Turntable system from scratch for the high-schooler

[wemist01]

My daughter plays double bass and has decided that she wants to move from listening only to YouTube to playing records. The turntable and stereo system in the family room is too public; she want's something for her room. The only redundancy I have is a spare phono stage, and that may be useless here. The turntable, cartridge and speakers - all the ways this fits together - are an open question.

My daughter has taste enough to know that the sound from her Amazon Echo/Alexa device is crap, so I'm looking for a budget solution that has enough quality to satisfy someone with growing discernment. It needs to sound good while working in a normal size room. It occurs to me that the speakers - or some stage of this arrangement - should probably accept bluetooth or a second line in so she can stream from her phone, too. My system is pretty early-90s outside a digital feed from my computer so this is all outside my universe- quality budget/current tech has never been my thing.

Suggested solutions or pointers on where better to ask are welcome. Someone's going to ask about budget, so my dream here is to come in under $600.

I should also add that I'm in Chicagoland, so Craigslist has a lot of options. I can imagine getting a serviceable turntable, a good budget cartridge and decent small active speakers. That's the starting notion...

(Obviously, having a turntable as one of your primary playback methods- before you even have a CD player - is a bit silly, but I'm not going to change her interests. What's cool is cool.)

 

[LTig]

Turntable, integrated amp with Bluetooth and 2 speakers for less than $600?

 

[bm62297]

try this: https://www.turntablelab.com/produc...-audioengine-a2-w-turntable-package-ttl-setup

 

[Tom C]

try this: https://www.turntablelab.com/produc...-audioengine-a2-w-turntable-package-ttl-setup

Wow. I’d say that’s about as close as you’re going to get.

 

[q3cpma]

> vinyl
> sound good
Try to explain to her the cost of being a hipster. Which is $600, here.

 

[Tom C]

If your spare phono preamp accepts a line in, then you might be able to hardwire the phone to it. Then all you’d need would be a turntable and speakers. The JBL 305p, 306p, and 308p would be options, but no Bluetooth, and you may need RCA to XLR converter. There are similar options fro other manufacturers.
Audio Technica has a nice selection of affordable turntables
It’s certainly doable. If you go with Bluetooth, though, it will add to the cost, especially if you aim above a basic level of speaker quality.

 

[wemist01]

Don't know how I pulled $600 out of the air, but I can get a Project T1 and Edifier R1850s for precisely that. Tax and shipping will probably turn it into $700, but it's an idea. Thanks.

 

[Wombat]

$700 = How many hours worked at MacDonalds? Or am I living in the past?

 

[MRC01]

... My daughter plays double bass and has decided that she wants to move from listening only to YouTube to playing records. ... My daughter has taste enough to know that the sound from her Amazon Echo/Alexa device is crap, so I'm looking for a budget solution that has enough quality to satisfy someone with growing discernment. It needs to sound good while working in a normal size room. ...

I recommend a subscription to Idagio or Primephonic [instead of a turntable]. They stream lossless CD quality or higher (not MQA, but true lossless) with a huge catalog, with metadata customized for classical music making excellent searchability. She'll get great sound quality, far better selection than vinyl, including most of the historical music performances you can get on vinyl and a whole lot more, with the ability to find and listen to a ton of double bass players and music, all of which is valuable for her ongoing musical education.

 

[Phorize]

As someone whose turntable cost more than my car (albeit a modest car) I am begging you, please persuade her to get a basic good quality dac and active speaker set up, plug her phone in to a streaming service and enjoy the music. It’s too late for the likes of me, but she is young and can walk away now.

 

[sergeauckland]

My suggestion is to find a direct drive turntable from the 1980s or a simple belt drive like a Rega. If it comes with a cartridge just get a new stylus (don't spend a fortune on this as she may well break her first)...care of a stylus comes with maturity....or buy an AT91 which won't wreck her records and can be improved if she takes to playing LPs.

Then, a modest amplifier of which there must be hundreds on Craiglist or eBay locally and a pair of decent enough 'speakers. In the UK, I would suggest Mission, KEF, B&W, Rogers etc etc, but these may be less common your side of the pond.

A fine starter system, which can last or be improved as tastes evolve or change. With any decent amp, she can also plug in her 'phone for streaming, and they all had headphone outputs.

S.

 

[Soniclife]

As someone whose turntable cost more than my car (albeit a modest car) I am begging you, please persuade her to get a basic good quality dac and active speaker set up, plug her phone in to a streaming service and enjoy the music. It’s too late for the likes of me, but she is young and can walk away now.

Seconded.
A cost no object TT can sound great with a good percentage of a large record collection. A mid priced TT will sound good 50% of the time if your lucky, budget decks are like playing Russian roulette with all but one of the chambers loaded. I'm not saying never get a vinyl setup, but it needs to be the second luxury source, not the daily driver. Start with some active speakers and something to pump the streaming source of choice into them.

 

[TimW]

I occasionally work/hang out at a shop in Seattle where we sell vintage and new audio equipment to hipsters. We are an Audio Technica and Edifier dealer. A pair of Edifier R1280DB speakers (BT built in) and an Audio Technica AT-LP60X (phono stage built in) is an extremely common setup we sell to younger people and their parents. A step up setup we also sell is the S1000MKII with an AT-LP3 or AT-LPW30TK.