Turntable for under £400 - Advice please!

[Gazzip]

Just been up North to visit my parents who are moving house and having a clear out of their loft. Imagine my surprise at being presented with a box full of my old records. Probably 50 albums or so and a further 100 or so 12 inch and 7 inch singles so nothing to get over excited about, but enough to get me thinking about spinning a bit of vinyl again after all these years.

I don't want to throw too much cash at this but I was wondering what you guys think would be a relatively good vinyl setup for under £400? My pre-amp has a phono stage so I guess I am going to need a separate one of those, although it doesn't have an earthing point and I don't know if it is MM or MC. I am a novice and don't really know if this even relevant? Also I will need a 6-7m long balanced XLR tone arm cable so that I can locate the turntable a distance away from my main rack.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks!

 

[nima]

I suggest you pack your speakers and visit a respected dealer that can demo the difference between Rega RP1 (GBP 230-300 with cart), RP3 (GPB 475-550) and possibly also second hand P5 (GPB 500-550 together with very good cart).

 

[chebby]

http://www.richersounds.com/product/turntables/project/debut-carbon-esprit-sb/proj-carbon-esprit

Just over £400 (sorry).

 

[audioaddict]

for bomb proof build and all round functionality you could do a lot worse than a technics sl1200/1210 mk 2....theres a very good seller on the auction site called technics pro who services and sells them so you know you,d be getting a good one

 

[CJSF]

. . . Also I will need a 6-7m long balanced XLR tone arm cable so that I can locate the turntable a distance away from my main rack.

Any advice would be gratefully received!

Thanks!

I think you might have problems with 'long arm cable' such a tiny signal? Best bet is to get closer, or move the pre-amp and/or the rack to the TT? . . . I have had 6m interconnects from pre to mono block power amps with no problems. My present system has all the electronics in one corner close to the wall mounted TT, the speakers are the other side off the room linked by 8m of Linn K20 speaker cable, again no problems.

CJSF

 

[davedotco]

The Reference 3 is a line level pre-amplifier, it does not have a phono stage. You will therefore need a separate unit.

This should be located close to the player, using the captive arm leads as normal, the earth connection will be on the phono stage. The output will be on phono sockets and the Ref 3 has a choice of phono or XLR connectors on each input, just buy a long phono lead.

Your budget is extremely tight for such a project, but it can be done. Whether the results are worth the effort and the cost is up to you.

 

[Gazzip]

The Reference 3 is a line level pre-amplifier, it does not have a phono stage. You will therefore need a separate unit.

This should be located close to the player, using the captive arm leads as normal, the earth connection will be on the phono stage. The output will be on phono sockets and the Ref 3 has a choice of phono or XLR connectors on each input, just buy a long phono lead.

Your budget is extremely tight for such a project, but it can be done. Whether the results are worth the effort and the cost is up to you.

Thanks Dave, exactly the info I was after. Slightly embarrassed not to know my own kit doesn't have a phono stage but I was thrown by the inputs labelled "phono" on the rear. Guessing this is where the outputs from the phono stage are meant to plug in?

Like I said this area is completely alien to me!