Budget T/T system from scratch

[CageyH]

My brother has just been re-enlightened to the sound of vinyl.
He now wants to have his own system to play his collection, but has a budget of about £500. The system will be put in a relatively small room, and he is aware of the limitations of a dudget system. He tells me he is not interested in upgrades to a deck, but just wants something that works.

Where would you start with a budget of this magnitude?
For me, it would have to be a Genie or RP1, but what about the amp, and speakers?

I have not kept up with the latest developments, so I would be interested in what peoples opinion of equipment to be put on the audition list is?

[Macca]

more info required -

What are the dimensions of his room? What sort of music does he like? This will affect speaker choice. Also will it all have to be new equipment or is he prepared to buy previously owned gear?

[CageyH]

One question I can answer immediately:
Music taste - Big new order fan, the Smiths and Indie from the same period.
He is also into some of the new/emerging bands, but I think this is all cd based.

[Wakefield Turntables]

To over egg the Celestion Ditton 15XR just a little more! You could do a lot worse than pick up a pair of these speakers. You can usually find a pair kicking around freecycle or eBay. Regarding the deck, get yourself a 1210 or one of the cheaper Rega turntables & a nicely fettled Rega tonearm. A NAD 3020A pre amp is a budget miracle with a half decent phonostage and its works very well with technics decks and celestion speakers. As for carts and cables, the new Rhodium black twist cable at £3.50 per meter looks good (just got an excellent review in HiFi world), the cart is something I'll let the other chaps discuss but the Ortofon 2M or maybe a Gold Ring could be in order Hope this helps.

[jazzpiano]

Hello,
You mention that he was "re-enlightened" by vinyl - What re-enlightened him? Did he hear a friends rig and if so what appealed to him? And, how comparable is his space to the one he heard vis-a-vis Marco's advice? I can't advise that you do what I'd do, but I'm a big build around the speakers or turntable/arm/cart guy and upgrade the electronics over the years. I think he needs to at least hear the speakers he's buying, and preferably the spinner too (ideally everything, but I know nowdays that's not always possible, sometimes you have to take a flyer.) Have fun!

Best,
Barry

[MCRU]

To over egg the Celestion Ditton 15XR just a little more! You could do a lot worse than pick up a pair of these speakers. You can usually find a pair kicking around freecycle or eBay. Regarding the deck, get yourself a 1210 or one of the cheaper Rega turntables & a nicely fettled Rega tonearm. A NAD 3020A pre amp is a budget miracle with a half decent phonostage and its works very well with technics decks and celestion speakers. As for carts and cables, the new Rhodium black twist cable at £3.50 per meter looks good (just got an excellent review in HiFi world), the cart is something I'll let the other chaps discuss but the Ortofon 2M or maybe a Gold Ring could be in order Hope this helps.

Agree, good post!

[Wakefield Turntables]

[CageyH]

Thanks for the feedback so far.
I am still waiting for a response from my brother.

The re-enlightenment came from him listening to a copy of a CD and Vinyl of the same album on the same system. It was not mine, so I can't tell you what was in it. He adopted CD early on, and I can remember him buying a Phillips CD player when they first came out, at great expense. He's not listened to Vinyl since, but bizarrely enough, he has continued to add to his collection.

I'll give him a prod, and see if he can send me the missing information.

[daytona600]

just put together a vinyl/cd system for the boy for his 13th birthday well under £500
rega planar 3 / ortofon 2m , 15watt chinese valve amp , marantz CD63se & Qacoustics 2020 with some of my old cables all 2nd hand for under £200
sounds superb , he even plugs his guitar into a listens on headphones

[DSJR]

CD's played with old, lower model players can over emphasise problems in the speaker tweeters and crossovers. Fixing one of the two can sort things out nicely, but doing both makes ALL formats enjoyable.

For £500, I'd look for a late-ish Rega 2 or 3 (cheap spares and superior performance) or possibly a new RP1, a good used amp like an A&R A60, Creek 4040/4140 and speakers such as larger Wharfedale Diamonds, Celestion DL series, Tannoy M20's and *selected* B&W's 'cos some of them are pants - some 500 series were really good (pre the "i" models) and the 601/602 were fun in mk1 trim and should be mellow now.

The used market is humungous nowadays and seems to have all but replaced the midrange specialist-audio market now. if you know what to look out for, there are still some great buys (some old HK amps were really good for example), but obviously, go too old and you'll need to budget for a darned good service on the stuff - something the chap may not wish to do. As long as the speakers chosen aren't nasty screechers and have a pretty well controlled bass, he should be able to enjoy both vinyl and CD together, since at the end of the day it's the music that's really important, not where it's reproduced from.....