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Total Newbie needing a lot of help!

Jeannie66

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Hi everyone, I would love to get back into vinyl. I haven’t had my vinyl out since the 80’s. I have been looking into turntables, Amps & speakers. I’ve also been intouch with some stores. Though they have just confused me more lol if that’s possible. I think I would like to purchase the Rega planar 2... if there are any negative or plus about this I’d be glad to hear. Though I’m totally confused about Amps & speakers. So all help would be fantastic. Looking forward to hearing from everyone
 

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Hi everyone, I would love to get back into vinyl. I haven’t had my vinyl out since the 80’s. I have been looking into turntables, Amps & speakers. I’ve also been intouch with some stores. Though they have just confused me more lol if that’s possible. I think I would like to purchase the Rega planar 2... if there are any negative or plus about this I’d be glad to hear. Though I’m totally confused about Amps & speakers. So all help would be fantastic. Looking forward to hearing from everyone

What kind of space are you putting this in? What is your budget?
 

thefsb

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If you want to play your old vinyl and if you would like to purchase the Rega Planar 2 then go right ahead and do that and enjoy your old LPs.

What's your budget for amps and speakers? What kind of listening environment, how big a room and roughly how loud does it need to go?
 

thefsb

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And what other sources do you want to play, e.g. DAC, TV sound, bluetooth?
 
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Jeannie66

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If you want to play your old vinyl and if you would like to purchase the Rega Planar 2 then go right ahead and do that and enjoy your old LPs.

What's your budget for amps and speakers? What kind of listening environment, how big a room and roughly how loud does it need to go?
Hi thanks for getting back so quickly. I just want it to play vinyl on. I have ipad/iPhone & Bluetooth speaker for that. Which I’m happy with. I will want to build my collection of vinyl as well. At the moment I think about £600/700 to cover amp & speakers. My room is only 14ft x 13 so not very big
 
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Wes

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The Rega Pl 2 is a good choice in that price range. Other major TT manfs. also make competitive products, but I dunno if or which might be better.

Maybe choose on looks? or setup hassle?

A good record cleaner will help a lot.

The best thing to do is to rip your LPs that never made it to CD onto digital storage and play back from there... Or at least do it to archive them in case the LPs wear out or are stolen, burned, earthquaked, etc.

If you do play them back at listening SPL on a TT, it is best to put the TT in another room right behind the stereo; drill a hole in the wall to run the cables. This will minimize vibration. If you are in an apt. or something then make a sand table for it, tho the air will still transmit some bad vibes.
 
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Jeannie66

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The Rega Pl 2 is a good choice in that price range. Other major TT manfs. also make competitive products, but I dunno if or which might be better.

Maybe choose on looks? or setup hassle?

A good record cleaner will help a lot.

The best thing to do is to rip your LPs that never made it to CD onto digital storage and play back from there... Or at least do it to archive them in case the LPs wear out or are stolen, burned, earthquaked, etc.

If you do play them back at listening SPL on a TT, it is best to put the TT in another room right behind the stereo; drill a hole in the wall to run the cables. This will minimize vibration. If you are in an apt. or something then make a sand table for it, tho the air will still transmit some bad vibes.
Lol I can’t wait to listen to my old vinyl
Can you recommend a good record cleaner..I live in a terrace house. My neighbours are quite good. Especially since one is my daughter. I was into 60’s and Big Band/ swing so none of these really made it onto CD. Though I have kept all my vinyls that I bought from my early teens. I think I like the look and sound of Rega planar 2, just the rest to make my mind up about
 

Wes

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I don't have a TT anymore so can't recommend, but I bet others can. I did hear that there is a cleaning 'clay' that is the best thing to use...

What is a terrace house? Can the walls be drilled with a hole large enough to pass the connectors thru?
 

Slayer

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Hello Jeannie66,
Good to hear your quest for getting back into music. Also regardless of what some may say or think, there is nothing wrong with Vinyl. Records get a bad reputation because of either bad pressings or owner not taking care of and cleaning properly. A good TT and record will not pop and scratch like some seem to believe. Sure it doesn't have the dynamic range or low distortion numbers as say digital media. But that's ok, they can still be quite enjoyable, there also seems to be a resurgence of Vinyl enthusiast.

