Total Newbie needing a lot of help!

[Jeannie66]

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.

Yes I only have my old vinyl at the moment but I know this isn’t going to be a fad as I’ve been looking into this for a few months now. I’m really excited to get started but technology has moved on so much. Plus some of my vinyl though might not be worth much in money terms but they are in sentimental. So I really want to look after them. It was great to come across this forum. Wealth of knowledge

 

[RickSanchez]

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?

I agree with the @JeffS7444 advice: I think the Rega Planar 1+ (with the built-in pre-amp) will make this journey simpler / easier for you.

I wouldn't expect there would be much if any audible difference between the Planar 1+ and the Planar 2:

• They share the same cartridge: the Rega Carbon.
• The Planar 2 has an upgraded tonearm -- the RB220 -- but the RB110 on the Planar 1+ is still high quality.
• There are some plinth construction differences as well but these appear to be minor.
• The platters seem significantly different. But here's the great thing about platters: you can easily upgrade them later.

One other possibility -- and I'm not recommending this -- is to get a high-quality turntable like the Regas you're looking at and then buy a vintage amp that has a built-in phone pre-amp. But this is hard to do if you're buying sight unseen (e.g, via eBay), can be very expensive if you have to service the equipment, and it's unlikely the audio quality is going to be better or even on par vs. amps you can buy today. This is the route that I took: I bought a Rega RP1 with the performance pack upgrade, and then bought a Harman Kardon HK670 as my receiver/amp. But I definitely didn't buy it to get the best possible sound; I just happen to like the look and feel of certain vintage equipment and I didn't care that much about precise audio quality when playing vinyl.

 

[Semla]

If you are happy with your current Bluetooth speakers, you could also buy a bluetooth turntable. This won't get you the best audio quality, but it will be easy to set up and won't require you to buy new speakers and an amplifier.

 

[JeffS7444]

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?

I'm sure Rega would say it isn't, else why would they sell the P2, P3 and so forth? But they don't provide a lot of technical specifications which would indicate a measurable difference, and I'm not aware of anyone doing a proper level-matched sound comparison (no fair peeking!)

 

[alpha67]

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?

You could do something like this:

Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC
The Debut Carbon DC from Pro-Ject it’s got a belt-driven motor with impressive suspension, an 8.6” carbon-fiber tonearm, and it comes standard with an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge.
Pro-Ject Phono Box
Recommended because it’s the only one at $100 price that will accommodate a moving-coil cartridge as well as a moving-magnet cartridge.
Speakers
There is plenty to chose from, I would go active all the way, something like:
Audio Engine A5+
Kanto YU6

Without knowing your exact budget, I came up with this option, but if above are not suitable for your space and size of the room you can always explore other more powerful speakers. Good luck in your search.

 

[Martin Takamine]

Consider this package for £ 999
http://www.lyrichifi.com/hi-fi/products/rega.html
he iO amplifier is half a Brio, obviously, for £ 379. Around 30 wpc it also has a built-in MM phono stage and 2 extra line inputs. Matched to this will be the Kyte loudspeakers featuring a clever new cabinet manufacturing technique that will allow these to sell for just £ 429 per pair. And if you want a full Rega system with value we will supply System One, a Planar1 turntable, Io amplifier, Kytes speakers with 2 by 3m of speaker cable included for just £ 999 !

 

[Martin Takamine]

or some of these...
https://www.kronosav.com/collections/turntable-systems

 

[Wes]

I have no idea which is best, but I think Linn also has a TT in that range. In fact, you live near the Land of Linn so I bet you could get a nice used Linn TT for $600.

For the amp you want something that can drive your speakers to the SPL you want in your room. You'll need to know the efficiency of the speakers, and then there is a thread on here with a link to an online calculator. Maybe start a new thread on that.

The other issue, esp. for people that like vinyl, is whether you will want to "color" the sound by using a tube amplifier. Such alterations aren't accurate but can be euphonic. Or there might be a solid-state amp that is easy to use, won't wear out soon, and sounds just great...

