smair Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Hey guys, So I'm looking to buy my first turntable now after collecting for a fair while, and I've been doing a little research. So far, I've decided to go with a Rega RP1 with an Art DJpre II pre-amp. I'm just gonna use some fairly cheap powered speakers until I upgrade to some Audioengine A2's in a month or two. Does this sound alright? I don't have a lot of wiggle room in my budget unfortunately. But any advice is very appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jase Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Sounds good for a first set up! And of course you can upgrade in the future. I'd get an integrated amp next. Then better speakers. That'll do you for a few years smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Awesome, thanks! Good to know. I have another question. I found a Pro-Ject Phono Box MM for the same price as the Art DJpre. Should I go with the Pro-Ject instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jase Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 Sure thing! It's better quality smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 Sweet! Thanks a lot for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamalatapes Posted April 21, 2014 Share Posted April 21, 2014 I would probably hold off on the cheap speakers tbh, only because it's hard to resell cheaper speakers for close to costs... The audio engines will be worth it albert 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 21, 2014 Author Share Posted April 21, 2014 The AudioEngines cost about £150 whereas the cheaper speakers originally costing £45, I'll be getting for £20. Got a decent deal on them! I wouldn't need to resell them anyway, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 You're in Scotland so keep your eyes open for second hand. There were more proper hifi turntables made in Scotland per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world. That statistic means there was more hifi generally as well I expect. smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 22, 2014 Author Share Posted April 22, 2014 Ah, yeah! I forgot about second hand. I should have a wee shop around. I was wondering if you guys could recommend speakers and an integrated amp? My initial setup was going to be a Rega RP1, Project Phono MM pre-amp and some Logitech Z323 powered speakers. But I have a £430 budget, so I was wondering, if I scrapped the logitech speakers, I'd have £150 left after purchasing the turntable and pre-amp. Would that be enough to get an integrated amp and some bookshelf speakers? It seems like a stretch, so if that were possible, I'd have to look to get the speakers/amp second-hand, eh? EDIT: Had another idea. I could wait a bit longer, save a little more cash and get this setup instead: Rega RP1/Marantz PM5004/Wharfedale Diamond 9.1. How does this sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 The edit would be a very good option but on the amp as you are in the UK there are bucket loads of second hand Cambridge Audio amps and speakers from the likes of Mission, Mordaunt Short, Kef, Tannoy etc about. The Logitech speakers sound very expensive at £150 and I'm certain I could get a much better sound from a 2nd hand integrated and speakers for that. Look for one of the Azur amps although some of the earlier A series were pretty good and don't cost the earth, the A1 goes for next to nothing and is a perfectly good integrated. Also I would use the Cambridge azur 551 or 651 phono stage in preference to the Project one. 2nd hand speakers are your biggest worry as it's not always obvious they have been abused. The Rega is a very good choice so you could go to Richer sounds and look at one of their deals for an amplifier and speakers and see if they will do you a deal on the phono stage at the same time. smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Thanks for the advice! I'll look around for some second hand amps instead before I make any definitive purchases. I found some of those Cambridge A1's going for around £30 on average. I've also found a ton of second-hand speakers on ebay/gumtree for rather cheap! Another little question that has been bugging me. I was doing more research on the Rega RP1 and noticed several people have received a turntable with a wobbling platter. I'm now wondering if I should go and buy the Project Debut Carbon instead. Do you have any personal opinions or preferences between these two turntables? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 If it were my money I would buy the Rega. The Rega arm is the plus point as it's better than the Project item, also you can use it on other turntables which you can't easily do with the Project, look around at Rega Armboards and you will find loads to fit all sorts of different turntables both old and new. There are a lot of very good upgrades available for both but more for the Rega. As to the wobbly platter that is a worry and I must admit I hadn't heard that one, if it's a wear thing then that is pretty bad but also if it's poor quality control that doesn't sound good either, I would ask to see see yours running in the shop or buy an ex demo one as taking stuff back is always a pain. smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Oh! That's interesting to know. I do like the look of the Rega more as well, if I'm honest. Also, the fact that it's £100 cheaper makes it that much more appealing. Yeah. I think I'll go for the Rega, and if it does have any issues, I'm sure I can get it replaced no bother. From what I've seen on VC in the past, there's a bunch of people here with RP1's that seemed to have not had issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 The big difference between here and the US is what's available so if you are in the US the Project / Marantz / Wharfdale package pretty much does it but over here we have more choice for the money smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 also spend the change on an acrylic platter for the Rega, there are a few on ebay and the 10mm SRM/TECH one would do the job. smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Just my 2cents, but I found my friend's Rega's plastic platter very unappealing, so yeah, get a different platter if you have it in the budget smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 23, 2014 Author Share Posted April 23, 2014 Okay, so after altering my budget, I've decided to spend a total of £530. Per all of your suggestions, I've come up with this so far: Rega RP1: £230 Cambridge Azur 551p pre-amp: £70 (They usually go for about £50-60 used on ebay anyway) Speakers: £50 (Probably Wharfedale Diamond 9.0, or a decent pair of second-hands) Acrylic Platter (10mm SRM/TECH): £50 on ebay That leaves me with £130 for an amplifier. Since that's a fairly decent amount, which amp should I ultimately go with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 £130 should serve you pretty well 2nd hand. If going Cambridge try and get an Azur 540 but a 340 would be ok, if going A series A5 at a minimum but preferably A500 or SE or better still if you can C500 and P500 separate pre and power, with that one you can always add another P500 to bi amp your speakers. If not Cambridge then that could get you an older Mission or Cyrus but beware of it needing a service if too old or any of the older Musical Fidelity units but again if too old then it might need a service. There is also the Audiolab 8000 which can be had for around that money but they are a bit on the bright sounding side. There are a few others you might luck into like Talk Electronics or ION for instance. Basically stay British, but avoid Linn or Naim which will probabaly be too expensive and not sound as nice as most of the above and there are quite a few other small British makers which you may luck into and a quick search on ebay showed a very wide choice. One last point if you can run to the 651 rather than the 551 phono stage it would be a benefit later on as you can use all types of cartridges both MM and MC with that and if you decide its all not for you I would expect it to be an easier sell, the 551 is MM only. smair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Just my 2cents, but I found my friend's Rega's plastic platter very unappealing, so yeah, get a different platter if you have it in the budget Agreed, I can only assume they have done this to compete with Project and I can't see it gains them much cost wise over the original glass items or an Acrylic for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smair Posted April 25, 2014 Author Share Posted April 25, 2014 Thanks for the recommendations. I've got a ton of choice now! Seen so many good amps on ebay going for barely anything. Looks like I'm definitely going Cambridge. You've been SUPER helpful. Thank you so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted April 25, 2014 Share Posted April 25, 2014 too much choice is usually the problem when you find out just how much choice there is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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