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Thread: Turntable advice needed

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default Turntable advice needed

    Hi I hope I’m posting this in the right section! We’ve had so much fun buying vinyl for Christmas presents for other people that we’ve decided to invest in a turntable ourselves.

    We’ve looked on line and been to curry’s but we’re not sure what to go for. We’ve got about £150 to spend. I got some advice on Bluetooth speakers on another thread which turned out to be brilliant so thought I’d raise another question. We’re not sure if we should get a Bluetooth turntable that could connect to the speakers we’ve already got or to go for a new set of speakers with the turntable as the turntable will be in another room. There seems to be quite a lot of choice in the sub £100 category but we don’t really want something novelty!

    Any advice on set ups within our budget would be very welcome indeed.

    Thanks in advance and I hope everyone’s having a wonderful Christmas!

  2. #2
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

    Posts: 11,215
    I'm Allen.

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    That will be tough on your budget , You really need a TT , amp with a phonostage built in and speakers
    Dont waste your money on the " Modern " usb type

    Good luck in your serch
    [

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jul 2010

    Location: Cheltenham

    Posts: 982
    I'm Charlie.

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    Vicki,

    Many of the affordable new turntables/record players at the £100-150 mark are poorly built. Importantly the quality of the bearings in the arm can be poor and the quality of the cartridge (needle) rock bottom too. You can end up damaging your valuable record collection with a cheap mass market record player. I would certainly avoid things like a Crossley, Ion etc.

    If you aren't too cack handed, I would look for a second hand classic turntable, such as a Sansui SR 222, Technics, Thorens - some examples below

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sansui-SR...sAAOSwa81aPiSb

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DUAL-505-...wAAOSwPPpaQ58B

    Otherwise, if you don;t trust your hands/eyesight and can stretch the budget a bit, try a new Project or a Rega RP1

    New Project Essential
    https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/t...ial-2-blk.html

    New Reag RP1
    https://www.northxsouth.co.uk/produc...=5391120400416

    You will need an amplifier with a phono input. Most 1980s and 90s classic hi-fi amplifiers had phono inputs - so plenty to choose from in the second hand market.

    Good luck!
    Charlie
    R2R: Studer A820 1/2 inch 2 track; Otari MTR-12 1/4 inch 2 track; Sony APR 5003; Sony APR 5002; Studer A807/II. Vinyl: Platine Verdier Allaerts MC1B/Schroeder Reference & Model 2 Decca C4E/Hadcock 228 TRON Seven Reference phono. Keith Monks MkII RCM Other analogue source: Nakamichi Dragon with ANT4066 mods. Amplification: TRON Meteor preamp TRON Voyager 20B SET power. Speakers: Avantgarde Duo. Digital: computing at last with Prism Sound Lyra 2 A2D converter

  4. #4
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    With your budget, an older, good quality turntable is definitely the way to go.

    I see you are in Hampshire. If you're not too far from Bordon, why not pop into 'HiFi Hangar' and have a chat with Steve who runs it. He stocks decent vintage gear and may well have something to suit you and his prices are sensible. He's a nice guy too.

    Here: https://www.hifihangar.co.uk/

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default

    Hi, can you explain why we should avoid usb, just a novice who doesn’t know

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default

    Thanks so much Charlie. Have looked at both the new options and both seem great, although the rega has mixed reviews on Amazon. We noticed they do a digital option in the project essential, worth considering?

    We also found a bundle with an onkyo a 90 10 amp, audio technika please 60 usb and Q acoustics Q3020 speakers for £379.. but it is a usb turntable which Al recommended to avoid. Being a novice I don’t know the difference with the usb.
    Is it a good idea to spend more and look for a bundle somewhere with all the things we need?

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default

    How would you rate this as an option?

    https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/h...s-2-black.html

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    With your budget, an older, good quality turntable is definitely the way to go.

    I see you are in Hampshire. If you're not too far from Bordon, why not pop into 'HiFi Hangar' and have a chat with Steve who runs it. He stocks decent vintage gear and may well have something to suit you and his prices are sensible. He's a nice guy too.

    Here: https://www.hifihangar.co.uk/
    Looks like a fab place, but closed until the new year unfortunately

  9. #9
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Gravesend and France

    Posts: 1,498
    I'm paul.

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    I don't see the point of playing records and then listening via digital. Is this vinyl interest more a hipster thing, where it's trendy to have records. If so I suggest you don't waste money on it. Don't take this the wrong way, just telling it how it is. I have friends with great records in pristine condition and bought a USB turntable with a tonearm where you can't even use a different cartridge on it. They buy new records and then digitise them on a Mac, then play them back through silly little AV speakers. I suggest you get to hear someone's vinyl playback set up and see if that's what you want, it can get expensive
    Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers

    Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house

    Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck


    System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jun 2017

    Location: hampshire

    Posts: 26
    I'm vicki.

    Default

    It’s not a need to transfer to digital at all, it’s the need to find what might work for our home.

    We love the vinyl sound, and we had a brilliant time going round the record shops in Brighton listening to records on the set ups in the vinyl shops. BUT we have three kids (two teenagers, one plays bass and one guitar so very much into this themselves) and therefore this means a limited budget and limited space.

    We don’t have the space for a wall full of equipment.

    What we do have is a huge front hall, which at the moment has a dresser in it. We would like to ditch the dresser and make a vinyl lounge, with a couple of armchairs, or a small sofa, and a vinyl set up of some sort, and some kind of wall mounted shelves for vinyl and graphic novels. My husband already has a vinyl collection and nothing to play them on currently.

    I don’t know if that explains a little better what we are looking for, if space and budget weren’t an issue, we would love all singing all dancing separates each bought with care and attention purely for music quality. But we aren’t in that position, so we are trying to find a set up we can afford, where we and our teenagers can enjoy vinyl and a little chill out zone to do so, in a smallish space.

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