Vinyl noob turntable advice!
Discussion
Right then, I've wanted to experience the mystical grail that is vinyl for some time now, but up until now my main source has always been CD.
I know we all give in to budget creep, but this really is a bit of a frivolous purchase so it CAN'T happen here. My main source will always be CD for ease of playing in the car, ripping to iTunes, etc, so buying vinyl copies of CDs I already own really is a bit of a luxury. The wife does not get it AT ALL!
Now my fear is that as I'm on a budget, I'll be getting an entry level turntable, and the sound quality won't match my CD player, and I'll end up being disappointed with vinyl and will have wasted my money.
To give some background, CDs are currently played through a Cyrus CD8X, Arcam A85 / Denon AVR-2807, and Tannoy DC6T speakers. So decent low-to-middling kit, but nothing outrageous.
I was looking at the Rega RP3/Elys2 combo or something at that price point. My questions are thus:
1. Would this do vinyl justice within the limits of my current system?
2. Would it compare favourably with the Cyrus as a source?
3. If the answer to 2. is a 'No', what sort of price point would I need to look at to better the Cyrus, (this is the point after all).
I don't want to blow £500 and find that at that price point my Cyrus sounds better. If I need to spend more, it'll have to wait until I can do records the justice they deserve!
PS - I know listening myself is key, but my gear is old and replacating it with modern equivalents will be difficult at best, and then comparing different turntables on a level playing field even harder.
PPS - Sorry for the waffle!
I know we all give in to budget creep, but this really is a bit of a frivolous purchase so it CAN'T happen here. My main source will always be CD for ease of playing in the car, ripping to iTunes, etc, so buying vinyl copies of CDs I already own really is a bit of a luxury. The wife does not get it AT ALL!
Now my fear is that as I'm on a budget, I'll be getting an entry level turntable, and the sound quality won't match my CD player, and I'll end up being disappointed with vinyl and will have wasted my money.
To give some background, CDs are currently played through a Cyrus CD8X, Arcam A85 / Denon AVR-2807, and Tannoy DC6T speakers. So decent low-to-middling kit, but nothing outrageous.
I was looking at the Rega RP3/Elys2 combo or something at that price point. My questions are thus:
1. Would this do vinyl justice within the limits of my current system?
2. Would it compare favourably with the Cyrus as a source?
3. If the answer to 2. is a 'No', what sort of price point would I need to look at to better the Cyrus, (this is the point after all).
I don't want to blow £500 and find that at that price point my Cyrus sounds better. If I need to spend more, it'll have to wait until I can do records the justice they deserve!
PS - I know listening myself is key, but my gear is old and replacating it with modern equivalents will be difficult at best, and then comparing different turntables on a level playing field even harder.
PPS - Sorry for the waffle!
Can't really answer that because it's such a subjective thing. My only advice would be to find a local hifi dealer with listening rooms and take your amp in and have a listen. Failing that, contact an Arcam dealer and ask what they'd recommend as starting point.
(If you don't want to spend that much, have a look at the Pro-ject Essential II or SE3)
(If you don't want to spend that much, have a look at the Pro-ject Essential II or SE3)
Edited by Monty Python on Wednesday 23 December 09:07
Revs_Addiction said:
I don't want to blow £500 and find that at that price point my Cyrus sounds better.
Problem here is that you will be comparing a source unit that cost around £1500 with one a third of the price. A fairer contest would involve something like a Project RPM3 Carbon/Ortofon Quintet Bronze.I'm sure you know but...
You have to use turntables with a 'phono stage', the output is not the same as a CD player, tape deck etc. I think your Denon has dedicated phono inputs, but it was an optional extra on your Arcam (again, I think). Furthermore there are two types of record player, MM and MC, the phono stage needs to match the record player. Most are switchable.
You have to use turntables with a 'phono stage', the output is not the same as a CD player, tape deck etc. I think your Denon has dedicated phono inputs, but it was an optional extra on your Arcam (again, I think). Furthermore there are two types of record player, MM and MC, the phono stage needs to match the record player. Most are switchable.
As mentioned above, see what you can demo first before buying anything. My first thought is that the Rega won't match your current set up, and that you need to budget more for a separate phono stage anyway.
What do you ultimately want to achieve? Is it a vinyl front end to just use occasionally to play a couple of favourite albums that are mastered better than the equivalent CD or to use as a main source?
If it is the latter, I'd advise not getting into vinyl at all with any kind of budget in mind. New albums are knocking on £20 each, second hand is much cheaper but a bit of a lottery and you'd really need a record cleaning machine (more expense).
I have been dabbling in vinyl for as long as I can remember, but did a big upgrade a few years ago to a Michell Gyro SE, Tecnoarm and Trichord Dino stage. That cost a lot of money (well worth it) but that investment is dwarfed by what I have spent on vinyl in the past few years to make it my main source.
