Vinyl setup for ~£600?

[TMortin]

First of all, hey.

I'm totally new to this but I heard this is a great place to ask for advice on anything audio so here goes...

I'm looking to get into vinyl and I have about £600 to create my very first "setup" if you like. I have NO equipment currently other than some cables; no turntable, no phono preamp, no speakers, so this £600 needs to cover all of that. I am a total newbie so any advice is welcome but I don't want anything too complicated to set up since its my first time and all.

Cheers in advance.

 

[CnoEvil]

£600 is very tight for what you want to achieve.

I would recommend the following (try to find the extra or get the Brio R ex-dem):

Pro-ject Essential (£200) + Rega Brio R (£497) + Wharfedale 9.0 (£40)

 

[CarlDW]

I would also look at the Project Essential turntable, with either the Denon PMA720AE (now under £200) or Pioneer A30 (around £180) and for speakers the Q Acoustics 2020i (£165) or Dali Zensor 1 (around £200).

 

[stevebrock]

Agree with Cno, push the budget a little - always try and get an amp with built in phono stage!

 

[Al ears]

I believe CnoEvil is on the right track if you are aiming to buy new, certainly regards the amp as it has a good phono stage - it is Rega after all.

Much better can be got for your money if buying second-hand but this becomes a bit of a minefield if you do not know what you are getting.

I am somewhat amazed a people feeling they need to get into vinyl this late in the day, but it is good to see.

Do you actually own any LP's?

Vinyl will cost you dear once you have been bitten by the bug

 

[stevebrock]

Rega Brio R - fantatsic little amp with a superb phono stage - a few used ones about too!

 

[stevebrock]

Vinyl will cost you dear once you have been bitten by the bug

Tell me about it!

 

[TMortin]

I believe CnoEvil is on the right track if you are aiming to buy new, certainly regards the amp as it has a good phono stage - it is Rega after all.

Much better can be got for your money if buying second-hand but this becomes a bit of a minefield if you do not know what you are getting.

I am somewhat amazed a people feeling they need to get into vinyl this late in the day, but it is good to see.

Do you actually own any LP's?

Vinyl will cost you dear once you have been bitten by the bug

I have a cupboard full of LPs, more than I care to count. My reason for wanting to get into it is that whenever I have listened to vinyl through some nice speakers, it just felt so much better to me than listening to CD or other formats. In the studio where I used to study, we listened to Electric Ladyland on vinyl hooked up to some old floor standing speakers and it was a great experience. I felt like I was in the room with the band.

Would someone care to explain why I'm paying £500 for an amp vs £200 for the turntable? Is the amp the most important part of the setup? I really have no idea lol

 

[Teo]

Go preowned :

Table Rega P2 ( NAD C555 , Goldring GR 1.2) 100

Phono stage Cambridge Audio 640P 50-100

Integrated , can be a NAD 320 ,350, or other what you find.100-150

Speakers .....Monitor Audio Bronze B2 150

Goldring Elektra cart 50-70 ? if the tt comes without

Good luck!

 

[CnoEvil]

Would someone care to explain why I'm paying £500 for an amp vs £200 for the turntable? Is the amp the most important part of the setup? I really have no idea lol

It's down to the size of your budget, and the fact that the Brio R is the obvious choice for a budget amp with a decent phono stage.

 

[stevebrock]

Amp is the heart of a system! yes you can get a better source but i would always say spend most on amp & speakers

 

[BigH]

You can get the Brio R for £400 ex demo with full warranty, you can then get a £200 TT and then upgrade when funds are available, same with speakers. No amp. is not the most important but with your budget this maybe the way to start, although I would look more at used gear with your budget.

 

[Al ears]

CnoEvil has a point in that this particular amp will withstand a few upgrades if and when you care to do so.

I can see your confusion as I also tended to put the source first when it came to budget. The speakers are very much a matter of personal choice and depend on your room set-up (size and ability to place them in it to best effect). Information like this would have helped.

