Thanks all for the great advice and recommendations. Time for me to digest it all and make a decision. I’ll post what I end up getting.
New speakers for turntable ($500 range)
I’m looking for new speakers to go with my turntable, and hoping to stay below $600. I also just picked up a Keiid amp. Any speakers you’d recommend? What should I consider for speakers in this price range? How important is speaker cable? Currently running 16 gauge copper rockfish.
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These go on sale every few weeks for $300. Grab them when they do. They are amazing. Check out the reviews on YouTube too. https://www.jbl.com/loudspeakers/STUDIO+530.html |
Upgrading the amp will pay dividends with the speakers. The LP60 will be serviceable for now. The AT LP120 is an excellent starter TT. A steal @ $250. Significantly better than the LP60. I prefer it to the Pro-ject TTs at/ around the same price. But you can't do everything at once. Don't get too worked up about cables. Good basic stuff will do you fine. Rich |
You have received, and seem to be taking, great advise. With a $600 budget I would consider the Wharfedale Diamond offered by Music Direct at $199 and the Denon or possibly the Yamaha A-S301 which can be had for $350. Buy some Monoprice 12ga in wall speaker cable off Ebay. The Yamaha has an internal phonostage and DAC. The phonostage will be much superior to the one in the LP60. Once you have speaker and amp you can save for a TT upgrade. AT makes a TT, the AT-LP120 which would be a significant upgrade over the LP60. It comes with a superior cartridge also. I believe it sells for $260. Project and Music Hall also make quality budget TTs that come up discounted from time to time. Good luck in your search. |
My turntable is an inexpensive, entry level Audio-Technica AT-LP60. I originally bought it to listen to LPs I’ve been buying at the many concerts my spouse and I attend. But the pandemic has ended concert-going for now, and being at home has given me a lot more time to focus on the system’s sound quality. I’m open to upgrading on the power amp if you think that will make a noticeable difference. The Denon PMA 600 looks intriguing and worth considering. Will the 16 gauge speaker wire be sufficient with the Wharfedale speakers your suggesting? Also, how important is speaker placement?Although the turntable is in the dining room, I can play with the placement of the speakers. Clearly, I have a lot to learn, and as with anything I can see the domino effect of my buying decisions. So, I appreciate your thoughts on what I should be considering as I make these next purchases. For the near term, I’m budgeting about $600. The Wharfedale / Denon combo sounds doable. But is it even worth doing with the low budget turntable I currently have? I’m not ready to do a complete system overhaul. |
On the plus side, you get it about sound quality and appreciation of what sounds good and what doesn't. It sounds like you have a limited budget for the time being ... so what to do first? So, what to do if there is only $600 to spend? I would stick with the speakers I originally suggested. They have been well reviewed. The Wharfedale house sound is pretty pleasing. They will look good in your dining room. https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/wharfedale-diamond-220-bookshelf-speakers The Keiid amp will limit you. Something like this integrated from Denon could work (Denon PMA 600). It also has a built in phono preamp, which will most likely be better than the one that comes with your TT. It has Bluetooth, as well. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1521880-REG/denon_pma_600ne_integrated_amplifier.html At a $100 more, this Denon (Denon DRA 800) has been well reviewed. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_033DRA800/Denon-DRA-800H.html At this point, prices start to creep up. I also did not suggest buying used, as I prefer new. If this all works, the TT would be the next candidate for upgrading, but that can wait. Rich |
Thanks for your questions and suggestions. The turntable has a built in preamp, and it’s in our dining room (12x12). We generally don’t play it loud enough to rock out; just loud enough to hear in the dining room and adjoining living room. The system’s ok for playing music like Loverboy. But it stinks when playing something like Etta James or Dark Side of the Moon. There are none of the subtleties I’d like to hear. I like 70s & 80s rock music (The Eagles, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Rush, Foreigner). But I also enjoy vocalists like Linda Rondstat, Joni Mitchell, and Eva Cassidy. Will new speakers help or is the amp I chose the issue? |
A remarkable deal here: https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/wharfedale-denton-80th-anniversary-bookshelf-speakers-pr but as others have said, you won't hear anything like their potential with that "amp". |
An almost 'impossible to answer' question given the way you worded it. If I understand it correctly, you wish to spend $500 on speakers for an amp that costs $90 and the most positive of reviews for the amp on Amazon are about how fast customer service gets back to you when the amp craps out, which it seems to do often enough. So, don't go overboard price wise with anything with this amp as your system base. First things first, it sounds like you may need a phono preamp for your TT with this amplifier, unless your TT has a built in phono preamp. The Keiid is a 40 wpc amplifier. No idea over what frequency the wpc were measured, so no idea if you have 40 wpc continuously available to you. Also, no idea as to what type of music you listen to or how loud. I have never heard a Keiid product, I am shooting in the dark. I would limit the speaker purchase to $200 and go for something like these: https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/wharfedale-diamond-220-bookshelf-speakers https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/911-wharfedale-diamond-220-loudspeakers https://www.whathifi.com/us/wharfedale/diamond-220/review Wharfedale makes a good product. You would most likely keep these if you upgraded the amp. Keep in mind that they are only going to play so loud, but they will sound nice. You are not going to get all the subtleties that are available to you, but you will enjoy what you do get. I have setup some inexpensive systems that sound real nice. These days, I suggest powered speakers (Kanto) and TTs with built in preamps AT or Music Hall). For small apartments they do very well. In bigger spaces not so well. Good luck. Rich |
I recommend The Complete Guide to High End Audio by Robert Harley. https://www.alibris.com/search/books/isbn/9780964084902utm_source=Google?utm_medium=affiliate&ut... |