Turntable, Amp and Speakers for £300?

[The Turbonator]

What's the best sounding kit I could get within budget?

Also is there any pre-owned Hi-Fi equipment sites that anyone could recommend?

[vsonix]

300 all in probably isn't going to get you anything decent to be honest but you can't go wrong with the classic Technics 1200/1210 model. The sound quality you get will be mostly down to which type of needle and cartridge setup you go for. I've been experimenting with cheap amp and speaker setups and have managed to build a really awesome sounding setup for around 45 quid using a mix of second hand Richer Sounds speakers, a small solid state amp that cost me £7.50 delivered from China and a 6" Vibe subwoofer (it's in my kitchen/breakfast room, anything larger would be overkill). Literally the sound of this kit puts expensive consumer hi-fi to shame, for the price of a McDonalds meal.

[Brother D]

vsonix said:

300 all in probably isn't going to get you anything decent to be honest but you can't go wrong with the classic Technics 1200/1210 model. The sound quality you get will be mostly down to which type of needle and cartridge setup you go for. I've been experimenting with cheap amp and speaker setups and have managed to build a really awesome sounding setup for around 45 quid using a mix of second hand Richer Sounds speakers, a small solid state amp that cost me £7.50 delivered from China and a 6" Vibe subwoofer (it's in my kitchen/breakfast room, anything larger would be overkill). Literally the sound of this kit puts expensive consumer hi-fi to shame, for the price of a McDonalds meal.

(Can you link to the China amp you used? Thanks)

[T5XARV]

For your £300 I could set you up with a Trio turntable, Technics or Pioneer Amp and a pair of Wharfedales....all vintage, all mint.

Or, I currently have a GEC tape deck , tuner amp and record deck set up along with a choice of vintage Jamo's, Scott floor standers, Wharfedales etc

Theres also a Garrard turntable/ pioneer amp/ Minidisc/ CD/ Speakers set-up which sounds ace and would come in around your budget.

If you want to mix it up a bit there are Denon, Sharp and technics amps, Pioneer tape decks, Bang and Olufsen, etc.

I'm in Lincoln. PM me if interested.

Edited by T5XARV on Wednesday 29th June 15:22

[The Turbonator]

T5XARV said:

For your £300 I could set you up with a Trio turntable, Technics or Pioneer Amp and a pair of Wharfedales....all vintage, all mint.

Or, I currently have a GEC tape deck , tuner amp and record deck set up along with a choice of vintage Jamo's, Scott floor standers, Wharfedales etc

Theres also a Garrard turntable/ pioneer amp/ Minidisc/ CD/ Speakers set-up which sounds ace and would come in around your budget.

If you want to mix it up a bit there are Denon, Sharp and technics amps, Pioneer tape decks, Bang and Olufsen, etc.

I'm in Lincoln. PM me if interested.

Edited by T5XARV on Wednesday 29th June 15:22

Awesome, PM sent!

[T5XARV]

Message responded to. Give me a call and I'll talk you through the stock and options.

[Harji]

Scour Richer Sounds (on-line and instore)for returns and ex-displays, that's where two thirds of my hi-fi came from 12 years ago and still working strong.

[T5XARV]

When Richer Sounds did only Hi-Fi they were amazing. Genuine massive savings and never an issue. These days sadly they're competing in an arena with many similar companies and even the 'Open Box' stuff at the branches shows only 10-15% savings particularly if its a popular category such as a turntable.
I'm biased I realise, but I would rather buy an old used item, proven and solid than a mass produced, poor quality, built-to-a-budget piece of junk for the same money.

As its PH.....New Dacia Sandero or used BMW 750i ?


http://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/used-cars-for-sal...

http://www.appletreecarsales.co.uk/used-BMW-7%20SE...

[telecat]

Sad really. That's the Budget I had getting my First HiFi... in 1984.

