Turntable and active/powered speakers for £500 - where to start?

[hybridauth_Facebook_1345601795457364]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

 

[knaithrover]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

Rega RP1 - £250.

Project Phono Box - £50

Audioengine A2+ - £150

All 3 in white and the combination sounds ridiculously good

 

[Al ears]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

Rega RP1 - £250.

Project Phono Box - £50

Audioengine A2+ - £150

All 3 in white and the combination sounds ridiculously good

Sounds good to me, always assuming the OP owns some vinyl.

 

[davedotco]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

Rega RP1 - £250.

Project Phono Box - £50

Audioengine A2+ - £150

All 3 in white and the combination sounds ridiculously good

Sounds good to me, always assuming the OP owns some vinyl.

And assuming the user does not mind reaching behind the master speaker speaker for the volume control.

Personally this is one ocasion that I would not go down the powered/active route.

Richers will sell you a ProJect Essential, a Denon PMA 520 and a pair of Q Acoustics 2020i for about £450. I would start from there.

 

[drummerman]

QAcoustics BT3 white, £279

Project Genie (or Debut) Carbon white £325

s/h Project or Rega stage £ ?

This will take you a few quid over your £500 but probably worth it in the long run. Has a nice Ortofon Red cartridge too worth 80 quid.

 

[Al ears]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

Rega RP1 - £250.

Project Phono Box - £50

Audioengine A2+ - £150

All 3 in white and the combination sounds ridiculously good

Sounds good to me, always assuming the OP owns some vinyl.

And assuming the user does not mind reaching behind the master speaker speaker for the volume control.

Personally this is one ocasion that I would not go down the powered/active route.

Richers will sell you a ProJect Essential, a Denon PMA 520 and a pair of Q Acoustics 2020i for about £450. I would start from there.

It's a compromise that's for sure. One I personally wouldn't even contemplate if wanting to hear my vinyl at its best.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1345601795457364]

Many thanks to you all for the advice.

£500 is the absolute maximum and I don't have room for an amp so turntable and speakers it is.

Any thoughts on the Flexson Vinyl Play? Rega components and a phono stage seems to make it good value?

 

[TomSawyer]

If £500 is genuinely a non negotiable maximum, I'd go with Q Accoustics BT3 for £280 and an Audio Technica LP120 for £210 (B-stock). It's not the best turntable in the world but I've compared it to a Project a Debut II running the same AT95 cartridge and there was little to choose between them and it has the advantage of coming with a built in phono stage.

 

[luckylion100]

what about...

The new Audio Technica AT-LP5 (£330) paired with some Presonus Eris E 5's (seen for £178 and free delivery) A tenner over budget... I'm unsure about connecting the two though, would a 2 x RCA to TRS cable do the trick? I seem to recall using this once for an old pair of M-Audio actives I had...

I also think it would be a great looking combination but just seen you only want WHITE, so scrub that idea! ;-)

 

[The_Lhc]

Hi,

Due to space restrictions I'm looking at the most simple set up of a turntable and active/powered speakers for a total of £500.

Speaker-wise I've been looking at the Ruark MR1s and the Roth OLi-POWA-5 which seem to produce sound of a good enough quality (judging by the reviews I've read on whathifi.com )

For the turntable I have nowhere near enough room for a standard size amp so I guess a turntable with either a built in pre-amp or a small phono pre-amp is needed?

This will sit on a very solid unit in my dining room. It's not a den or a listening room so super-duper hi-fidelity is not required at this moment. Well, until the kids move out and one of their bedrooms eventually becomes my bolt-hole...

However, I need something space-saving which ultimately has a quality to the sound that will tide me over for a few years. Build quality and durability is also important.

Oh, and they need to be white

Any help and advice would be much appreciated thanks

Rega RP1 - £250.             

Project Phono Box - £50

Audioengine A2+ - £150

All 3 in white and the combination sounds ridiculously good

 

Sounds good to me, always assuming the OP owns some vinyl.

You'd like to think so, given he specifically asked about turntables. It 7% that buy vinyl without owning a turntable btw, rather than the other way around.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1345601795457364]

Hi, yes - I do own vinyl Some old and some new. Space is still the challenge so I need the speakers to be as compact as possible. I'm going to get out and about to listen to a variety of combinations. I'll let you know what I eventually buy. Thanks for the great advice!