The Rega Planar 2, TT you chose will be just fine. As far as amp and speakers go, you didn't give much detail as to whether you have a preamp, or looking for pre, receiver or AVR. Or If you are looking for a traditional separate amplifier, you will need a pre to drive it. Regarding speakers, so many to choose from. I will to these Jamo's only because they fit your budget and i happen to know someone who has these. They sounded much better than i expected they would, for the price they are a bargain. Amazon.com: Jamo Studio Series S809 Floorstanding Speaker Pair (Black): Home Audio & Theater

Let us know on the pre, receiver, AVR and amp topic. More details would help in our recommendations.
 
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Jeannie66

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I don't have a TT anymore so can't recommend, but I bet others can. I did hear that there is a cleaning 'clay' that is the best thing to use...

What is a terrace house? Can the walls be drilled with a hole large enough to pass the connectors thru?
A terrace house is a row of 5 house joined together.. yes you can do anything in them at all.. but they actually function like a detached house. Lol. Ok I will look for cleaning clay! I’m sure I will need loads of that as my vinyl hasn’t seen light of day since 80,s
 
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Jeannie66

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Hello Jeannie66,
Good to hear your quest for getting back into music. Also regardless of what some may say or think, there is nothing wrong with Vinyl. Records get a bad reputation because of either bad pressings or owner not taking care of and cleaning properly. A good TT and record will not pop and scratch like some seem to believe. Sure it doesn't have the dynamic range or low distortion numbers as say digital media. But that's ok, they can still be quite enjoyable, there also seems to be a resurgence of Vinyl enthusiast.

The Rega Planar 2, TT you chose will be just fine. As far as amp and speakers go, you didn't give much detail as to whether you have a preamp, or looking for pre, receiver or AVR. Or If you are looking for a traditional separate amplifier, you will need a pre to drive it. Regarding speakers, so many to choose from. I will to these Jamo's only because they fit your budget and i happen to know someone who has these. They sounded much better than i expected they would, for the price they are a bargain. Amazon.com: Jamo Studio Series S809 Floorstanding Speaker Pair (Black): Home Audio & Theater

Let us know on the pre, receiver, AVR and amp topic. More details would help in our recommendations.
To be honest I’m not really sure what I need re amp etc any help or pointing in the right direction would be fab
 

JeffS7444

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Have you also considered the Rega Planar 1+? The "+" denotes the fact that it incorporates a phono preamplifier, so you aren't limited to amplifiers which have their own phono preamplifier. In fact, you could skip a separate amplifier altogether and hook up directly to powered speakers (provided that they have a volume control!) or even a Bluetooth transmitter. The latter certainly would give you plenty of flexibility in where you can place your turntable.

With a conventional turntable sans onboard preamp, you generally need to place it with about 1 meter of your other electronics.
 
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Jeannie66

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Have you also considered the Rega Planar 1+? The "+" denotes the fact that it incorporates a phono preamplifier, so you aren't limited to amplifiers which have their own phono preamplifier. In fact, you could skip a separate amplifier altogether and hook up directly to powered speakers (provided that they have a volume control!) or even a Bluetooth transmitter. The latter certainly would give you plenty of flexibility in where you can place your turntable.

With a conventional turntable sans onboard preamp, you generally need to place it with about 1 meter of your other electronics.
Yes I had looked at this but wasn’t sure want the amp thing meant.. that sounds
Like quite a good plan. Would the sound quality be as good as the P2?
 

Slayer

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To be honest I’m not really sure what I need re amp etc any help or pointing in the right direction would be fab
Ok, so may i assume you are starting from scratch? Meaning as of now you only have the Vinyl records.
Of course as you know, you need a Turntable, speakers and some form of amplification. Sounds like where your difficulty lye's is deciding on whether to get an Avr with built in amplification or go the separates route. Separates would mean the need for a preamp and amplifier. I would say choose your speakers and Turntable. Then your remaining budget can help you determine what route of amplification you want to go.

You have the passed the first step, getting excited about getting back into this hobby and enjoying the music. This place is a good place for knowledge, but it also helps to have someone in person you can talk with, who will help and make things easier to understand.
 
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Jeannie66

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Yes i actually live in Northern Ireland which is part of Great Britain. I have looked at the project, which one would you advise a newbie to go for?
 
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