 

[Jeannie66]

Wow guys thanks so much for all your fantastic fed back..it’s been so helpful. It’s great knowing there’s other people willing to help someone get started back into a passion vinyl again. I’m really looking forward to my journey. I’m sure you will see me pop up again when I’ve decided what route to go.,

 

[Jeannie66]

Consider this package for £ 999
http://www.lyrichifi.com/hi-fi/products/rega.html
he iO amplifier is half a Brio, obviously, for £ 379. Around 30 wpc it also has a built-in MM phono stage and 2 extra line inputs. Matched to this will be the Kyte loudspeakers featuring a clever new cabinet manufacturing technique that will allow these to sell for just £ 429 per pair. And if you want a full Rega system with value we will supply System One, a Planar1 turntable, Io amplifier, Kytes speakers with 2 by 3m of speaker cable included for just £ 999 !

Thanks Martin going to have a look at some of these today I want to spend around £1000-£1200 as just getting started and then I’ll go from there. As I’m sure over time I’ll swap & change things around

 

[Vict0r]

That System One package looks like an awesome all-in-one setup.

 

[JeffS7444]

Wow guys thanks so much for all your fantastic fed back..it’s been so helpful. It’s great knowing there’s other people willing to help someone get started back into a passion vinyl again. I’m really looking forward to my journey. I’m sure you will see me pop up again when I’ve decided what route to go.,

Have fun, and by the way, don't overlook your own preferences! Although brands like Rega, Linn and Naim have been popular audiophile choices in your part of the world for some time, this is about pleasing yourself, not a bunch of grumpy old men whose formative years might date back to the 1970s. And one popular request which has been largely ignored in audiophile turntables is some degree of automation, at the very least auto-lift at the end of the record, which is available in the relatively inexpensive Audio Technica LP60.

If you've got the time and the inclination for a different perspective, you might enjoy some of the Youtube videos by "vwestlife" who explores the sorts of stuff scorned by audiophiles and whether they might actually be readily improved by simple upgrades.

 

[RickSanchez]

Although brands like Rega, Linn and Naim have been popular audiophile choices in your part of the world for some time, this is about pleasing yourself, not a bunch of grumpy old men whose formative years might date back to the 1970s.

I protest! I'm a grumpy old man whose formative years were in the 1980s!

 

[pozz]

I protest! I'm a grumpy old man whose formative years were in the 1980s!

Skipped the turntables and went to straight to cassettes and boomboxes

 

[Jeannie66]

Skipped the turntables and went to straight to cassettes and boomboxes

Lol I was never into cassette or boom boxes went from vinyl straight to CD when they first came out

 

[pozz]

Lol I was never into cassette or boom boxes went from vinyl straight to CD when they first came out

I kind of wish Laserdisc was still around. I loved handling those "records".

 

[Jeannie66]

I protest! I'm a grumpy old man whose formative years were in the 1980s!

Yes I think I’ve been bombarded with people who are really into high end listening turntables, Amps & speakers. At the moment I just want to enjoy listening to my vinyl without it costing me £10000’s. I’ve so much more to explore before I make my final decision. Though it’s great chatting with people who also love music

 

[Wes]

The irony is that this site is somewhat anti-vinyl

 

[thefsb]

The irony is that this site is somewhat anti-vinyl

I wouldn't say that. Some of it's participants are but the site as a whole, no.

 

[thefsb]

Yes I think I’ve been bombarded with people who are really into high end listening turntables, Amps & speakers. At the moment I just want to enjoy listening to my vinyl without it costing me £10000’s. I’ve so much more to explore before I make my final decision. Though it’s great chatting with people who also love music

I think really expensive vinyl playback gear is great if that's what you want but not justifiable from a listening point of view. Vinyl is intrinsically very limited in terms of dynamic range, distortion, cross-talk, noise and speed stability and you'll get about as much out of your vinyl as can be had for $1000 all in. Spending a lot more will get you fancy gear that you might enjoy owning, playing with, bragging about and showing off, which is all great if that's what you like, but it won't make much difference to the listening.

Personally, I choose a TT based on features. I like an automatic or semi-automatic so I don't need to get up off the couch when the side ends or I can depart the room without worring about leaving it on. And of manual players I would choose sturdy DJ TTs over the delicate British-style belt-drives with their low-mass arms. But these are practical personal preferences and it will all sound about the same so long as the gear is working properly since the limitation to what you can hear is backed into the medium.