Looking for some guidance please

[bbones]

Figured I'd check in, say Hi and give an update.

Spent a very enjoyable Friday evening at a friend of my brothers picking his brain and listening to vinyl on his system. Moon components, B&W 803D3's, RP10. He recently changed his system and has a Music Fidelity Nu Vista 800 for sale....beautiful but would completely negate any budget I might have had. (I did try to justify though LOL)

Heading out with him on Wed. this week and likely will be picking up an R Planar 6 with exact cartridge, Moon 240i integrated amp......and then have a listen to the B&W 702 S2's. They are floor models (TT and amp...not sure on speakers) and price is comparable to what I've seen on the Canuck Audio site. Still waffling somewhat on the speakers as my practical side keeps saying pick up something not quite as expensive. Anyway, I'm going to have a listen to a few different brands and I guess we'll see. Trying to keep in mind that there are other expenses as well such as cables/stand that I should be factoring in.......but thinking I'll probably come home with the turntable and amp this week.

Keep you posted.

[AJSki2fly]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the update, sounds like you are well on you way to owning a great system. Keep us all posted and once in situ we love some Hifi porn pics.

[bbones]

Can I ask a question on cables/connections.

I realize again the sky is the limit in terms of what you can purchase.

At one end you have the big spool of basic speaker cable that I ran thru the walls of the house when renovating...(that I now realize will likely never use) and at the other end are cables worth more than my car.

Is there a consensus at what would be considered a minimum requirement.???

The chap I visited last week....between his power conditioner,power cords, and speaker cable I'd need double my budget to just purchase them.......never mind the actual components.

I can't afford this level of committment but at the same time don't want to purchase some nice components...only to have the connections become a weak link. I'm trying to balance good sound and be realistic.

My eyes are slowly being opened just to how far I may go......as I swirl down the rabbit hole. :0)

[Macca]

I'd advise against getting hung up on cables right now. Anything made to a reasonable standard will be fine. $20 USD for a pair of interconnects will get you that and make sure the speaker cable is 14AWG or thicker. No need to go mad with money there either.

You can fine tune with these things, sometimes, but better left until you've got a system set up and you've lived with it for a while first.

[Pharos]

Apply the law of limiting factors, as do any engineers or scientists to any system.

The question then becomes one of ordinating the expenditure on the elements of a system.
I have a system which at new prices is £35k for speakers and amplification, but I do not use a mains conditioner or separate mains circuit because I do not think they are limiting factors.

I believe that competently designed equipment can easily handle transients because the power supply has adequate storage capacitance, and would never buy a special fuse, and would not spend very much on speaker cables, but would make sure they had plenty of copper.

[bbones]

Thank you for this and makes good sense. This is first step and I actually look forward to the opportunity to experiment and upgrade......after I've "lived with it for a while"

much appreciated.

[walpurgis]

I would point out that cheap or poor cables can have a negative effect. However, as has been said, there is no need to make extravagant purchases.

[AJSki2fly]

Can I ask a question on cables/connections.

I realize again the sky is the limit in terms of what you can purchase.

At one end you have the big spool of basic speaker cable that I ran thru the walls of the house when renovating...(that I now realize will likely never use) and at the other end are cables worth more than my car.

Is there a consensus at what would be considered a minimum requirement.???

The chap I visited last week....between his power conditioner,power cords, and speaker cable I'd need double my budget to just purchase them.......never mind the actual components.

I can't afford this level of committment but at the same time don't want to purchase some nice components...only to have the connections become a weak link. I'm trying to balance good sound and be realistic.

My eyes are slowly being opened just to how far I may go......as I swirl down the rabbit hole. :0)

You could make your own speaker cables up with this, have a read of the review, not expensive and I know several with high end gear that swear by it. https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wir...insulated.html go for speaker plugs like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8-Gold-Pl...IAAOSwFJBZUScO

Also for interconnect you could go for Belden 8402 cable for interconnects https://www.mcru.co.uk/product/belde...cable-for-diy/, RCAs like these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4pcs-Wbt-....c100005.m1851

the cable is very low impedance and used for microphone cable, when making them up you should only connect the sheilding at one end to the negative(outside of the RCA), there are many youtube guides on making up RCA cables.

Just need a soldering iron, good solder and a cheap meter to check continuity. Its the most cost effective way to get good cables at sensible cost.

[bbones]

Well Covid is having a negative effect on my new found audiophile addiction. Meant to be picking up my newly purchased turntable and amp tomorrow......and sitting back in their sound room testing out speakers. Our Province just got locked down due to a big spike in cases......which means my "kit" is likely behind locked doors for the next couple weeks.
........and of course means my healthcare work is going to be nuts next week. Stay safe folks........we had snow this week.....it's only October.......too early. Ugh

[bbones]

Well turntable and amp currently sitting in my living room, and speakers (B&W 702 S2) purchased and ordered....could take a month for delivery....but I'm super pumped. Already thinking what else I might want. LOL

While I wait, I'm curious what you folks use for cleaning your albums? That Friend of a friend who's system I got to enjoy has an Audiodesk Pro. It was super nice......but also $4600 Cdn. Still on my list of future potential items but wondering what other folks do. My albums have sat in crates for 30 years now.

Sitting back listening to a Cdn Classical composer Marjan Mozetich Affairs of the Heart.......one of the first albums I want to play. (an album I find very emotional and enjoyable if you have not heard and are into classical)

Enjoy//Steven