Where Next ?

janmike
janmike Posts: 6,146
edited November 2009 in 2 Channel Audio
Well I phoned the sales manager where I purchased the ARC VS115 and we were talking about what I would next in the upgrade path. His first words were, GO Vinyl". Surprise surprise. Well my pre does not accommodate a phone stage so that would either mean a new pre or adding a phono stage. Then there is the TT. And last my wife who keeps saying, "When can we play the records?" I think I need a second job or a new hobby.
Michael ;)
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60°
Post edited by janmike on
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  • vc69
    vc69 Posts: 2,500
    edited October 2009
    Nice amp dude. I can't wait to read how this works out for you. I have a serious crush on ARC gear lately. I am lusting after a VT100 though I some saving up to do first.
    Congrats!
    -Kevin
    HT: Philips 52PFL7432D 52" LCD 1080p / Onkyo TX-SR 606 / Oppo BDP-83 SE / Comcast cable. (all HDMI)B&W 801 - Front, Polk CS350 LS - Center, Polk LS90 - Rear
    2 Channel:
    Oppo BDP-83 SE
    Squeezebox Touch
    Muscial Fidelity M1 DAC
    VTL 2.5
    McIntosh 2205 (refurbed)
    B&W 801's
    Transparent IC's
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited November 2009
    Your wife has the right idea. So, when will you be able to play the records? Have you thought about a budget yet? When I got into it I bought the best used table I could afford and went from there. It was a very bad idea at the time because I was pretty unhappy until it all came together after a few years of spending. Looking back I'm glad I did it that way because I got what I really wanted. If I had budgeted $2200 or so I think I would have been happy quickly and then could have still upgraded by now.
    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited November 2009
    I think we carry a turntable by Rega that has a built in Preamp. Don't quote me on that as we don't do a lot of turntable business or better I don't do a lot of turntable business. We get the occasional Audiophile come in and play with our tables.
    Check out Rega , I think they have something affordable yet nice.
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,031
    edited November 2009
    Man, for a moment there I thought you were looking for a new igloo.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • janmike
    janmike Posts: 6,146
    edited November 2009
    treitz3 wrote: »
    Man, for a moment there I thought you were looking for a new igloo.

    Well, the though did cross my mind.
    Michael ;)
    In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
    NORTH of 60°
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,418
    edited November 2009
    If you do some homework, there are some wonderful vintage tables out there that can get the job done. Denon, Yamaha, Micro-Sekei, Sony Biotracer, Linn, and others all made tables that compare quite well to anything you can get for less than a couple grand. You can, in many cases, find a world class vintage table for less than $500.00.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • Dawgfish
    Dawgfish Posts: 2,554
    edited November 2009
    janmike,

    You don't have to break the bank to get good turntable performance. Of course if you want to spend more for the really good stuff, you will be rewarded with better sound, but you will reach a point where spending a lot more does not necessarily gain you a huge improvement (just like in other areas of this hobby). Important things to work out when getting started down the turntable road are 1. What's my budget?, 2. What level of performance am I looking to achieve?, and 3. What components do I already have? The last one is important so you can properly pick the right turntable components (cartridge, cable, etc) that will best compliment your current system. It comes back to that synergy thing.

    I have two tables in my system that I couldn't be happier with. The first is a Technics SL-1200 MK2 that I payed about $175 bucks used for. I bought a Denon DL-160 cart, bought an aftermarket clamp, mat, headshell, headshell wires, phono cable, and vibration isolators for it and could not be happier. I am running it through a Parasound pre-amp wich has a good bulit in phono stage. I think I have about $500 total in the Technics table.

    I recently pickled up a used ProJect 1.2 table with an Ortofon OM-30 cartridge and it came with a ProJect phonobox phono-pre. This allows me to hook it up through my aux input on my Parasound preamp. I payed $350 for everything mentioned above (plus a bunch of cleaning supplies, OM-10 stylus, and 300-400 records). Both sound fantastic and I am in vinyl bliss! I listened to my cd player for about one minute yesterday for the first time in weeks, before turning it off and quickly putting some vinyl back on. Vinyl rules!
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