Recommend me a record player (amp and speakers)

RoyMi6 · 16 Sep 2017 at 21:53

My partner has an old Technics record player/cassette deck/speakers that she bought for £10 about 10 years ago.

We've recently done up her room and I was going to get her a replacement setup for just playing vinyl (she doesn't have any cassettes) that has a more modern look.

What recommend ye? The budget is about £400 all in.

kitfit1 · 17 Sep 2017 at 07:29

To be honest, a complete Vinyl setup for £400 is a bit of a tall order. Certainly a turntable and amp can be got for less than £400 but it dosn't leave much left for speakers.
A good starting point for a turntable is a Rega RP1. Usually it will come with an MM cartridge and is one of the best entry level turntables you can buy. From a certain Auction site they tend to sell for around £130/£190, new they are about £250.
As far as an amplifier goes, an Arcam Alpha 8 would be a good choice. Powerful enough at 50w and sounds nice with the added bonus that has a built in Phonostage to plug a turntable into. Again, from a certain auction site these can be got for between £60/£130 which is a bargain in my view.
That would leave you with about £80 for speakers.

hornetstinger · 17 Sep 2017 at 09:57

Don't buy Arcam Alphas- they have fauly input selectors.

£400 for record player, phono stage, amp and speakers, and all RCA and speaker cables is way too low.

kitfit1 · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:23

hornetstinger said:
Don't buy Arcam Alphas- they have fauly input selectors

Don't talk rubbish, i had an Alpha 8se for 15 years and never had any issues with it.
Another one of those "Internet Myths", that when told log enough by peeps just repeating what they read "Must Be True"

hornetstinger · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:25

I've got a Arcam Alpha9 , it's now unusable because of the input switch fault. Also the volume pot is uneven at low volumes one channel is lower in level.

kitfit1 · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:30

hornetstinger said:
I've got a Arcam Alpha9 , it's now unusable because of the input switch fault. Also the volume pot is uneven at low volumes one channel is lower in level.

That's just the way things go sometimes with old electronics. But just making a blanket statement "Don't buy Arcam Alphas- they have fauly input selectors." as if all Arcam Alpha's have an issue, is plain wrong and dosn't help the OP.

hornetstinger · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:33

So now you're changing your tune. It's well know the Arcam Alpha 9 had a design fault

http://www.condoraudio.com/wp-conte...am-Alpha9-Amplifier-Upgrade-Switch-Repair.pdf

kitfit1 · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:43

hornetstinger said:
So now you're changing your tune. It's well know the Arcam Alpha 9 had a design fault

http://www.condoraudio.com/wp-conte...am-Alpha9-Amplifier-Upgrade-Switch-Repair.pdf

I havn't changed my tune at all. You never mentioned you were talking about an Alpha 9 in your first post, you just said "Don't buy Arcam Alphas- they have fauly input selectors." Yes the Alpha 9 did have a design fault. All the Alpha's below the 9 have manual input selectors, not motorized selectors. As i recommend and Alpha 8 it has no faulty input selector.

hornetstinger · 17 Sep 2017 at 10:44

kitfit1 said:
I havn't changed my tune at all. You never mentioned you were talking about an Alpha 9 in your first post, you just said "Don't buy Arcam Alphas- they have fauly input selectors." Yes the Alpha 9 did have a design fault. All the Alpha's below the 9 have manual input selectors, not motorized selectors. As i recommend and Alpha 8 it has no faulty input selector.

It's a manual selector as well. The motor just operates the shaft.

hornetstinger · 17 Sep 2017 at 11:03

Either way, you're looking at higher budget.

£250 for a record player
£50-£100 for a phono stage (want on with a anti-thump - sub sonic filter as well)
£150-£250 for a amp
£100-£250 for speakers

RoyMi6 · 17 Sep 2017 at 19:51

Secondhand Rega Planer 2 for £75 worth it?

kitfit1 · 17 Sep 2017 at 21:05

RoyMi6 said:
Secondhand Rega Planer 2 for £75 worth it?

Absolutely, a bargain.........................where have you seen that ?

RoyMi6 · 18 Sep 2017 at 08:45

Gumtree. Was only up 5 hours but looks like someone already snapped it up!

hornetstinger · 18 Sep 2017 at 08:56

decks are pretty fragile and need maintenence so I'd be wary in buying second hand

RoyMi6 · 18 Sep 2017 at 09:30

Aye, I'd hoped with the gumtree one that I'd be able to test it.

BF-Bert · 18 Sep 2017 at 11:03

RoyMi6 said:
Gumtree. Was only up 5 hours but looks like someone already snapped it up!

Was the Rega in Stonehaven?

RoyMi6 · 18 Sep 2017 at 12:10

BF-Bert said:
Was the Rega in Stonehaven?

That's the one

Martynt74 · 18 Sep 2017 at 12:18

I picked up a Project Primary. It's incredibly budget but i imagine it'd do the job. It does make me appreciate my old Project Xperience though.

Realistically how important a focus does your partner put on audio quality? I've had hifi systems worth over 8k and am now using one worth a fraction of that and my wife can't tell the difference.

Your best bet would probably be to head into a Richer Sounds and i imagine for £400 you'd get something reasonable. I reckon there's a good chance she'd be happy with an amp with built in phono stage too as that makes operating it more simple. My wife hated having to turn on about 5 things just to play a cd/record.

For value i've also look second hand, especially for Amps/Speakers as they don't really go wrong.

mid_gen · 18 Sep 2017 at 12:29

For that budget? You can pick up a Denon F07 system including speakers on the auction site for <200 quid (owned one in the past, great little system, old school high-end build quality for peanuts), which has a phono input. Leaves you 200 quid for a nice used turntable.

I got a mint condition Thorens TD180 for less than hundred quid. Needed a quick service, cleanup with contact spray, and a new stylus, but good as new now, still has the film on the plinth :>

BF-Bert · 18 Sep 2017 at 12:37

hornetstinger said:
decks are pretty fragile and need maintenence so I'd be wary in buying second hand

Never had a problem with second hand record players, there's really not much to go wrong with them.