Advise: Buying My First Vinyl Player

[cyh]

Hi rock! You say that you're from Ireland? Why don't you consider the Rega TTs. In fact there are lotsa good condition used Planar 2, 3 and P2 &P3 around where you live. With the savings, you can get yourself a good cartridge. My 2 cents/pence

[fabchef]

I recently bought a (used) rega 2 TT...it's such a nice player! i'm very impressed with it and i strongly recommend getting it!
fabs

[02audionoob]

Trying to get near or into that price range, I'd probably look first at the Marantz PM5004 integrated. I think Cambridge Audio and NAD have comparable models that would be worth considering. I own a Pro-Ject Debut III but in this price range I'd recommend the Rega RP1. I bought my Debut III used and got a good deal. But if I were buying new, I'd be more interested in the Rega.

I also like Rega's small speakers on the value end of things, but it depends on preference. Small speakers will usually not produce the quantity of bass that the larger speakers will.

[rock]

Hi guys, still on the hunt. But I'm going to commit to buying one... I originally decided on the Pro-Ject Debut 3, but came across the Pro-Ject Audio RPM 1.3 / Genie 3 and now I'm completely lost. Which is better, the Pro-Ject Debut 3 (with a Ortofon Super OM10 cartridge) or the Pro-Ject Audio RPM 1.3 / Genie 3 (with a Ortofon Super OM10 cartridge, which could add later)?
I also need a pre-amp (was looking at the basic Pro-ject Phono stage), as I've only a B&W Zepplin for now. It'll be a good while before I can think of getting anything else, and I don't want to wait any more

I'm looking at Ebay for the best prices... have be outbid on a few pro-jects... and one in particular had the phono stage included

Please can you guys help me figure this nighmare out

Thanks again for all your help

[02audionoob]

Hi guys, still on the hunt. But I'm going to commit to buying one... I originally decided on the Pro-Ject Debut 3, but came across the Pro-Ject Audio RPM 1.3 / Genie 3 and now I'm completely lost. Which is better, the Pro-Ject Debut 3 (with a Ortofon Super OM10 cartridge) or the Pro-Ject Audio RPM 1.3 / Genie 3 (with a Ortofon Super OM10 cartridge, which could add later)?
I also need a pre-amp (was looking at the basic Pro-ject Phono stage), as I've only a B&W Zepplin for now. It'll be a good while before I can think of getting anything else, and I don't want to wait any more

I'm looking at Ebay for the best prices... have be outbid on a few pro-jects... and one in particular had the phono stage included

Please can you guys help me figure this nighmare out

Thanks again for all your help

Personal opinion...The Debut III is better than the RPM 1.3. I don't like the 1.3's tonearm.

[hifitommy]

"amazed at how the Technics made them all sound so similar."

thats one of the reasons i drifted away from my PLL1000a. yes, the carts sounded different but not as much as in my MMT arm or g707 arm.

getting started, one can accept the cart that comes on the tt but after a while, changing up to a better one will elucidate the reason for doing so. i agree that the pearl (or oyster) is better left for someone else or kept as a backup for when it is better than NO cartridge. a grado, ortofon, or nagoaka can take you to better places than the pearl, oyster, or BP2.

project is certainly a good alternative to mhall and i wouldnt hesitate getting one if i had to start over. a used dd or belt table with an arm that uses a detachable shell can be a great start into the vinyl part of the hobby. changing carts and inspecting the stylus is ever so much easier with a detachable shell. changing carts on an arm on the table is nerve wracking.

[Ctboyer1]

Hey all, I am new to this forum but not new to audio. I would describe myself as a strong audio enthusiast who aspires to be an audiophile but does not quite have the budget yet. My musical interests range from hard rock, alternative to experimental quirky and lounge stuff. Having a house with 3 young kids makes it difficult for daddy to listen to any kind of grown-up music right now. I have the whole surround sound system down for watching movies, but now I want to build something special for the living room.

I would like to be able to listen to some higher end recordings, on 180-200g vinyl. I have an extensive and outdated collection of rock on vinyl that is all scratched from a previous life on panasonic and luxman turntables. I also have a middle sized collection of cd's and some decent super audio cd's but rarely listen to them. I now have about 80gb of mp3's, some high quality rips some not.

I have a decent pair of Monitor Audio Silver 3i's on stands in my 20 x 22 living room. I would like to build a very nicely presentable system around them, as few components as possible but very nice and sweat sounding, for entertaining adult dinner or party guests at our house. I would like to start with vinyl and mp3's only, no cd's and no radio. I think my starting budget should be about $2500 for now just so my wife doesn't get too upset. I have always wanted a tube amp, but most seems out of my budget. I also want a decent turntable, like a Rega or Music Hall.

