The Rega Planar 3 with RB300 tonearm and either a blue point No.2 or Benz micro silver cartridge for $500 offer is the one I would go for,I would do it myself.If you have a decent enough amp with phono mm input you are done.Look into a vintage amp with a good inbuilt phono stage.There are many.
What is a good spartan turntable set up?
I am starting from scratch now and just want to play my records! I'm interested in an entry level but good quality set up. I prefer something bookshelf size. It seems most amps accommodate CD/tape/etc, and small standalone phono preamps that have been catching my eye can't connect directly to speakers. I would very much appreciate recommendations for the most spartan way of connecting a turntable to speakers. Also, recommendations for turntable and speakers would be greatly appreciated as well. Once I figure it out, I will be purchasing from the audiogon listings, so let me know if you have something that would work for me. Thank you in advance!
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You are totally on the right track if you buy the Rega P3, buy a high output dynavector cartridge, which i think is $450, you need a spacer ring for the collar which is so simple I can do it, and you will beat anything listed above. Agreed with above, get a Rega Brio with built in phono, and whatever speakers you have or want, and you'll have the basics of something that will play music much better than anything in the price range...your ears and wallet will be thrilled! and I bet you'll start buying a lot more vinyl! It's been a standard through the ages and there's a reason why. |
Thanks for the responses. The LP6 looks amazing, but yes, I'm on a budget, which sort of depends on how much stuff I can sell off. That Sota Moonbeam is very tempting, but I also located a Rega Planar 3 with RB300 tonearm and either a blue point No.2 or Benz micro silver cartridge for $500. Which would be a better deal? There's so much disagreement on these things that it's awfully confusing. Seems the Rega has a much better arm and comes with a cartridge, so that's appealing, but I also read that ones older than 5 years ago have certain issues and I haven't read one write-up smashing the Sota moonbeam. Which is less fussy? Anyone mind telling me the pros and cons? Regarding the amp, is there a good one made just for vinyl? I really don't expect to be adding a tape player or anything like that, and I can only assume such features bring up the price and size of an integrated amp. My music tastes are pretty eclectic (a leaning for jazz but also a passion for metal and many other genres), so something well rounded is ideal. Thanks again! |
A quick look through the listings presents the following musical sounding (British laid back) system for well under $1000. (Obviously the cartridge would be a stand in until you spotted a deal on Audiogon.) Sota Moonbeam $325 Audio-technica AT 92ECD - Phono Cartridge $16.45(Amazon) Rotel RA-02 Integrated $235 Revolver RW33 $300 |
Words like "spartan" and "simple" make the Opera-Consonance LP6.1 come immediately to mind (link below). To me, it's quite a looker, in a very unostentatious way. It goes for $1,125, but from the general tone of your post, I'm thinking you may have a smaller budget in mind. I think if you can give us some idea of what you want to spend, it would help us make recommendations. Regarding connections, the simplest arrangement I can think of is to use a receiver or integrated amplifier with a dedicated phono stage built in. That way, you wouldn't need a separate phono preamp. -Bob http://grantfidelity.com/site/Opera_Consonance_LP6.1 |
