Upgrade Path Advice

[trash116]

Hi there,

My first real post, after my intro post.... I've not got that much hifi experience... so looking for some pointers if possible.

I've got my first 'proper' modest system set up after many many years of running a cheap system... I've now got..

Rega P3 & Elys2 Cartridge, Rega Brio Amp, B&W 685 S2 speakers

I've had this for just over a year and really enjoyed it....

If i was to want to upgrade - what would be a good plan of order....

Saving for a new TT - somebody has mentioned a P8 if i want to stay with Rega TT,

Or should i just look at a better cartridge on my P3

Or looking at upgrading other components such as Amp, or a separate phono stage...


I've tried to do some reading -- but a bit confused on what would be a good plan,approach,order.....

Budget wise i could afford doing the above - it will just require abit of time to do some saving.....


Final question is that my speaker placement is not ideal at all...there is only a gap of around 52cm between them (they are either side of the TT), they are not on floor stands, they are on some make-shift type stands ontop of the ikea kallax unit the TT sits on.. I know this is far from ideal --- but there are no other options for placement of speakers in the room.... Would this poor speaker placement negate the benefits of any upgrades i considered in-terms of sound -- i think i am saying is it worth spending money on upgrades with poor speaker placement like this.


Hope this is not too rambling for my first post

Many thanks
Marc

[walpurgis]

That's a pretty well matched system Marc. I do think a speaker upgrade wouldn't hurt though and the rest of the equipment could handle it, but your existing speaker placement really needs sorting.

[hifinutt]

Great to have you marc, i am in brum so not too far
Agree with above suggestion , save up for some better speakers

[Barry]

How far away from your speakers do you listen? Your speaker separation is far from ideal (52cm is only 1' 8"), and unless you listen to them near-field (say a couple of feet away), I cannot see how you can enjoy the stereo presentation.

Is there no way you can reposition the speakers and move them away from the TT?

[StingRay]

I would change the cartridge, I think you can do better for around £150. I would also be looking different speakers, I’m not a fan of B&W budget ones. After lockdown maybe have some demos.
Turntable isolation can make a considerable difference, so you should look into that and it should not be that expensive.
I agree speaker placement is far from ideal, can you not move them far apart? Mine are about 2.5m apart and I’m about 2.5m away. How about a shelf for the turntable?

[mayebaza]

Welcome Marc,

I my suggested upgrade path would be the speakers first, then the cartridge. But you can do a surprising improvements just by altering speaker location, isolating your turntable. When this thing is over it would be nice to meet up there is good bunch of us in the West Mids!

[trash116]

Hi everyone,

thanks for taking the time to reply - i've found them really useful.

Main focus of advice seems to be on speakers.

The comments on speaker placement didn't surprise me, even as a novice i knew it was far from ideal.

I have a major problem though, there really isn't any alternative placement options. It's a fairly small room, the size is 10'11"/3.35m x 7'2"/2.2m, and the room has a dual purpose as my home studio and my record listening room/man-cave I've got quite alot of gear in there for my music production, and there really is no alternative to placing the speakers where they are.

Barry asked how far away from the speakers i am listening - given what i've said above, i'm normally sitting about 170cm away from the speakers.

Also to complicate things the rear of the speakers are only about 8cm away from the wall behind them - and that cant change either because i cant place them anywhere else

I know ideally the speakers should be placed differently - and if i could i would - but i don't have any options other than where they are.

Given the above - would saving for better speakers still be a good step?

If so what speakers would people recommend?

Also i wondered on peoples thoughts on KEF LS50 speakers as an upgrade in my system?

Would rear ported speakers be a problem with placement so close to the wall behind?

Maybaza mentioned cartridge upgrade - what are peoples thoughts on candidates in my system?

thanks for your time and help so far.

[Pigmy Pony]

Marc, I think you could get some improvements by isolating tour t/t from the speakers better. As it stands (forgive the pun), vibration from the speaker cabs can transmit to the t/t via the Kallax and colour the sound. And the louder you play the worse it will be. If you can find a nice used wall shelf for the deck that would help, then you can better enjoy the improvements that some different speakers would bring. Also you can experiment with different ways of isolating your speakers/stands from the Kallax.

And if your speakers have to stay on the kallax, they will be quite close to the wall - so probably not speakers with rear-firing ports.

[CageyH]

With that little space between speakers, I would be tempted to investigate headphones.

[StingRay]

I suggest looking at wall mounting speakers, if you can in your room. LS50s are good but I don’t think will work in your room.
If they have to be on the cabinet then you could use some isolation under your speakers such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speaker-Isolation-Density-Monitor-28x19x4cm/dp/B07T8XP93J/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=61451380523&dchild=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5ZjtjpO46gIVhNCyCh3REg66EAAYASAA EgIpd_D_BwE&hvadid=310634492580&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=9045097&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=2835839437234411121&hvtargid=kwd-309062762103&hydadcr=25912_1812959&keywords=speaker+isolation+stands&qid=1594022131&sr=8-1-spons&tag=googhydr-21&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzMEpaUzBRTkhOSVcyJ mVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNDAxNjA4MVpYVkNGQVZZQzBBSCZlbmN yeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTUzNjU5MjRIR0JPNEZGTUcxNyZ3aWRnZ XROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05 vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Macca]

Keep the speakers, they are decent and the space is very small so would compromise an upgrade in that direction.

I'd look at improving the front end - cartridge, arm and turntable can all be improved on and you would get all the benefit from upgrading that area.