Hopless hifi/turntable beginner - help wanted

[Fancy_Man]

Hi :wave:

I have amassed a fairly decent collection of music and now find myself wanting to listen to it through something other than my laptop/mp3 player. I'm looking for a basic setup (record player/amp/speakers) that will last a while.

I've been reading through similar threads and I know people recommend buying second hand or buying with a view to upgrade, but I'm terrible at fixing things and so good at procrastinating that it'll probably be 10 years+ before I get around to upgrading (bought my first record five years ago - finally getting round to buying a record player!!). So, I'm looking for new, robust gear (made in uk if possible, for fixing purposes).

I do most of my listening through headphones. Here's where I'll ask a really embarassing novice question - Can headphones be plugged into speakers?? How do heaphones + hifi work?? (Side question: what about CDs? I guess I need a CD player, but that can be used with the turntable amp + speakers, right??) :wall:

I have ~£500 to spend, although I can push that a little. I am very shallow, and will pay more for things that look good 😳

I've had a look around the forums - is this Denon PMA520AE - £139.95 - Richer sounds/Q Acoustics 2020i - £164.99 - Richer sounds/~£200 for a turntable - e.g. Project Essential turntable, Rega 1 ( http://www.whathifi.com/forum/hi-fi/good-turntablespeakeramp-beginner-setup?page=1) a good setup for me?

Wow, sorry for starting every sentence with I. :O Thank you for any and all help!

 

[MajorFubar]

Welcome

I do most of my listening through headphones. Here's where I'll ask a really embarassing novice question - Can headphones be plugged into speakers?? How do heaphones + hifi work??

You would usually plug headphones into the headphone socket on an amp or CD player. Many HiFi amps have a quarter-inch socket for the headphones. Presumably you're more used to using an eighth-inch plug if you usually use a laptop/MP3 player, but adaptors are cheap and plentiful. Oh and you wouldn't normally connect them to the speaker outputs, the impedance is all to cøck and besides the voltage would fry them.

 

[Fancy_Man]

Ahhh a 1/4 inch socket is actually perfect 🙂 Thanks very much! I did a bit of googling after posting and discovered many images of amps with headphone sockets. 😳

 

[matt49]

I am very shallow, and will pay more for things that look good 😳

You're not alone! And no shame for admitting to being a beginner. We're all learning here.

The system you list will be great. If you want to make your budget go further, you could consider buying second hand. I think amplifiers are good to buy second hand. You'll find plenty of good Arcam amps on ebay, as well as other brands.

Good luck!

 

[trj007]

I thought that this would be about someone who has more than one leg.

 

[The_Lhc]

I thought that this would be about someone who has more than one leg.

HAHAHAAHAHA.

Wait, why wouldn't a person with more than one leg be able to hop? I've got two, I can hop. WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!? STOP DOING THIS TO MI BRANE!!!!1!

 

[BenLaw]

What do you call a frog with no legs?

 

[BigH]

That system maybe OK for you but I would try to hear it first, I suggest you swope a few speakers around to see which is best for you as that will change the sound more than anything. Many RS have demo rooms, best to book first.

 

[The_Lhc]

What do you call a frog with no legs?

Anything you like, he's got no nose!

 

[BenLaw]

Doyouthinkhesaurus.

 

[The_Lhc]

No, Jamaica!

 

[BenLaw]

Douglas.

 

[Fancy_Man]

That's a sensible idea! I'm really suggestible though and will no doubt end up hastily agreeing to whatever I'm shown. In what is possibly the least helpful description ever, I like a 'true neutral' sound. Full, but not too warm or too bassy.

I assume I can hook my laptop up to the amp + speakers? I have a ton of CDs and would like to be able to play those too. Or am I better off getting a fancy CD player?

 

[Fancy_Man]

Someone unable to brew beer due to a lac of resources, was my first thought. Typos 🙁

 

[trj007]

Douglas.

Very good.

 

[jerry klinger]

Your best bet would be to find a new or newish amp with a USB DAC input and a headphone socket, and a suitable pair of speakers. This will upgrade the laptop sound and provide a simple, coherent system. Look at this website's amplifier reviews and listen to some amps and speakers.

 

[Fancy_Man]

Your best bet would be to find a new or newish amp with a USB DAC input and a headphone socket, and a suitable pair of speakers.

Is there such a thing as an amp with both a dac and a phono input?

 

[tifosi20002008]

Hiya.

The denon you mention is a good starter amp and the q acoustics speakers are very good value for money.

Project and rega are very good starter turntables too. I wouldn't dismiss the second hand market there some amazing bargins out there on ebay and try 2nd hand hifi . com they have a great range.

welcome aboard.

