Vinyl Starter, are there any proven combinations?

[galileo]

So I'm looking to make a move in the world of vinyl (don't try to stop me..) and I am looking to spend somewhere around the £1500 for a turntable, amp and speakers. I have the following setup in mind and I would like to hear what you think. Does one of these components outperform the other or are these well balanced? And are there any proven combinations that work well?

Possible setup:

Turntable: Rega RP3

Amp: Rega Brio-R

Speakers: B&W 685 S2

Thoughts?

 

[Al ears]

That combo will obviously do the job but what it will actually sound like in your listening room only you can know. Go and audition. Don't forget to budget for some decent speaker stands and some connecting cables. You might find the Project turntables better because at that price point it is all about the quality of the cartridge fitted.

 

[galileo]

What tends to be the incremental increase in output quailty if I'd step up to something like:

Clearaudio Concept turntables with Concept MM cartridge

Arcan FMJ A19 amp

KEF LS50 speakers

Obviously you can throw money at it but at would it pay off to step in a little higher?

 

[thescarletpronster]

You probably can't do much better than that TT/amp combo in that price bracket. As to the speakers, there are many around, so auditioning is well worth it. If you have a hi-fi specialist nearby who carries Rega and a range of comparable speakers, you could ask them whether they will do a demo in your home. That way you'll be able to hear exactly what a set-up will sound like in situ.

Pro-ject TTs are definitely worth considering (the Debut Carbon for example) but the Rega RP3 works so well with the Brio-R that I would consider that your first option. I compared the Brio-R with the Marantz PM6004, and the difference was staggering. The Marantz sounded like a decent amp reproducing a recording - comparable with what I already had - but the Brio made the music sound almost live by comparison, as though the musicians were playing in my living room. I was amazed that spending a bit more could make such a difference.

I'm not very au fait with the various speakers available, but do consider Monitor Audio Silver RX6 speakers. They are what I plumped for with that TT and amp. They are floorstanding speakers, so you will need floor space rather than shelf space for them; the advantage is that you won't need to budget an extra couple of hundred pounds for speaker stands, so all your money goes on the sound-producing equipment. They producing a bag of punch, but still cope with fine details. They are just the acceptable side of too exciting for me - the Brio-R seems to rein them in a bit. I'm currently listening to 17th century viol consort music, and it definitely doesn't sound like rock, so don't worry if you mostly listen to acoustic stuff.

Don't forget you'll also need speaker cable, which can get expensive if you need a lot of metres to hook amp up to speakers.

I'm not sure I'd suggest going any higher than this range for your first set-up. I'm sure you'll be delighted with the results you get, especially if it's your first venture into vinyl and/or hi-fi, and who knows? In a few years you might find that you're really into it, have a good collection of records and have an itch for something better; or you might still be completely happy with what you have. From what I've read it sounds as though you'd have to spend double the amount to get appreciably better results, so it does get very expensive (as no doubt some posters here could testify!).

How do you currently listen to music? You don't mention a CD player, so I'm assuming you don't want one. But do you currently listen to music from your computer? If so, buying a decent DAC will enable you to get the best out of your digital music from your new amp/speaker combo. It's worth thinking about budgeting that in if you do listen to digital.

Good luck, and happy auditioning.

 

[entrails]

I fully support auditioning: where you find a dealer with a range of kit they know their way around and a willingness to spend time with you mixing and matching. If you find one's who aren't interested in doing this unless you are spending a shed load of cash or just are pushing a one size fits all solution move on.

Then just bring along a range of records some great sounding pressings but also some of your slightly underwhelming records to give the systems more of a challenge; as great sounding records sound great on most systems.

Then use your ears and find out what combo sounds best to you, not what a forum contributer you've never met thinks is best nor what the hifi reviewers are currently raving about. Hopefully you will hit on a system that works well together, punches above its price point and psychologically you will have ownership of that sound so you can spend most of your money in the future on great records rather than fancier kit.