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Does anyone know anything about the glow in the dark UK boots and I have seen a clear one as well. I was told there were 100 glow in the dark ones but don't know how true that is, I've seen quite a few black and glow in the dark ones fro sale on ebay UK. Was also wondering whether the clear one was a glow in the dark mispress as I've only seen one.

Thanks for that. I found that one but probably didn't read enough so I shall read a bit more.

This may have already been discussed but I couldn't find any postings so does anyone know anything about the Queens of the stoneage Songs for the deaf re issues that are going about? I.e quality, where pressed, numbers pressed etc The re-issues are of the UK pressing and I'm pretty certain they are boots and I have seen them in black vinyl, glow in the dark vinyl and one in clear. I have been told the glow in the dark are limited to 100 but don't know how true this is? And I am guessing that the clear one was a misprinted glow in the dark but am only guessing at this. Anyone have any actual facts?

I do it all the time here for people who want to get into vinyl but are worried about buying crap or worse worn out crap. Try and find someone local with a bit of knowledge who can at least weed out the real rubbish for you and go to all the charity stores and yard sales you can find. In amongst all the plastic rubbish there will be a gem there somewhere. Remember the weight rule and also all comes to he who waits and I bet it will be worth the digging. There's probabaly a book idea in there, "charity shop hifi the easy way"

A superb example of the law of diminishing returns when it comes to the high end.

Sorry @BigWaveDave, too many D's in there, operator error as usual

I see where you're coming from @DigWaveDave but the rest of the kit needs to at least be able to get something out of the turntable though otherwise it's a waste of time and money. The mismatch between the turntable and amp/speakers is too far to make it worth the effort. A good turntable is always a good thing and the love of vinyl should never be discouraged but he might be better off taking the rest of the money to yard sales and charity shops to see what he can find 2nd hand. Any average 70's or 80's amp/reciever for $5 would do a much much better job. The turntable pre will do a job but the rest will struggle to acheive fi let alone hifi and I worry that would stilt a budding vinyl lover. @AJ123 if you do go 2nd hand go for weight in everything it's always a good sign in amps and speakers and don't buy speakers you can't take the covers off to check the cones. And if they tell you it works make sure to tell them you will be bringing it back if it doesn't Anything that surprises you with it's weight when you lift it will be a good thing.

You might be better getting the whole lot (turntable, amp and speakers) from a yard sale for a few bucks. I wouldn't normally suggest 2nd hand for any of it really unless you know it's history but I'm with @Slinch, what you are suggesting as a system will sound crap and probabaly put you off the whole vinyl thing altogether, you would definately be wasting the turntable. Even an average 2nd hand setup would sound better than that lot

To anyone who has got on of these could you tell me is it powered by a wallwart type power supply? And is the arm a uni-pivot like it looks in the pictures? Also it would be great if someone could do a back to back comparison with the Project as that's a pretty well known standard to measure against. I am a great fan of the uni-pivot arm so some pictures would be good and might well buy one next time I'm in the states if it has a plug in type PSU which means I can substitute it for a 240V one when I get it home. It wouldn't be the first time I've bought a turntable back on the plane.

Yes it does. let me know how you get on and make sure you follow the instructions about where to palce the speakers. They are probably best stand mounted with spiked feet on the stands but as i say the designer will have put a lot of effort to where best to place them to get best results.

Tricky. The Epos are a better power rating match but the Whatfdales a better impedance match. Unless you intend to run a high volumes for very long periods then neither should be a problem, plus the speaker ratings will probabaly be more accurate than those of your amplifier. The Epos are a true hifi speaker so will work with a much better amplifier quite happily whereas the Wharfdales while very good are more of a mass produced item and will be amp limited quite low down the food chain but this is reflected in the price. Both seem quite keenly priced but the Epos more so even though they are the more expensive. My only real worry with the Epos is that you wont hear how much better they are until you drive them with a better amplifier. Either way $200 or $300 it's still a chunk of money and you want to be happy with whatever you buy so ideally you need to listen to them or failing that be able to return them if not really satisfied. Remember though the demo Wharfdales with have an advantage out of the box as they have been run in, the Epos being brand new will need some hours use to run them in.

pity about the Rega. 6ohm speakers on an 8 ohm output is fine. 4 ohm speakers on an 8 ohm output is a problem but only if you run at very high volumes for a long time as the amp have to work much harder to drive the 4 ohm load

If it was my money out of those three I would discount anything Wharfdale. The Epos will be the better quality and warmer the Focal more instantly ear catching, so purely on value for money alone I would go Epos, also if you intend to listen to them for long periods then again I would choose the Epos. I'm very impressed that Focal are available in the US though. The prices on both are very good so I guess they have dropped their prices to get a foothold in the US market. The epos here are about £325 / $535 and the Focal £215 / $355 so like I say the Epos are very well priced.

