Turntable Speakers?

[takeaparturhead5]

so, i've been collecting/listening to vinyl for over a year now. i have a pretty decent collection of rare stuff and whatnot, but more than anything i just love listening to my records. i've had a shitty crosby record player for a while now. certainly not top of the line (more like bottom) but it has done me justice as a beginner. but i've noticed recently that when i play records on the 33 1/3 setting it seems a LITTLE too slow. enough to affect how it sounds to me and others. since this has become a serious part of my life i've been wanting to upgrade to a pretty nice set up, so i bought a turntable from my neighbor who used to be a dj but he never used this particular turntable. it was basically collecting dust in his basement. he said he had at least $300, if not more, in it but sold it to me for next to nothing. now i'm wondering what kind of speakers i need to get for it. any ideas guys?

[AlexH.]

If all you have is a turntable, you need:

speakers (any kind will do the job, but if you're buying anything mid-to-high end you'll want to do some research)

and either:

A stereo receiver with a phono input

-or-

A stereo receiver and a preamp

[brad]

I just updated my whole system from audiogon. I feel like speakers are my weak link but I didn't have much budget left/feel like they will be serviceable/ can always upgrade/ and reviews overall were pretty decent

Anyway I picked up a Rega P2, music hall 25.2 integrated amp and Polk R150 speakers. Feel like I got some good prices on everything. We'll see how the speakers are once the TT comes in the mail

[leshokkills]

That's pretty cool of him to sell it to you for dirt cheap. If you want a good set up, solely for the use of your turntable, you would want to get a decent STEREO receiver, if you get a new one you don't need one that does 5.1 home theater surround sound unless you're planning to use it with your tv and dvd player. Stereo receivers will only have spots for 2 left/right speakers or maybe another set for speaker B. Just make sure it has a Phono input like the AlexH said or if you get one that doesn't have a Phono jack you will also need to get a phono pre-amp. If you're planning to use this set up for a long long time (which I'm assuming you would want to) I would choose mid to high end range equipment.

go into some home theater stores that can do a demo of equipment for you if you can, you can hear the differences between different speakers and receiver set ups. I have a decent set up for not too bad of price out of my pocket. I have Definitive Technology bookshelf Speakers and a Denon receiver. Sound is basically where I want it. I could always upgrade my equipment but it already sounds amazing.

you can find some good older receivers that work perfectly fine, try to find some reputable brands like Marantz, Denon, Pioneer, or if you're lucky, McIntosh.

for speakers go with bookshelf speakers unless you want some towers. try to find some that have a decent tweeter and midrange driver. if you find some really good ones you'll get some rich bass without the need for a subwoofer. Any brand would be good, just don't buy ones off of dudes that sell them from their vans in random parking lots. I love my Definitive Technology speakers but brands like Polk, JBL, Boston.. all great.

[takeaparturhead5]

thanks so much for the information guys. i really appreciate it. hopefully i can have a functioning system soon... i keep getting records in the mail and am disgusted that they have to just sit in crates....