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starting from just about scratch w/ $600 to spend

I'm just getting back into vinyl and currently have a old Technics TT, SL-1950, one corner proped up by CD's cause the foot is missing (I bought it for $15 at a tag sale) and a grado prestige red cartride with about 15 hrs on it.

I just bought a Bryston B60 int amp w/o the phono stage, so I def need to spend part of my money on that. My speakers are signet sl280ex.

So how much and what would you spend on TT/cart/phono pre. It looks like I can get entry level used MMF-5 or NAD 533 with cart for ~400, leaving $200 for phono stage. Are those $200 carts they come with really that much better than my grado?

Or should I buy a more stable vintage DD TT (with feet intact lol) for ~100, and spend the remaing $500 on cart and phono pre. ie, Are the cart and phono pre more important at the price points I'm looking at?

I can go a little over budget if it gets me considerable sound quality upgrade in return.

There seems to be quite a few budget phono pre's around, and I have no way of ABing them, so I could really use opinions on that.
sandman012

Showing 1 response by pabelson

pabelson
344 posts
 
In your price range, an extra $100 can buy you a lot more cartridge, but only a little more preamp. So don't sweat the preamp. (You can always upgrade it later.) In your shoes, I'd spend $100 on a preamp, and get the best table w/cartridge I could afford.

BTW, $400 for a used NAD 533? You can buy the same table new (the Goldring 1.2) for $300. Neither comes with a $200 cartridge. It's a $70 Goldring Elektra. It's pretty good, but there's always something better out there.
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