Turntable for girlfriend


Hello all.  About 2 years ago I got into listening to vinyl records.  It's been a great hobby and I have really enjoyed accumulating and enjoying new records and trying new audio gear.  Recently, my girlfriend has also adopted the hobby.  She likes going to thrift stores and yard sales to find records.  Then heading home to listen to what she bought.  I'm excited that we have a hobby that we can share together.  I could use some advice from the group about buying an affordable turntable and amplifier for her apartment.  She is not very tech savvy, so she needs a turntable that is as plug and play as possible.  That also applies to an amp, so tubes are out.  I have a pair of Focal Aria 906 speakers that I can give her.  After that I wanted to budget about $1,000-1500 on turntable and amp.  I was thinking a Rega P1 and a refurbished Peachtree Nova 150 would do the job nicely.  Any thoughts?

rfauto

I see the Rega turntables recommended a lot here so you're on the right track there.  I don't even know if the Peachtree amp has a phono stage but it also gets pretty good reviews.

If no one who knows about budget turntables and amps replies do a forum search for those components.  There should be a lot of information available.

You have a great girlfriend. Do what it takes to keep her even if you need to buy a very expensive turntable

I’d spend more on the table and less on the amp. Used Rega P3 or new Pioneer PLX1000.

Here is a fully automatic TT, with optional built-in RIAA phono preamp, up to line level which keeps it really simple.

https://www.turntablelab.com/collections/automatic-turntables-turntables-with-automatic-operation/products/pioneer-pl-30-k-automatic-turntable

Then choose an Integrated Amp, with remote volume, enough watts for the speakers you are giving her. No need for built in phono stage because the TT has that, just a few LINE level inputs.

Put together this system for a friend.  Amazing sound for little money.  Color options on the speakers.  Owned the AT 120 TT when I came back to playing records.  Nice TT, especially attractive in black.  Can also swap out cartridges easily.  Well reviewed.  Apartment friendly.  

https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/at-lp120xusb

https://www.kantoaudio.com/powered-speakers/yu6/

 

Rich 

My son's girlfriend is happy with her Audiotechnica and powered speakers. I gave her some decent cables and footers to welcome her to the club;-)

  Buy her a cheap table to start.  Then if you have fights in the future and need to make up to her you can buy an upgrade

I have a friend that owns the AT 120 turntable. Nice unit for the money. 

My thought is that this would be a good place to start. Also the Focal speakers are nice and deserve a decent amplifier. The AT120 would allow for more money to be spent on the amplifier, possibly one with a phonostage.  

 

Thanks for the input. Easy setup and use for her is key. Cartridge alignment, tracking force and anti-skate are foreign terms to her. So, if there’s a problem, I’ll get a call right away. She’s just texted and asked why there are so many Three Dog Night and Dan Fogelberg albums at thrift stores for sale. A question that may be impossible to answer. Cheers all!!