Ultimate $10K home office system for vinyl?


Looking for some advice/inspiration... If you had a $10K (USD) budget for a home office/listening room, which turntable/amps/speakers would you buy?  

Assume that the system will only be used for vinyl records - i.e. no CD player, radio etc. - just the best bang for buck vinyl-only system for $10K.  

 

 

capojacko

That's a very good point. Most of the time I don't mind listening to records but there will be times that streaming would be helpful as well. 

Your question is so general.  There are so many combo permutations coupled by different subjective preferences it's probably not useful.  Even for a single component like speakers you'd get a lot of different answers. 

Do you prefer bookshelf on wall, stand mount, or floorstanders? Are you able to pull the speakers out into the room which most speakers require?  Tube or SS electronics (they usually sound very different)?  What type of music do you listen to?  What volume do you listen to?  New or used to save money?  

Maybe the best way to figure this out is to determine your speakers first, then see how much you have left to spend on the rest of your system - turntable, preamp, amp, phono preamp, cabling.

 

My question was really more like a thought exercise and it's meant to be subjective.  I'm specifically looking for personal opinions- how would YOU spend the $10K and why?  it's not about arriving at a correct/objective answer. 

Not Big Budget, but Excellent Sound and Imaging is more critical than anything else.

My Office: Looks simple but a lot of careful planning was involved.

I never had great sound in my office until I decided to make desk chair/speaker placement the priority.

Speakers: Tweeters Seated Ear Height; Sit dead center of Speakers for Excellent Imaging.

In addition to LP, consider Streaming from PC: Music, Music Videos, i.e. Monitor Dead Center, size that works with the speaker locations (my monitor 27")

’Bookcase’ Speaker: real bookcase speakers fit IN a bookcase, thus typically no more than 11-1/2 deep, no rear or side vents, not too big, my 3 way AR-2ax (10" woofers) are about the biggest bookcase speakers you can fit.

If you have more room than me, a deeper cabinet that would fit a horizontal TT would be nice, many more TT options.

In my case, I cut the 12" deep bookcase height, and had a 14" deep top made, so I could fit equipment on top, wires behind ....

Vertical TT and Vertical Reel to Reel worked on the bookcase top in front of me, a horizontal turntable would be difficult. Make sure Speaker Placement/Equipment Placement: Vibrations do not reach the TT/LP.

 

 

Prior to the AR-2ax Speakers, I had some Wharfedale Diamond 225’s and a Single Self-Powered Sub, just enough so the Wharfedale’s 6-1/2 woofer didn’t sound small. Restored AR’s sounded better, gave the Wharfedale’s to my son.

Efficient Speakers so I could use a low powered Tube Amp (Luxman 10 wpc), keeping heat to a minimum, and small enough for placement options/remote line of sight.

 

 

The Mitsubishi LT-5V Linear Tracking is very good, and easy.

With your added scope creep..

Clearaudio TT, arm, Hana ML, or Grace F9/Soundsmith Ruby OCL, or Ortofon Bronze, or Nakagoka 500, Hagerman Trumpet or ARC PH-5 or Sutherland, NAIM Uniti Atom,, Near field any good used LS-3 5a or similar Linn Kan, Kef 101, Or better Vandersteen VLR…  Seated but not NF add in the Maggie LRS + or Vandersteen 1ci….