You could spend most of you budget on the turntable but a cheap amp is not going to do it justice.

If you know anybody that can assist you then a better set-up could be acquired by going down the second hand / Ebay route but an ex-demo Rega amp with warranty is a very good 'centre point' on which to build your system.

I do not believe the amp is necessarily the main 'attention grabber' in a system though.

 

[Al ears]

BigH is correct.

Source first. Garbage in / garbage out. Whatever amplifier you choose will only be as good as the incoming signal, if you see my point.

Speakers only dish out what is coming from the amp. However, for your budget you are going to be restricted. Stick with an amp of this quality and you can upgrade each end of it when funds allow.

Oh, and factor in for some decent speaker stands as well.

 

[nopiano]

Would someone care to explain why I'm paying £500 for an amp vs £200 for the turntable? Is the amp the most important part of the setup? I really have no idea lol

It isn't exactly versus anything! I can see if you are beginner you might think you need to spend £200 on each part of the system, but hifi is rarely that logical. The Essential II is exceptionally good, though you could also try a Rega RP1 for 10% more. You could spend anything from £180 to double that on the amp. Then add speakers to suit. You can find arguments for each component being more important than another, but ultimately you need a balanced system that suits you.

Do try to listen to a few systems. You cannot choose hifi on a forum any more than you choose wallpaper over the phone!

Good luck!

 

[Al ears]

Would someone care to explain why I'm paying £500 for an amp vs £200 for the turntable? Is the amp the most important part of the setup? I really have no idea lol

It isn't exactly versus anything! I can see if you are beginner you might think you need to spend £200 on each part of the system, but hifi is rarely that logical. The Essential II is exceptionally good, though you could also try a Rega RP1 for 10% more. You could spend anything from £180 to double that on the amp. Then add speakers to suit. You can find arguments for each component being more important than another, but ultimately you need a balanced system that suits you.

Do try to listen to a few systems. You cannot choose hifi on a forum any more than you choose wallpaper over the phone!

Good luck!

[/quoteWell said that man.

 

[pauln]

There is a school of thought that says the speakers are the most important part of the system. Personally I think it would be madness to spend £40 on speakers and ten times that amount on an amplifier unless you will be able to upgrade the speakers in a very short time. Why not consider spending £200 on an amp from Yamaha/Marantz/Pioneer and more on the speakers?

 

[deafinoneear]

Yamaha AS500 Amp from Richer sounds for £250. Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 from Superfi for £99 then the Rega RP1 for £229 from a Rega dealer or Amazon leaves £21 change out of £600 and a system to compete with one costing a grand.

Find another £59 and buy yourself a Rega mini phono stage or an Ortofon 2m red cartridge which would leave you with a very listenable vinyl set up. Or you could just spend the money on a very effective IKEA Lack coffee table as turntable support is rather important.

You say you've got the cables. Hopefully something like QED ? as scrimping in this area can undo any careful choices you make with the rest of your system

By all means consider the ebay route if you fancy something a little more esoteric but the safer route is settling for bargain price tried and tested Amp and Speakers and a solid best buy turntable.

 

[CnoEvil]

There is a school of thought that says the speakers are the most important part of the system. Personally I think it would be madness to spend £40 on speakers and ten times that amount on an amplifier unless you will be able to upgrade the speakers in a very short time. Why not consider spending £200 on an amp from Yamaha/Marantz/Pioneer and more on the speakers?

I take it you haven't heard the Wharfedale 9.0s?

They were decent £100 speakers in their day. IME They would sound better driven by a decent amp with a great phonostage, than £250 speakers driven by a much cheaper amp......I can't think of anything better for the money.

Of course, if there was more money available I'd recommend better, but not at the expense of the amp, which is (imo) considerably better than anything cheaper, especially for vinyl.

Now if you want to put together a system that will sound better, I'm sure the OP will be glad to comsider it.

