redsonja

So I picked up some of these over the weekend. Got A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races, and Innuendo. Surprisingly they're really good pressings with no warps or noise or anything, and they sound great, unlike the Iron Maiden reissues which are pretty flat and dull sounding. Going to have to check out some more for sure

Also, speakers really need to be at ear level, or off the floor at least, otherwise you're not really gonna get the benefit of music on vinyl. If you google speaker placement you should be able to find some good tips on how to set that up quite easily, there's not really a lot to it, just make sure they're not right next to your turntable and that they're off the floor, and preferably pointing towards where you're listening from!

Definitely better to have them isolated if you can because it's the vibrations which travel through the surface that can cause skipping, etc.

Did you go with the AT95E cartridge you mentioned? I forgot to ask!

Most definitely, vibrations will cause skipping and you don't want that to happen! When I first got my setup I didn't have speaker stands, so I just stood them at the sides of my table on two dining room chairs until I could pick up the stands that I wanted. Having them that close to the turntable might also cause some sound or hum issues, so best to be safe than sorry

Are the speakers also on the same shelf?

If you're happy then it sounds like a good deal to me You're in Edinburgh? You should talk to Raye on here, he's near Edinburgh I think or a short train ride away.

Allen is best to advise you on the amp I think, but he'll probably say 'trust your ears', and that's about right so have a good listen with both amps and see which sounds best to you. Oh, wouldn't worry about how much it's worth and just concentrate on whether you like the sound Let us know how you get on?

Hey Jade, if it's all in working order I'd say snap his hand off, though you might want to get a better cartridge somewhere down the line. To be honest I wouldn't say that you could get a new system of TT, amp, and speakers (and phono stage) for much less than £1,000 if you want it to sound any better than CDs or even FLAC, so yeah, it sounds like a great deal! But I'm sure as Allen will tell you, try it first if you can!! (isn't that right, Allen?!?!). That's some good advice

Thanks!

Has anyone listened to these yet? Tempted but really want to know how they sound first ...

I'll give that an almighty amen

It is the exact that's right, but it isn't that I don't like it or the way that it sounds, it's just that out of all the turntables I've heard in the under £1,000 category, which actually isn't that many I guess considering how many models are out there, I actually quite like the Carbon Esprit with the 2 Blue. There is a notable difference between the two I guess, but not that notable that it's worth paying an extra £400 for like I did, and I know it's your opinion and that's cool but in my opinion it's nothing at all like going from a Crosley to an Esprit. The Esprit is a really great turntable for the price, if I didn't have my RP6 I'd probably go with the Esprit or an RP3. Oh when I say in the under £1,000 category, I mean just new turntables and not vintage or used And yeah I agree with Tardcore I guess, as there's definitely a different resonance on certain instruments like piano and more classically bent strung stuff, but I really don't hear it on rock or metal for the majority.

I did, and it is as far as I'm aware and I've had it for over a year now. It's not a direct side by side comparison and obviously there is an audible difference there, but to my ears and considering the price ranges involved, there's very little difference in quality though maybe more of a difference in character or voice? Edit: Oh it's the Esprit model I'm comparing to, just to be clear

Go with Allen's advice on this one! I looked at one of those Teac's because my friend was trying to big up how 'cool' they looked and yep, they do look cool, but they sound pretty crappy. If It was between a Rega and the Debut Carbon SB with the platter, at that price point I'd go with the Carbon any day and get a better cartridge (or just upgrade the Red stylus to the Blue like my friend did, it's a great sounding system not far off my RP6). In fact, talk to Raye on here too and he'll be able to tell you all about the Carbon and the Ortofon Blue