Feedback for a noob with a budget - Critique my setup

[InfiniteAurum]

I'm new to the world of vinyl and have been researching my own setup over the last few weeks. I'd love to get some perspectives on how strong my chain is and what areas I should consider changing up. I've hung around my friends enough to know I'm going to be into vinyl (both the sound and collecting) so I'm willing to invest into my setup budget-wise.

 

Here's what I'm leaning towards:

 

• Pro-ject Carbon Espirit SB
• Pro-ject Tubebox S Pre-amp
• Audioengine A5+ powered speakers
• Audioquest Evergreen RCA cables
• Ortofon's 2M Blue Stylus (upgraded from Red)

 

My main questions are 1.) whether it's smart pairing a tube preamp with powered speakers and 2.) whether I'm missing something by going with a passive speaker setup (likely a KEF Q100 or ELAC B6 as alternatives for that route + amp). Everyone seems to go with the Audioengine A5+ so I want to make sure I'm doing my due dilligence on this front.

 

This setup will be next to my bed, speakers placed around 5-6 feet apart from each other, with my chair around 7-8 feet away. 

 

Thanks for your feedback!

[allenh]

All looks ok, you could certainly have done a lot worse as a starting point.

 

1) There's nothing wrong with valves as a first stage of amplification (phono or pre) and solid state afterwards, you can buy integrated amplifiers known as hybrids that have valve pre amplifier sections and solid state power so it's quite normal and can produce very good results.

 

2) For what you are doing powered monitors are fine but if you want to add another source or drive a bigger space then you are limiting what you can do. If you had a normal amplifier setup and passive speakers you would have a lot more choice if you decided to make changes later on. You can of course add a passive pre in line to give you some more source switching options

 

What you have as a front end is pretty standard kit so if you did decide to go a different route amplifier and speaker wise it shouldn't be difficult to audition other types of amplifiers or speakers to find out what the differences are and whether you like those differences or not.