alternative I see there are some turntables with built in phono pre-amps and I guess that would be the better route to go down if I don't want a separate Amp?
 
bsoltan said:
Perfect info thank you. I'm very much a novice and didn't want to make the mistake of getting something that would miss out the Amplifier part and not work properly!

Ideally I'd prefer not to have another separate Amp and box, but I'll look into the WiiM Amp, initial readings make it look good.
As an alternative I see there are some turntables with built in phono pre-amps and I guess that would be the better route to go down if I don't want a separate Amp?
Click to expand...

Dedicated external phono stag is generally better quality . Starting at £100 +

Phono stages amplifier phono level to line level applying riaa eq correction.

But you will also need a loudspeaker amplifier if using passive speakers

If you don't have a loudspeaker amplifier you'll get no sound as that amplifies line level to speaker level
 
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For turntable the minimum you want is a Rega Planar 1, I've heard those running and there 'OK'.

It's better to go slower and keep the quality up, than rush and purchase everything at once and regret it. £500 for turntable / amp ./ speakers is not much however.
 
Admetos said:
For turntable the minimum you want is a Rega Planar 1, I've heard those running and there 'OK'.

It's better to go slower and keep the quality up, than rush and purchase everything at once and regret it. £500 for turntable / amp ./ speakers is not much however.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd say £500 need to increase budget. Cheapest I'd get for starter would be £120 Diamond 9.1 Then add £50 (but I would recommend getting better ones) for stands. set aside £50 for all cables (record deck to amp RCA, speaker cables, bananas etc). An amp say £350 minimum. Already over budget
 
I used to have an Audiotechnica turntable hooked to a pair of Audioengine A2 speakers and it worked a treat- upgradable turntable with built in usb output, line pre amp, decent cartridge as well
 
I had more thoughts on this. I think the OP should look at the pre-owned market. At the moment not much is selling, cost of living + summer, it's a good time to buy pre-owned.

Another option is to check Peter Tyson / Richer sounds pre-owned / ex demo section for reduced items.
 
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