Good speaker/amp

[Don_Bruery]

I've become interested in collecting vinyl records, and am looking to get a good stereo and amplifier setup (I've heard I may also need a pre-amp as well). I live in the Australia, and my budget is about $1800 (australian dollars). All I want to do is to listen to some quality music and get the most out of it.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Don Bruery

 

[the_master66]

Hi Don,

Reading your post I assume that you have a front end already (i.e. a turntable) please can you confirm and let us know which turntable/arm/cartridge you are using?

I'll need to check out availibility and prices in AUD but I'm sure I can help....

Thanks

The_Master66

 

[Don_Bruery]

Hi master,

i havent purchased the TT yet but im going to go with the audio technica AT-LP120 USB to start. Its not the one i really want but the one i want (clear audio concept) is out of my price range at this point. I want to spend a bit more on the amp and speakers so that when i do upgrade i hopefully wont have to upgrade the whole system.

I am also considering getting a power conditioner and upgrading cables to audio evergreen is it going worth the extra money/ effort for the potential improvement?

Thankyou very much for your help.

Regards,

Don

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. I think that TT is a good place to start, considering your budget. Maybe change cartridge for Ortofon 2M Blue, or even Red. Which should leave you with enough dough to get a Marantz PM6005 or Nad C316BEE (because I think the Audio Technica has a built in phono stage that can be turned on or off) and a pair of Dali Zensor 3. Or, if you can find one, a used Arcam A19 and used B&W DM602 S3 or S2 until you can budget Focal Aria 906. Other used amps to consider are older Arcam, but I'm not familiar with those models.

 

[Al ears]

The Marantz mentioned above would be a good buy as it has an inbuilt phono preamp which you are going to need if you upgrade turntable to that Clearaudio Concept at some point.

 

[Don_Bruery]

Thanks Guys i will check these out today sometime.

Do you have any thoughts on the power conditioner and cable upgrade?

 

[Don_Bruery]

Thanks Guys i will check these out today sometime.

Do you have any thoughts on the power conditioner and cable upgrade?

 

[Al ears]

Thanks Guys i will check these out today sometime.

Do you have any thoughts on the power conditioner and cable upgrade?

Unless your mains power supply is decidedly poor there I wouldn't waste money on a cheap power conditioner. Which cable upgrades were you thinking of?

Did you mean Audioquest Evergreen interconnects?

If you are only connecting a turntable you don't need to do this as they normally come with fixed cables.

 

[Don_Bruery]

Well admittedly i dont know much at all about cable upgrades but i have been on some forums and see guys throw these ideas around. They mention things like upgrading to thicker cables, such as the van damm 6mm speaker cables & 6mm 500 strand ofc speaker cables, and they claim it greatly improved the quality of the sound.

 

[Don_Bruery]

Mate just had a look at these suggestions and they all look great my only concern is will i be able to play my digital library on the marantz as well? Obvioulsy the main purpose is for vinyl but i do still have a large digital library. And tha main thing i saw with the marantz is that it has no usb port. so i was wondering how i can play either my phone or laptop through it?

otherwise the arcam A19 looks like it could be a better fit

 

[Al ears]

Well admittedly i dont know much at all about cable upgrades but i have been on some forums and see guys throw these ideas around. They mention things like upgrading to thicker cables, such as the van damm 6mm speaker cables & 6mm 500 strand ofc speaker cables, and they claim it greatly improved the quality of the sound.

It pretty much depends on what you are using at the moment. Good 4 or 6mm OFC cables are probably all you will need and they are not expensive. 4mm is easier to fit to some amps where the 6mm would normally be required terminating with banana plugs.

Oh, and take forums with some scepticism. 🙂

 

[Al ears]

Mate just had a look at these suggestions and they all look great my only concern is will i be able to play my digital library on the marantz as well? Obvioulsy the main purpose is for vinyl but i do still have a large digital library. And tha main thing i saw with the marantz is that it has no usb port. so i was wondering how i can play either my phone or laptop through it?

otherwise the arcam A19 looks like it could be a better fit

The Marantz at least has an inbuilt DAC and like the Onkyo 9050 is only equipped with coax and optical inputs, the A19 doesn't have either. You are going to need another box in the form of a USB DAC if you want to connect those other peripherals that you didn't mention in your original post.

 

[Don_Bruery]

mm i see. My apologies for not mentioning that.

I did notice that the Arcam A19 does have an aux input which would be all i needed to play my digital library as well.

 

[Don_Bruery]

Thanks for the help guys i think im going to go with the arcam FMJ A19 and some focul chorus 807V's ( i can get them 2nd hand cheap) until i can aford the Focal Aria 906.