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Looking to improve my setup


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Hi all, I'm looking to improve my setup and I'm hoping to get some guidance from the community on where the bottleneck in my system is. I've been researching new cartridges and new phono stages but I want to make sure I'm upgrading the right area.

My setup:

Turntable: Project debut carbon esprit

Cartridge: Ortofon 2m Red

Phono stage: Project phono box

Amp: Onkyo TX-NR575E

Speakers: Onkyo SKF 4800, SFC 4800, SKR 4800, SKW-770

Thanks!

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Not sure what your budget is but I would replace those speakers first. Give us your budget, tastes, room for possible speaker recommendations.

For a cheaper improvement you might want to consider the Ortofon Blue or something similar. An even cheaper option is getting just the Blue stylus as it can be installed on a Red cartridge. (The Bronze and Black cannot be used on the Red cartridge FYI)

I had the Esprit and found it to be a solid table if overpriced. In my research and auditioning I found that you're probably looking to spend $1000+ to get to the next tier of turntable if you're looking to replace the Esprit. I think that should be your lowest priority though.

I may have some more advice when I have more time.

Good luck going down the upgrade rabbit hole!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Do you have another music source connected to your speakers? If so, what is it and are you happy with how that sounds?

The speakers will make the greatest difference. Although I'm not familiar with your exact speakers, you have a surround sound setup, which was definitely not engineered with vinyl playback in mind (and probably not music at all).

 

If you are happy with your speakers, then by all means keep them, but you won't find much benefit from upgrading to turntables (or preamps) that are more expensive than your front L/R speakers.

 

Cartridge will make a difference - the easy swap to 2M blue, or to a moving coil cartridge, will definitely improve the sound. A high end MC cartridge with a high end preamp, even more so.

 

But since you asked where the bottleneck is - a pair of speakers will only sound so good, no matter how much money you throw at everything else. They will always sound like that pair of speakers.

 

Might be a  good idea to look into room acoustics too!

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