First turntable setup advice

[SVTillman]

Hi

Been wanting to get into vinyl for a while now but as a recently graduated student financial restrictions have hindered me. I have been reading through what hi-fi but still not sure exactly what kit I need exactly (I am a total novice!) from what I gather I need a turntable,amplifier and speakers. Really looking at getting decent entry level gear,so been looking at "what hi-if awards 2013" but I don't know if the parts are compatible. I'll be buying via amazon.

pro-ject essential II turntable

Marantz pm6005 (integrated amplifier with digital input....whatever that means)

Q2020i speakers

along with some cables (help here please) would this setup be a good start?

Thanks

 

[Al ears]

Welcome to the forum.

Well I hope you have some money now as getting into vinyl isn't cheap.

Your selected components should go together well but it is preferable to try and audition first, get it wrong and it isn't going to sound good at all.

You need to see if the speakers are OK in the room you will set up the hifi in. Can you give us some sort of idea s to room size / shape and how far youwould be able to set up the speakers away from a rear wall?

Simply picking from a 'best of' list does not necessarily mean items will suit each other but in many cases this is exactly what people do and then wonder where it all went wrong.

I would strongly suggest you find a dealer in your area and go and listen to some set-ups but go with a fixed budget in mind, and don't let them get you to spend a penny more.

Your amp is a good choice as it has an inbuilt phono stage to plug your turntable into. The digital in part means it has a built in DAC as well so you can utilise the amp with older CD players the internal DACs of which might be somwhat lacking compared to modern equivalents.

Read the posts on here regards speaker cables, if you dare. :shifty:

Basically any good quaity muli-strand copper cable will do you for now.

Buy from a dealer and if you haggle they might even throw some in for free.

Don't forget to budget for some speaker stands for those 2020i's if you get the.

 

[floyd droid]

I would strongly suggest you find a dealer in your area and go and listen to some set-ups but go with a fixed budget in mind, and don't let them get you to spend a penny more.

Good post Al. Pulled the above quote for Mr ? Tillmans attention.

You may well spend a few quid more but it will be worth it long term, for instance, if you get any problems or need help with something. Support your local dealer please , they are dropping like flies due to the likes of Amacon etc.

 

[Al ears]

I would strongly suggest you find a dealer in your area and go and listen to some set-ups but go with a fixed budget in mind, and don't let them get you to spend a penny more.

Good post Al. Pulled the above quote for Mr ? Tillmans attention.

You may well spend a few quid more but it will be worth it long term, for instance, if you get any problems or need help with something. Support your local dealer please , they are dropping like flies due to the likes of Amacon etc.

Them and Amazon.

Sorry, in hindsight, I may have missed the subtle bit there I think

 

[nopiano]

Welcome to the forum. I agree with the advice to buy from a dealer. Amazon is great for lots of things, but if you need help with cables, or something sounds a bit odd, they will be zero help. A dealer will say, yes that cartridge sounds dodgy, or have this suitable cable for free or discounted because you bought the system. And they'll let you swap stuff if it doesn't work in your room.

Assuming you are in Great Britain, you cannot be too far from a Richer Sounds, Sevenoaks or Audio T, not to mention countless independents.

Nice system choice.

Good luck!

 

[aob9]

I started (back) into vinyl last year and bought a current Sony PLX -300 "plastic" turntable which lasted a month before I offloaded it. Please don't be tempted by these turntables, there are a lot of them on the market at the moment. I couldn't afford a better NEW turntable at the time so I turned to the second hand market and bought a vintage Pioneer Pl-300 TT. I did a lot of research on forums beforehand so I had an idea of what I was looking for. I cleaned it up and installed a new budget ( AT95e) cartridge and I haven't looked back since. If you have time to research the used market it is a good "value for money" option admittedly with a liitle risk.

 

[SVTillman]

Thanks very much. Living in highlands of Scotland hasn't given me much scope for dealers but the local music shop was able to sort me out. So I will be buying local!

The living room is about 12x15ft. I had planned to put it on top of the sideboard on the rear wall,so the couch I sit on is on opposite wall.

The sales assistant seemed to think it was a pretty good setup and that the sound quality would be more than adequate for a first-timer and for the budget.. He'll sort me out with cables.

Will stands for the speakers be required (I half thought if called "bookshelf speakers" they'd be fine in the sideboard)

thanks

 

[Al ears]

Welcome back.

Buying local is always a good idea if you live in the Highlands and Islands area.

Whilst putting your turntable on a sideboard is OK it is not ideal. These are very prone to / affected by vibrations so need to be isolated in some way and they also have to be perfectly level.

'Bookshelf' is generally a misnomer when it comes to speakers.

On no account put the speakers on the same sideboard as the turntable, as this is just asking for trouble. Your best bet is to get dedicated speaker stands and put them either side of sideboard (these speakers will need to be further apart than the width of your average sideboard to perform at their best).

If you cannot do this then I would strongly suggest you get a wall-mounted shelf and put your turntable on that.

Have fun.

 

[eastendmyfreind]

On no account put the speakers on the same sideboard as the turntable, as this is just asking for trouble. Your best bet is to get dedicated speaker stands and put them either side of sideboard (these speakers will need to be further apart than the width of your average sideboard to perform at their best).

If you cannot do this then I would strongly suggest you get a wall-mounted shelf and put your turntable on that.

Have fun.

Been reading this thread with interest (sorry for barging in). If you've got no choice other than to put the deck on the same piece of furniture as the speakers, then what steps do you recommend to prevent the vibrations affecting things?

thanks

 

[Al ears]

You always have a choice. Try wall mounting one or the other? Sticking stuff under bits of kit to isolate them is not something I am going to get into as it is a bit of a hornets' nest.

Basically if you cannot move things then perhaps you have the wrong kit to start with.

 

[Al ears]

Oops, double post.