Budget Vinyl Setup Questions

[Moko]

I have almost finished restoring a Thorens TD150 Mk1 as a budget way back into vinyl but I have no clue as to what phono stage / cartridge / tonearm to go for.

I have a budget of about £200 for the lot but as where to allocate funds I have no idea, reading around the NAD PP2 phono stage seems well liked at around £60.00, and that would leave around £140.00 for a tonearm / cartridge but then I am completley lost so any advice would be most welcome.

Obviously I open to 2nd hand, but it seems wierd that for some reason Rega 250's seem to sell for more 2nd hand than it costs to buy a brand new RB251.

As to the rest of my setup I have a Bottlehead Quickie valve pre amp that feeds a DIY EL34 power amp into Tannoy Eatons, music wise I mostly listen to Jazz, Indie & Rock.

[hifi_dave]

In your position, I would stick with the arm you have and spend the money on a Rega Fono stage and cartridge of choice from Ortofon or Audio Technica.

[Moko]

The arm on my MK1 is the TP13 which isn't that well liked:

"The TD150 Mk1 is just as good as the Mk2, except for the terrible arm which hamstrings the deck's performance" HiFi World

Apparently the TP13A kugelarm is really good but unfortunately mine doesn't have that version.Hence my thoughts of trying to get something good within budget before replacing the Shure M44-7 that it came with.

[DSJR]

HiFi World are full of children who've never seen a TP13, let alone play records with one

The arm is reasonably massy and doesn't have the lowest bearing friction out there. A drop of EP80 on the horizontal shaft and thrust spring-steel plate and careful adjustment of the vertical bearings will mean that 1,75 gramme trackers will be fine!!! A Pickering XV15/VE or possibly a carefully set up V15/625 would be ideal. The AT95e or AT120e would be ok and the Shure in there already could be upgraded to a degree by an N55E if you can find a good one (I'm drawn to an Ed Saunders hand-aligned one myself).

There's so much snobbery out there in audiophool land and arms like the TP13, 13A and TP16 can be overlooked unnecessarily IMO. Enjoy what you have

[Moko]

Sorry to show my ignorance but is N55E a replacement stylus for my M44-7, or a whole new cartridge?

Any recommendations for a good phono stage as I am definitely going to need one of those. I've been reading about the kit that Graham Slee is doing and I don't mind building a kit if it ups the bang per buck.

Apart from that it seems people seem to be split between 64O / Rega Fono or the NAD PP2 does anyone have any idea which way to go?

[colinB]

Only ever read good things about the Graham slee stuff.
I used to own a 640. Retrieved plenty of detail and had a neutral tone. I liked it.

[bubba45]

I've never tried the other 2 phono stages but the 640P is excellent and would get my recommendation.
Lots of detail, neutral sounding. Music sounds absolutely lovely on it.
My comparison is based on Marantz and Rotel integrated phono stages and 2 Pro-ject separates.

[Marco]

Hi Bubba,

Just a quickie, mate.... Could you please add your first name to your profile, as this is now the requirement for all members.

Cheers, dude!

Marco.

[tannoy man]

Those old shure cartridges really sing when fed into a Croft Micro Basic, but increase tracking force to 2.9 -3.0 grams.
Save your money up and Hi Fi Dave will do you a deal, but have it built with a lower output to suit a leak.

[tannoy man]

Sorry forgot to say dont buy a cheap stylus buy the Ed saunders version.