If you are spending enough on a TT set up to match the rest of your system that is a massive investment if you are only going to buy a few albums, but it is when you buy more than a few that it really starts getting expensive.
I'd never try to discourage anyone from using my favourite format, but the music itself gets very expensive in an era of £10 a month Spotify and £0.01 CDs from Amazon.
What do you ultimately want to achieve? Is it a vinyl front end to just use occasionally to play a couple of favourite albums that are mastered better than the equivalent CD or to use as a main source?
If it is the latter, I'd advise not getting into vinyl at all with any kind of budget in mind. New albums are knocking on £20 each, second hand is much cheaper but a bit of a lottery and you'd really need a record cleaning machine (more expense).
I have been dabbling in vinyl for as long as I can remember, but did a big upgrade a few years ago to a Michell Gyro SE, Tecnoarm and Trichord Dino stage. That cost a lot of money (well worth it) but that investment is dwarfed by what I have spent on vinyl in the past few years to make it my main source.
If you are spending enough on a TT set up to match the rest of your system that is a massive investment if you are only going to buy a few albums, but it is when you buy more than a few that it really starts getting expensive.
I'd never try to discourage anyone from using my favourite format, but the music itself gets very expensive in an era of £10 a month Spotify and £0.01 CDs from Amazon.
Thanks for taking the time to reply guys.
Today I spent quite some listening to various turntables at VERY varied price points, compared them to CD players and generally came to the realisation that this could be a very expensive, and very slippery slope!
A turntable is never going to be my main source, that will always remain CDs. I have FAR too many CDs to change now, and I've never been a fan of buying downloads in lieu of having the actual physical disc. Streaming has kind of passed me by so far, but may come later with some kind of Sonos system.
With that in mind, I simply can't justify matching the price of my CD player, as it really is a luxury purchase. I love the tactility of the records themselves, using the tone arm, the crackle of the needle, the whole deal. Not forgetting to mention the more natural and warmer sound of vinyl.
So it needs to be good enough to do the medium justice, but at a budget. Was it possible? Well I listened to various Rega and Linn TT (not sure of the model, but £2.5k worth), and whilst I could definitely hear the value in the Linn, I felt that the Rega 3 didn't disappoint compared to the CD player. This was played through a high-end system (£10k+), so I'm confident my much more modest system won't highlight any deficiencies.
There's always the option to upgrade the power supply, (I felt it was possibly snake oil, but was definitely noticeable), as well as obviously the cartridge if I want to improve things further. So a deal was done and he even threw in an LP as I'm a virgin at present!
My mum laughed as she's just kitted her house top to bottom with Sonos and has embraced streaming to the full, and here I am returning to the medium she started with!
So here we go, alas my Arcam doesn't have the phono stage option, so to start it'll be playing through the Denon, but eventually I would like to use the Arcam. With that in mind, can anyone recommend a sensibly priced separate phono stage, and also any good record shops in the Berkshire / Surrey area!
Today I spent quite some listening to various turntables at VERY varied price points, compared them to CD players and generally came to the realisation that this could be a very expensive, and very slippery slope!
A turntable is never going to be my main source, that will always remain CDs. I have FAR too many CDs to change now, and I've never been a fan of buying downloads in lieu of having the actual physical disc. Streaming has kind of passed me by so far, but may come later with some kind of Sonos system.
With that in mind, I simply can't justify matching the price of my CD player, as it really is a luxury purchase. I love the tactility of the records themselves, using the tone arm, the crackle of the needle, the whole deal. Not forgetting to mention the more natural and warmer sound of vinyl.
So it needs to be good enough to do the medium justice, but at a budget. Was it possible? Well I listened to various Rega and Linn TT (not sure of the model, but £2.5k worth), and whilst I could definitely hear the value in the Linn, I felt that the Rega 3 didn't disappoint compared to the CD player. This was played through a high-end system (£10k+), so I'm confident my much more modest system won't highlight any deficiencies.
There's always the option to upgrade the power supply, (I felt it was possibly snake oil, but was definitely noticeable), as well as obviously the cartridge if I want to improve things further. So a deal was done and he even threw in an LP as I'm a virgin at present!
My mum laughed as she's just kitted her house top to bottom with Sonos and has embraced streaming to the full, and here I am returning to the medium she started with!
So here we go, alas my Arcam doesn't have the phono stage option, so to start it'll be playing through the Denon, but eventually I would like to use the Arcam. With that in mind, can anyone recommend a sensibly priced separate phono stage, and also any good record shops in the Berkshire / Surrey area!
The Rega 3 is certainly an excellent way to start and it can handle some quite high end cartridges.
For a separate phono stage you can't go far wrong with one of these for £120:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Audio-651p-Blk/d...
And it does MC as well as MM
For a separate phono stage you can't go far wrong with one of these for £120:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cambridge-Audio-651p-Blk/d...
And it does MC as well as MM
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