Keep on rocking :rockout:

 

[Fancy_Man]

So I went to Richer Sounds (there's one just down the road!) and the guy told me a cambridge audio amp (CAMBRIDGE AUDIO
TOPAZ AM5 - I think this is the one, there were a few and they all looked pretty similar) would be better than the denon. He also said cambridge audio speakers were the way to go. Idk if he's secretly working for cambridge audio or if he just likes things to match. :shifty:

I was also told that you can connect a laptop to your amp using the headphone socket. But then you wouldn't be able to listen with headphones, right? Unless maybe you bought a separate headphone amp and listened through that? :O

 

[BigH]

So I went to Richer Sounds (there's one just down the road!) and the guy told me a cambridge audio amp (CAMBRIDGE AUDIO
TOPAZ AM5 - I think this is the one, there were a few and they all looked pretty similar) would be better than the denon. He also said cambridge audio speakers were the way to go. Idk if he's secretly working for cambridge audio or if he just likes things to match. :shifty:

I was also told that you can connect a laptop to your amp using the headphone socket. But then you wouldn't be able to listen with headphones, right? Unless maybe you bought a separate headphone amp and listened through that? :O

I would beware of salemen! I think there is a connection between CA nad Richer Sounds so again beware. I don't know CA speakers but think there are better choices out there. CA has a rep for being a bit lively/bright so care matching maybe needed. I think he means laptop headphone into amp.

The thing to do is listen to some different ones in a demo room. Don't rush into it.

 

[John Duncan]

Well Richer Sounds are the sole distributors of Cambridge in the UK, so you may wish to consider whether they have a vested interest in saying that. Personally I haven't found the Topazes very good, but maybe that's just me. Further, I;ve only heard one pair of Cambridge speakers and they're not what I would call full-range. I think the Denon and Q Acoustics system you describe would be very good.

Whoever said that about the laptop probably meant the headphone socket of the laptop, not of the amplifier.

To answer your other quesiton about amps with USB input and phono stage, I can't think of one off the top of my head (certainly not in your budget), but it looks as if the mooted Marantz PM6005 may do. Again, it's probably going to push your budget too high; I'd be inclined to (more messily) buy a cheap USB DAC to plug into the laptop (they can be had for very little money to begin with) and plug it into whatever amp you choose.

Pro-ject or s/h Rega P2 would be my choice of turntable.

EDIT - a second hand Yamaha DSP-620AX would give you a lot of the things you need for peanuts, btw, especially if your laptop has an optical output.

 

[Fancy_Man]

I would beware of salemen! I think there is a connection between CA nad Richer Sounds so again beware. I don't know CA speakers but think there are better choices out there.

I am very wary :flower: Purely from an aesthetic point of view, I prefer the q acoustics speakers anyway.

CA has a rep for being a bit lively/bright so care matching maybe needed. I think he means laptop headphone into amp.

The thing to do is listen to some different ones in a demo room. Don't rush into it.

I think he meant 3.5 jack to jack from the laptop headphone socket to an input on the amp? The Denon pma-520ae has multiple inputs at the back - one of these is an aux input. Could I concievably plug my laptop/mp3 player into that?

I think I'm too lazy/scared to try and demo stuff 😱

 

[BigH]

I think he meant 3.5 jack to jack from the laptop headphone socket to an input on the amp? The Denon pma-520ae has multiple inputs at the back - one of these is an aux input. Could I concievably plug my laptop/mp3 player into that?

I think I'm too lazy/scared to try and demo stuff 😱

You can put it into any socket on the back of amp apart from the phono and it should work fine, thats what I did.

You must demo don't be afraid, just go for it but don't buy anything unless you are sure best to think it over and have a second demo than buy the wrong things. Richer Sounds have an exchange policy so you can change stuff which is fine if they have something you want. I would try Marantz/Denon and the Arcam A18 if they have one. Book a demo room for one hour and see how it goes.

 

[Fancy_Man]

To answer your other quesiton about amps with USB input and phono stage, I can't think of one off the top of my head (certainly not in your budget), but it looks as if the mooted Marantz PM6005 may do. Again, it's probably going to push your budget too high; I'd be inclined to (more messily) buy a cheap USB DAC to plug into the laptop (they can be had for very little money to begin with) and plug it into whatever amp you choose.

Pro-ject or s/h Rega P2 would be my choice of turntable.

Yeah, the marantz is way too expensive. I don't need a usb input if I can do laptop-->amp. I shall google turntables in a second. My laptop is so old - not only does it lack an optical thingy, it also shuts itself off if I stress it out too much.

EDIT - a second hand Yamaha DSP-620AX would give you a lot of the things you need for peanuts, btw, especially if your laptop has an optical output.

:jawdrop: That Yamaha is beautiful! Especially the gold version. I AM IN LOVE but have no idea where I would find such a thing. 🙁

 

[tomlinscote]

EBAY!!