What can you guys suggest for a decent system, all inclusive, in my budget range? I would be willing to entertain used equipment but I know this can be difficult to find and sometimes troublesome to fix. I am in the Chicago suburbs, so there are quite a few decent hifi stores in the area, including my favorite MusicDirect.

[02audionoob]

My first thought would be an integrated amp by Marantz, Rega or Cambridge Audio. Marantz starts under $500 and includes a phono input. Put together the Marantz with a Music Hall MMF-5.1 and the stock Goldring cartridge and you're in under $1,500. Or how about Rega's Brio-R integrated, RP3 turntable, and the Elys2 cartridge. Or maybe do an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge instead. That setup would be $2,000 plus tax.

[Jack in Wilmington]

You could also pick up a nice Jolida tube integrated amp on Audiogon. I saw a JD502RC on there for $1190, add to that the Music Hall MMF 5.1 that Noob had mentioned and you have a very nice system for less than $2000.

[Ctboyer1]

Thanks for the ideas, but a couple of quick comments/questions:

1. I have owned several Marantz components in the past 10 years, and although I felt like they were very high performance for the money, they all stopped functioning within a few years, which was way too short of a lifespan IMHO. Because of this I vowed never to buy Marantz products again.
2. I have read some nice reviews on the new Rega RP3 with the standard configuration, but you are both recommending the Music Hall MMF 5.1 instead maybe. Any specific reason? Just wondering since the article in Stereophile made it sound like the RP3 was a really top notch choice for the price.
3. What do you think is the minmum threshold of power output into 8 ohms for a tube or other preamp that would still play sufficiently "loud" in case I really want to crank up the volume? I still want something that sounds really nice, but I guess now I am thinking I also want to be able to wake up the neighbors a little...
4. The Jolida integrated amps are really nice looking, especially the jd202rc that I see on Audiogon for $950.00. Are they reliable if you pick one up used?

5. If I simply went this route, and got the Rega RP3 in stock configuration with Elys2 cart and the Jolida JD202rd, that's about $2000.00. Don't I need anything else if I want to play MP3's as well or will an integrated amp do all the connections I need it to? I am used to my audio/video receiver doing everything that I am not sure what I need.

[02audionoob]

Regarding Marantz, I see no reason you couldn't exclude them and still have very nice options in this price range. I think the Rega amps would be very good contenders for this system.

I think Jack and I have both had good experiences with Music Hall turntables and consider them to be relatively good value in the current market. I moved on from my MMF-5 to a Rega P5, but I really enjoyed the Music Hall. I might even get another, someday. Rega is no doubt a good contender in your price range and I don't have any reservations about the RP3. As you might have noticed, the RP3 was one of the only two turntables I recommended. There are not many new turntables in this price range, but the ones in this range are quite good. They don't necessarily measure up to what you could buy for the same money on the used market, but it's that way with just about any component.

If you want volume that will wake the neighbors, perhaps high sensitivity in the speakers is the way to go. I used to have a 60-watt Adcom amp paired with some efficient JBL speakers and it could play really loud. I also had the 200-watt model and eventually settled on the 100-watt Adcom. They all easily provided enough power. I'm not necessarily recommending Adcom...I'd probably more likely recommend Rotel for economical separates...but the power ratings are the point. That being, it doesn't always take a high number to play loud. My main system contains a 45-watt tube amp and it can play louder than I'd ever want.

I've always had just a little bit of reservation recommending Jolida amps, but for no real concrete reasons. I mostly just think it would be better to look at PrimaLuna for that sort of thing. Personal preference, I suppose...at least partly due to being able to listen to PrimaLuna amps at a local dealer.

If you want to play MP3 files on this system, I would suggest a DAC. A DAC may have a USB input, a coax SPDIF input, a Toslink, and perhaps more. You can run many MP3 players into audio inputs, but a DAC can do a better job. I have a PS Audio Digital Link III for that purpose, which goes for around $600 to $700 on Audiogon and lists for around $1,000. Cambridge, Music Hall, Musical Fidelity and Rega have DACs at various price points from $1,000 on down. Some people use little devices like the HRT Streamer for this purpose, too.

Another use for the DAC is to run your CD or DVD player into it. You can get a substantial upgrade from the sound quality of budget CD players by running the digital output into a DAC. Of course, you could always just plug a computer into the DAC and use your hard drive as your transport instead of a CD player.