Advice on next upgrade for my vinyl setup (£500 budget)

[SFW]

Hi all,

I’d appreciate some advice on where I should put my money for the biggest sound upgrade. My current setup is:

• Speakers: DALI Spektor 2
• Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon
• Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Blue
• Amp: Marantz PM4200 (with built-in phono stage)

Budget is up to £500, and I’m a fan of DALI speakers, and have been considering upgrading to DALI Oberon 3 speakers. Do you think my weakest link is the speakers, amp, cartridge, or phono stage? Where would I notice the most improvement? Any specific upgrade recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Integralista]

Hi SFW,

you have good turntable and also cartridge, Project with your arm and Ortofon 2M Blue are well matched combo. Marantz 4200 amp is not bad but with 30w per channel and quite sweet sound do not give you many possibilities regarding combinations with speakers. I recommend to look on either new Rega Brio mk6 with realy good phono stage. There is a new gen of this amp released Brio mk7, but main difference is added DAC. Just changing your amp with such Rega amp with HQ phono inside will be a big improvement in sound for you. Than, when you will still find sound "small" or with less bass, I will look for better or different speakers. Also size of your room is very important. Same how can you position your system in the room. Let us know how big is the room, some moore details, which music you listen...

 

[SFW]

Hey,

Thank you for your reply and suggestions.

Would you therefore say that upgrading my amp to something like the Rega Brio would bring a bigger improvement in sound than keeping my Marantz and upgrading my speakers to the Oberon 3's? (or similar) I had assumed that my speakers were currently my weakest link (or biggest upgrade opportunity).

I can only see the Rega Brio mk7 on quick search btw, but that is a little more than Id like to spend currently. Do you think the Marantz PM6007 would offer a good upgrade and improvement in overall sound, as an alternative?

My listening room is approx. 16 x 11 feet. My speakers are currently sitting on furniture units approx. 80cm in height from the floor.

I listen to vinyl across many genres, from original 60s, Beatles, Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Motown, to 80s originals, Kate Bush, Prince, singer songwriters - Billy Joel, Ryan Adams - Bruce Springsteen, and modern vinyl, Lana Del Rey (many more).

Thank you.

 

[nads]

I would look to a separate phono stage. Then when funds allow a new amp.

 

[SFW]

You can pick up the Marantz PM6007 for £369 now, which is within my budget. Obviously my PM4200 is old - it was unused in the garage for 10 years, I was surprised it still worked! Doing some quick research, I can see that the PM6007 would offer a solid upgrade, especially in phono stage performance.

What I'm essentially trying to establish is, would upgrading the amp bring a better overall sound upgrade than keeping my old amp and upgrading the DALI 2's to the Oberon 3's.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Integralista]

Hi,

thanks for more info about your system. Bith amps Marantz 6007 and Rega Brio are very good ones. Rega is more lively, has more energy, very good for rock, pop, electronic music. Marantz is smoother more polite. Brio has best in class phono preamp inside for MM cartridges. Normaly you will need external phono for some 300 eur to better this one. For your room those amps are well matching. Your bookshelf speakers may rest on furniture as you described. My tip for second hand amp for good price is also Rega Mira 3 or Mira 2000. Mira has more power than Brio, phono preamp is very good, it has remote. Sound signature similar like Brio. Mira is a bit softer. These are truly awsome amps. You have very good turntable, so think twice before next step. And speakers you can finetune, select as last step. Lowperforming amp or phono is like activated handbrake in good car. BR.

 

[Jasonovich]

Hi all,

I’d appreciate some advice on where I should put my money for the biggest sound upgrade. My current setup is:

• Speakers: DALI Spektor 2
• Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon
• Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Blue
• Amp: Marantz PM4200 (with built-in phono stage)

Budget is up to £500, and I’m a fan of DALI speakers, and have been considering upgrading to DALI Oberon 3 speakers. Do you think my weakest link is the speakers, amp, cartridge, or phono stage? Where would I notice the most improvement? Any specific upgrade recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum SFW.
Your analogue upgrade won't give you much benefits because your turntable setup is already sound (excuse the pun 😊)
Being an owner of the Oberon 3 speakers, these are excellent speakers, I upgraded from Dali Zensor 1 and was immediately bowled over by the sound quality. Worth considering.

However, playing the devil's advocate, have you thought about adding a streamer/DAC?
This would add versatility to your system.
Not so much for streaming but a means of playing locally stored music. Food for thought 😊

 

[record_spot]

Personally, I'd look outwith What HiFi's usual suspects and bestsellers list and see what else is out there.

If I look at a What Hifi mag from the early 90s, I'll find a Marantz PM-44SE amp, a CD52, later a CD63 for CD player, and so it goes to where we are in 2025 with the PM-6007. And so on with the other usual brands too.

I think you might be better off working out where you think the shortcomings lie. It's your system, you listen to it. What's the thing that's making you think you want to upgrade? I think that's really where you need to go first.

 

[daytona600]

£500 buy a RCM ( Clean records sound better) or upgrade the Debut

Pro-Ject Debut Upgrade Program Review

Review of the upgrade options available for the Pro-Ject Debut turntable including the Clamp IT, the Debut Alu Sub Platter and the Ortofon 2M Blue Stylus

www.avforums.com

 

[RoA]

Amplifier & speakers

 

[record_spot]

Amplifier & speakers

Look into actives then. Biggest upgrade you'll get for your money.

 

[SFW]

£500 buy a RCM Clean records sound better or upgrade the Debut

Do you mean the REKKORD RCM specifically?

 

[Fandango Andy]

Hi all,

I’d appreciate some advice on where I should put my money for the biggest sound upgrade. My current setup is:

• Speakers: DALI Spektor 2
• Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon
• Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Blue
• Amp: Marantz PM4200 (with built-in phono stage)

Budget is up to £500, and I’m a fan of DALI speakers, and have been considering upgrading to DALI Oberon 3 speakers. Do you think my weakest link is the speakers, amp, cartridge, or phono stage? Where would I notice the most improvement? Any specific upgrade recommendations are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Are you looking at this from the right point of view? If you could identify a shortcoming in your system that you want to improve, that would be a good start.

Speakers will make the biggest difference to your sound, but then there is nothing wrong with the ones you have! You could look for a speaker that has a different characteristic you would like and try those.

For my money, I would rearrange your room so you can get the speakers on some decent stands, then spend a few hours playing with their positioning. Are they the right distance from the walls,? Do you have the right amount of toe in? Your speakers are forgiving, but even so getting the placement right will make more of a difference than a small upgrade to your amp.

 

[SFW]

Hi,

thanks for more info about your system. Bith amps Marantz 6007 and Rega Brio are very good ones. Rega is more lively, has more energy, very good for rock, pop, electronic music. Marantz is smoother more polite. Brio has best in class phono preamp inside for MM cartridges. Normaly you will need external phono for some 300 eur to better this one. For your room those amps are well matching. Your bookshelf speakers may rest on furniture as you described. My tip for second hand amp for good price is also Rega Mira 3 or Mira 2000. Mira has more power than Brio, phono preamp is very good, it has remote. Sound signature similar like Brio. Mira is a bit softer. These are truly awsome amps. You have very good turntable, so think twice before next step. And speakers you can finetune, select as last step. Lowperforming amp or phono is like activated handbrake in good car. BR.

Very useful info, thanks again.