Just seen that you mentioned the Rega. This will have the best phono stage by far but it does have a very long run in time, it will be very smooth, warm and musical but I'm not sure it will be what you are looking for, I don't think it will give enough bite. Go and give it a listen though if you can as it is proper hifi so don't discount it out of hand as of all the suggestions it will be the one you would be happy to listen to for longest.

You need to go and listen to stuff, other peoples tastes and requirements can be way off from yours. You can use the reviews and opinions to cut the list down but it's your money and you have to listen to it. The break in point is very valid though, all hifi kit needs to burn in and the sound can change quite a bit from out of the box to run in. So you need to ask how ling something has been used for in a shop or try and find some people locally who have the kit you want to try, most hifi people are more than happy to show off their systems. I've seen too many tired speakers to suggest 2nd hand. Yes a recap does wonders but only for speakers that haven't been worked hard. When drivers are over worked the voice coils and suspension suffer to the point where failure isn't far away. Also there are some nasty tricks people do to tired speakers to give them enough life to get them sold. With the type of music you are listening to you need fast reacting speakers that have a very wide range otherwise the sound will be indistinct. There have been plenty of good suggestions amp wise above but my own choice would be the Rotel or Yamaha as these should be the most musical, that does of course depend what speakers they are driving.

@Steviex2Shoes don't you mean the Epos? If so I agree entirely, invest in the best speaker you can afford because they will get the best out of your current amplifer and your system can grow into them with upgrades.

If you can get the Epos Epic 2's for that price new I would snap them up, they are in a different league to the Wharfdale's. Over here the the Epos are £420 plus which with current exchange rates is nearly $700. The Wharfdale by comparison are £149 which is roughly $245. Although both supposedly British companies Whrafdale is only really the name as a brand owned by someone else whereas Epos is still Epos and like I say a different league altogether. I would go for the cherry though it looks much more classy than the black.

Found this article online that might help. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57606904-47/speaker-specifications-a-consumer-guide/ It talks about all the values on the back of a speaker and speaker and room size etc. Have a read it will probabaly answer a lot of your questions and help you reject quite a few speakers.

6 ohms should be ok with your receiver. The impedance is a bit of a red herring as it changes over the frequency range but the figure quoted by a speaker manufacturer is always useful in knowing if your amp will drive it well. It is all to do with the load (the speakers) the amplifier is trying to drive, if you try and drive 4 ohm speakers with your 8 ohm output the amplifier will need to work harder than it should at high volumes to drive them but at normal volumes it's not a real problem. I made the comment just in case you crank the volume up on a regular basis and were going to use 4 ohm speakers on an 8ohm output. Wharfdale and quite a few others quote 6 ohm as it will match with most amplifiers.

Yes if the Wharfdale's are available in the US then they would be a very good suggestion. I would be interested to know what they cost over there as they are pretty competative here.

Ok I would probaly still go a little bigge than the speakers in your 2nd list but not by much.

The Polks or Infinity's in your first list don't look bad but again 2nd hand I would have a very close listen before parting with any money and if the seller braggs about how loud they go walk away quickly.

The problem with speakers is the weight so the cheaper stuff from the good makers doesn't tend to travel over the Atlantic in either direction, so what I would suggest from over here would be either not available or bloody expensive if it was. Looking at all the pictures and going purely on instinct I would go with the JBL's but being 2nd hand would want to know the history of them. Of the new ones the Daytons look super cheap but not in a good way, for $49 they are, of the others the Polk and Infinity look much of a muchness but the Infinity look the better bet if you want any bass out of them. The first question I would ask is how will you be using them? These are all near field monitor type speakers so meant to be used with a very small listening field, i.e I have a pair of LS 3/5a's that are either end of my desk (3-4 feet apart) with the idea being they act like a big pair of headphones when I am at the desk (2 feet away) but move away from the desk much and they lose a lot. If you are intending using these speaker with these sort of distances then fine but if not you want something with a little more girth. It's usually the distance you are away from them that will be the problem.

Great for this time of year over here, gives you a nice warm glow

Youngs is a very old brewery and that's a nice beer but heavy, we are now getting a lot of unusual flavoured ales because there are now a lot more female brewers here who are happy to try different things. I live in hop picking country so am pretty spoilt when it comes to choice, I'm also not far from Europe so it's easy to get the nice trappist beers from France or Belgium