[Flip Martian]

Its funny, when I left home in 1983 and got my own room somewhere I splurged £350 on a Technics midi system. Bearing in mind I only very occasionally played vinyl in the last 20 years, I still had the turntable from it up until it finally died last year. I guess I got my money's worth

[selym]

I think that a 1200/1210 will be out of your budget unfortunately. Used is the way to go though; if the only source is going to be the turntable then buy an Amptastic T-Amp (which has one input only) for around £50, a Rega or Pro-Ject Carbon deck of some description at about £150 (if you search round), a Cambridge Audio 540(?) MM phono amp for around £30-40 and spend the rest on a set of Q Acoustics bookshelf speakers, which you should be able to get for £70.

That'll get you started

[battered]

The trio/Techy/Wharfey stsyem described above will be more than good enough. At these prices choices abound. My personal favourite TT at this price is still the Thorens TD150 mk2 (the golf ball arm), £70-100. A shade more if mint or custom plinth/fancy arms/carts. Amps, take your pick of 80s integrateds with a phono stage at £50 ish, speakers, fill your boots.

[T5XARV]

The Turbonator said:

T5XARV said:

For your £300 I could set you up with a Trio turntable, Technics or Pioneer Amp and a pair of Wharfedales....all vintage, all mint.

Or, I currently have a GEC tape deck , tuner amp and record deck set up along with a choice of vintage Jamo's, Scott floor standers, Wharfedales etc

Theres also a Garrard turntable/ pioneer amp/ Minidisc/ CD/ Speakers set-up which sounds ace and would come in around your budget.

If you want to mix it up a bit there are Denon, Sharp and technics amps, Pioneer tape decks, Bang and Olufsen, etc.

I'm in Lincoln. PM me if interested.

Edited by T5XARV on Wednesday 29th June 15:22

Awesome, PM sent!

The mailbox you sent to me was unavailable buddy, PM me with a number and I'll give you call once received, Cheers.

[The Turbonator]

Thanks for the help everyone, I manged to find this on Gumtree for £100.



Bought it off a lovely couple whos brother had just sadly passed away so were selling his stuff quickly before the council took possession of the flat again. They only wanted £80 for it when I went and picked it up.

Sounds amazing and I may look for a matching equalizer and pre-amp for it. It'll do me for now in any case.

You're in my friends list T5XARV so I'll make sure I contact you should I ever feel like upgrading it for something else.

Thanks again everyone.

Edited by The Turbonator on Friday 1st July 16:13

[battered]

The Turbonator said:

Thanks for the help everyone, I manged to find this on Gumtree for £100.



Bought it off a lovely couple whos brother had just sadly passed away so were selling his stuff quickly before the council took possession of the flat again. They only wanted £80 for it when I went and picked it up.

Sounds amazing and I may look for a matching equalizer and pre-amp for it. It'll do me for now in any case.

You're in my friends list T5XARV so I'll make sure I contact you should I ever feel like upgrading it for something else.

Thanks again everyone.

Edited by The Turbonator on Friday 1st July 16:13

Looks great. Those old 80s midi jobs were good, esp up the range with decent speakers. Belts wear out but other than that they just work.

[oop north]

telecat said:

Sad really. That's the Budget I had getting my First HiFi... in 1984.

My thought exactly - except I was 1985. NAD and Dual, perchance?

[Garett]

I would start with a 2nd hand Rotel amp (RA-01, RA-02, RA-931MkII), they tend to have pretty decent phono stages built into them. I have a Rotel RA-02 that I picked up for £80, 4 years ago, combined with a Project Debut II I got for £150 that would leave you with £50 for some speakers and £20 on some cables.

Lots of nice little bookshelf speakers for £50 mark on ebay/gumtree, bear in mind they will sound better on stands which you could upgrade to when budget/space allows.

[telecat]

oop north said:

telecat said:

Sad really. That's the Budget I had getting my First HiFi... in 1984.

My thought exactly - except I was 1985. NAD and Dual, perchance?

They were on the List but I ended up with Ariston RD20 t/t, Yamaha A300 Amp, TEAC tape desk and Celestion DL4.