 

[chebby]

Marantz PM6004 amplifier (used to be £300) now £169.95

Boston Acoustics A25 speakers (RRP £199) now £94.95.

(What Hifi review here ... http://www.whathifi.com/review/boston-acoustics-a-25 )

That leaves about £335 for a turntable out of your £600 budget...

Pro-ject Debut Carbon (£299.95)

The amp has a built-in phono stage and the turntable has a pre-fitted cartridge included.

'Good to go' with about £35 towards a pair of basic speaker stands.

You save about £235 over what it all cost a couple of years ago and it's all new and guaranteed.

I wouldn't hang around too long either.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Does anyone think that the OP is regretting asking the question yet?

I'll add my opinion, for what it's worth.

Turntable: Rega RP1 or Pro-ject Essential II ( I like Pro-ject)

Amp: No Idea, but personally speaking, I wouldn't spend nearly £500 on one then only spend £40 on some speakers.

Speakers: Q Acoustics 2020i or Dali Zensor 1 (I have the Q Acoustics, and they're great speakers for the money.

Second hand route could be fruitful, but there are dangers of course, so brand new is probably best.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Marantz PM6004 amplifier (used to be £300) now £169.95

Boston Acoustics A25 speakers (RRP £199) now £94.95.

(What Hifi review here ... http://www.whathifi.com/review/boston-acoustics-a-25 )

That leaves about £335 for a turntable out of your £600 budget...

Pro-ject Debut Carbon (£299.95)

The amp has a built-in phono stage and the turntable has a pre-fitted cartridge included.

'Good to go' with about £35 towards a pair of basic speaker stands.

You save about £235 over what it all cost a couple of years ago and it's all new and guaranteed.

I wouldn't hang around too long either.

Looks good, though I'd streatch my budget a little and go for the Dalis or Q Acoustics rather than the Bostons.

Great amp and turntable though.

 

[CarlDW]

If the OP had more than £600 to spend I would not hesitate to suggest the Rega Brio R.

Within budget though I think the Denon PMA720AE is a great amp.

Another consideration could be the Rotel RA10 which has a decent phono stage. That and some Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s and a Project/Rega turntable.

I would visit your local hi-fi dealer and listen to a selection of kit. Home demo if you can.

Good luck!

 

[deafinoneear]

I get where both of you guys are coming from. I'm very much from the 1980's school where the advice was always spend as much as you can on your source and upgrade later.

The Wharfdale 9.0's are decent budget speakers and were still great value when they cost over twice the amount. I suggested the 9.1's purely down to personal preference. Just as I much prefer the sound of my FMJ A19 to that of a Brio.

With £600 to spend there has to be some compromise.

I think the best advice to the OP is, that armed with a few suggestions, go and listen to a few amps and speakers and choose the sound that they like the most and best fits their budget.

 

[pauln]

There is a school of thought that says the speakers are the most important part of the system. Personally I think it would be madness to spend £40 on speakers and ten times that amount on an amplifier unless you will be able to upgrade the speakers in a very short time. Why not consider spending £200 on an amp from Yamaha/Marantz/Pioneer and more on the speakers?

I take it you haven't heard the Wharfedale 9.0s?

They were decent £100 speakers in their day. IME They would sound better driven by a decent amp with a great phonostage, than £250 speakers driven by a much cheaper amp......I can't think of anything better for the money.

Of course, if there was more money available I'd recommend better, but not at the expense of the amp, which is (imo) considerably better than anything cheaper, especially for vinyl.

Now if you want to put together a system that will sound better, I'm sure the OP will be glad to comsider it.

Sarcasm noted, thank you.

I was offering an alternative opinion for the OP to consider. That's allowed I take it? As for me putting together an alternative system - I don't think so since I haven't had a turntable or vinyl for 25 years and wouldn't consider ever going back to such outdated technology when digital is so much better technically. But that's another current hot thread.