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Helping a kid out

So long story short I got neighbor kid into audio and to appreciate listening to music on something other than a cheap Bluetooth speaker.  He’s pretty young but a good kid, a hard working honest kid.  So far he’s accumulated his old mans Dual turntable that I helped him clean up and installed an Ortofon 2M Blue on it, a nice but older Marantz integrated and a pair of Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers.  I hooked him up with a pair of Kimber 8TC speaker cables I had retired a while ago (lol, probably making them the most expensive part of his system).  He’s looking to upgrade and I suggested trying out a dedicated phono stage.  I’m assuming his budget is in the $200 range and I told his old man I wouldn’t let him buy something stupid.  I had no idea the sheer volume of phono stages in this price range on the market.  What would you guys and gals suggest?  My knee jerk reaction is Schitt Mani and I read a few good things about a Bellari unit but holy cow the choices are infinite.  Maybe something a little higher end but used?  Extra points if it can be purchased from Amazon but that’s by no means a deal breaker.
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Showing 1 response by jaytor

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jaytor
766 posts
 
Great thread and kudos to the OP for helping a youngster appreciate our hobby.

The Bottlehead kit is a great idea. Building something yourself gives you a much better appreciation of how stuff works and what matters in the product. Who knows - it might lead him to a career in electronics as it did for me.

I built several Heathkits in my teens and every one was a blast to build and a successful result, so I don't think this kind of kit would be that challenging for a motivated teen (particularly with the OP's help). 

I only wish I had continued to build my own gear over the past several decades. My excuse is career and family got in the way, but I now look back with some regret.

Over the past couple of years, I've gotten back into DIY and built a pair of speakers with subs, three pair of monoblock amps and a preamp, and am currently finishing another preamp and have started working on my first tube project - a pair of 300B P-SET monoblocks. I'm having a blast and can see DIY audio becoming something I spend a good part of my retirement life on (approaching fast). 
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