Turntable Spec Me full setup for my dad please!!

evertonhero

evertonhero

evertonhero

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Hi All,

My Dad is looking to get a system setup so he can listen to his vinyl collections,

but we both know very little about the tech available

from early stages iv figured out that roughly his budgets as follows.

Turntable - £150-200

speakers £150-200

amp - £100-150?

headphones (over ear preferably) £50 - 100

all rough costs nothing is concrete can spend more in different areas if its going to be justified.

He is hardly a audiophile, and if possible as simple as it can be really not interested in all the bells and whistles but if there then so be it.

Thanks a lot guys hope you can help me out here!

Will
 
Best bet is find a shop where you can spend a few hours having a listen but would look at something like the Rega Planar 1 maybe with a set of Wharfedale Diamond 220 just not sure on amp as if you look around there's a few second hand bargains about
 
Indeed, get yourself down to Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks, or some other quality hi-fi retailer and they'll sort you out. There are usually excellent speaker+amp deals to be had at that price range, and you can listen before you buy.

Otherwise second hand is an extremely good value way to do it if you can spend the time hunting around. AVForums classifieds are particularly good for that. Anything fairly recent from the big manufacturers will probably be fine - just do some quick review searches.
 
I got the Project Primary turntable, not really sure of the differences between it and the Essential. It's been alright but not a patch on my old Xperience 2. Which i suppose given it cost 5 times less is to be expected!

Just make sure whichever Amp you get that it has a Phono stage. A lot don't and at this budget its probably better getting an amp with one built in than having to buy a cheaper amp to accommodate a phono stage.
 
As far as the amp in concerned you could do a lot worse than look at a second hand Arcam Alpha 8. New they were about £500, but tend to go second hand for about £120. In fact there is one with a buy it now price of £120 on a certain auction site at the moment.
I had one for years so do know how good an amp it is. The bonus for you is that it also has a good MM phono stage built in as well.
 
I've been very pleased with my Project Debut TT. To echo what has been said above, make sure you get a phono stage either built into the TT or the amp.
 
kitfit1;30483950 said:
As far as the amp in concerned you could do a lot worse than look at a second hand Arcam Alpha 8. New they were about £500, but tend to go second hand for about £120. In fact there is one with a buy it now price of £120 on a certain auction site at the moment.
I had one for years so do know how good an amp it is. The bonus for you is that it also has a good MM phono stage built in as well.
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Don't touch the alpha integrated, they suffer from dodgy pot, got a alpha 9 here and it's scrap. Not sure if the alpha 8 was effected.

OP you need a phono stage somewhere, either in the turntable, in a seperate box, or built into the amplifier.
 
Go second hand Pioneer, but the higher end stuff. You could pick up a Z series Pioneer amp for around £60, and a Z series Pioneer Turntable for maybe £60 also. That said a whole setup including amp, turntable, CD, graphic, remote went for just £138 on the bay yesterday, that was an incredible bargain for someone as that lot would be £2000+ in today's money.

With the money saved budget £300+ on speakers, the result will be something far better then buying all new.

The 90's was a golden time in Hi Fi equipment, by then it had all been worked out, amplifiers at least on analogue side have not really changed since then. The Pioneer separates were all built in Japan and just like Honda cars they almost never ever go wrong.

The most important part of a system is the speakers (and there placement in the room), after this is the amp, finally it's the source.
 
JasonM;30488204 said:
The most important part of a system is the speakers (and there placement in the room), after this is the amp, finally it's the source.
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You've got that the wrong way around, source is most important, more so with a vinyl based system.
 
9designs2;30490822 said:
You've got that the wrong way around, source is most important, more so with a vinyl based system.
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No comment about vinyl, but I agree with JasonM on digital systems.

With a digital source, you generally have to be a superhuman to detect differences in the source. For example, the only measurable differences between well behaved DACs these days tend to be tiny amounts of phase shift and/or ringing (pre/post depending on filters). I'm aware that some people can identify these, but I've never met anyone who can.

Similarly (but less so) most well made amplifiers are basically "transparent" to the average listener. That includes AV receivers from the big brands.

Finally the speakers themselves I would argue are the most easily differentiated. Certainly the case in my experience.

Actually there's another factor I'd put just as high as the speakers - the room. Just as much effort needs to be put into room treatment, layout, and correction as speakers IMO.
 
I'd tend to argree about the speakers being most important.

I'd put the difference in speaker between £150 and £300 to be bigger than the same difference in turntables.

As such i'd be tempted to load the budget more towards speakers.
 
9designs2;30490822 said:
You've got that the wrong way around, source is most important, more so with a vinyl based system.
Click to expand...

Maybe if you have some really bad vinyl verses some really good vinyl, but otherwise it's the speakers, room (how the room is effecting sound) then the amp, then the source.
 
Nope your misguided, 40 years industry wisdom points out this, it's been written and done to death many times....

Many years ago people didn't believe the source was important, then companies came along, Linn being the most famous to champion it, to show show source first. "Rubbish in Rubbish out"

Now for sure speaker position and room treatment are very key issues and overlooked by the majority. But that only works if you actually have (decent) sound coming out of the speakers in the first place for the room to interact to... So we are a little chicken and egg here. It's also depends on speaker size/frequency range and level of kit, often this is going to be beyond most peoples involvement... The main issue being low frequencies and decay time. Some sensible positioning and use of furniture can get you a long way with a budget system...

Sadly people here are making the old internet myth that all digital sounds the same. It doesn't, because it's not "all" digital. Those DAC's, CD players and streamers etc may end up using similar chip sets for processing the 1 and 0's at they similar price point but they have to convert it to analogue then handle and transfer that delicate analogue signal to your amp.
So there is plenty of scope for the sound to be good or poor without focus on the digital domain issues like jitter etc.

Any speaker is there to replay what it's sent, send it a poor signal it wont improve the input just tell you more accurately how bad it was. A modest speaker fed with a good quality signal will make a pretty good job of sound good and make enjoyable music.

Better speakers will also demand better amps to control them, which again will intern highlight any poor signals being fed to them from the poor source.

For sure general digital sources have achieved a level that is quite reasonable for average use. So the issue is less sensitive these days than those system that are from the 80's or 90's. But it still pays to invest in a good source component what ever the format or method. (Go have some demo's and you will hear)

Vinyl has always been more sensitive to source quality, being a mechanical devise it costs more to achieve decent quality and equally responds better to improvements in the source components and quality.

BTW all my vinyl sounds stunning..... :D
 
9designs2;30490822 said:
You've got that the wrong way around, source is most important, more so with a vinyl based system.
Click to expand...

I'm with 9designs2 on this one, rubbish in equals rubbish out.

Although in some ways the argument about digital sources not being as important is right in that I think you can get a much better source/sound from digital than you every could with analogue or cd.
As worth everything its trying to strike the right balance, no point spending 95% of your budget on one part of the chain you're trying to get the best value/results from your cash.
 
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