Local shops that stock Turntables

[ThatFragranceGuy]

Are you better having a dedicated pre-amp?

I’ve just bought a Marantz PM6007 amp (which includes its own pre-amp) and CD6007.

I guess a dedicated pre-amp isn’t an option in this set up not and hopefully not necessary anyway.

Gonna go to Richer Sounds this week to look at Bowers & Wilkins 607 S3 speakers as an upgrade to our current Edifier R1280DBs which were a bit of a stop gap.

Anyone has these? Or can recommend other speakers to compliment my Marantz set up?

Next step after that will be upgrading my turntable and maybe adding a streamer last of all.

how much do you want to spend on speakers? Do you already have a subwoofer? I'd maybe listen to them compared to some Dali and whatever else richer sound suggest, if you have no subwoofer you want something that can play as low as possible - unlikely to get full range at that price point but for example the Dali Oberon 3 go a few hz lower and have higher sensitivity meaning they go louder per W of amplifier but each brand has their own sound signature
I'd say with speakers though you can get bargains used.

If you've got the space for them, you can make an offer on this guys focal aria floorstanders which have disgusting low end if you don't have a subwoofer in your system, really good performers

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/z2oKsnoGBaAu5f4M/?mibextid=79PoIi

Or there's there Dali Oberon 5's

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/2zV61nnWDe3yP2xA/?mibextid=79PoIi

Ebay/fb marketplace usually full of speakers bargains as is avforums, once you know what you want


You don't "need" a dedicated preamp as you have a built in one; but a preamp isn't just a binary thing like an hdmi cable where, as long as it's the right spec, it does its job and they almost work the same (I.e £200 cables are a scam and will work no better than a £10 cable). They amplify the TT signal and apply an RIAA curve, but the sound of the preamp can make a difference to the whole sound as can the turntable cartridge and stylus

I did a demo at Hifisound of the Rega p6 with the Rega aria preamp and I tested that against a similar priced Graham slee preamp and the diffence was huge.

End game I am looking at a good note ph10 but that's way down the line and for now I am enjoying the ifi zen as for £90 used it is outstanding.

Whether you benefit I guess depends on the rest of your Hifi chain - if you're happy with the sound then be happy with it but if you feel there is something missing it's a definite upgrade and I expensive

Where you "need" one usually is where you step away from moving magnet (MM) carts into the realm of Magnetic Coil (MC) which are more expensive but the right ones are generally seen as far superior to MM. most entry level phono stages and integrated phono stages are MM only. Another advanatage to the ifi zen phono is it has both inputs and you can even, if you have them, use two different turntables wired up to it, one of each type. Some people have different setups for example for different types of music but obviously that's in edge case territory

For streamer look at wiim- few models from. £80 to over £200 depending on needs

 

[Glover_elbow]

I found my old technics turntable in the loft but the mrs wont tolerate big speakers in any room. Was thinking of hooking up to high end soundbar instead. Would that be possible and what sort of sound quality compared to conventional speakers

 

[changingman]

My next trick is some floor standing speakers. Since we moved (bigger lounge) my desktop ones, whilst fine, could do with an upgrade.

I've got the Planar 1, really solid turntable. I've replaced cartridges (Rega) but not upgraded yet. Some of the really high performance ones go for considerable amounts. What are people's views whether its worth it or not?

 

[Linny]

how much do you want to spend on speakers? Do you already have a subwoofer? I'd maybe listen to them compared to some Dali and whatever else richer sound suggest, if you have no subwoofer you want something that can play as low as possible - unlikely to get full range at that price point but for example the Dali Oberon 3 go a few hz lower and have higher sensitivity meaning they go louder per W of amplifier but each brand has their own sound signature
I'd say with speakers though you can get bargains used.

If you've got the space for them, you can make an offer on this guys focal aria floorstanders which have disgusting low end if you don't have a subwoofer in your system, really good performers

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/z2oKsnoGBaAu5f4M/?mibextid=79PoIi

Or there's there Dali Oberon 5's

Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/2zV61nnWDe3yP2xA/?mibextid=79PoIi

Ebay/fb marketplace usually full of speakers bargains as is avforums, once you know what you want


You don't "need" a dedicated preamp as you have a built in one; but a preamp isn't just a binary thing like an hdmi cable where, as long as it's the right spec, it does its job and they almost work the same (I.e £200 cables are a scam and will work no better than a £10 cable). They amplify the TT signal and apply an RIAA curve, but the sound of the preamp can make a difference to the whole sound as can the turntable cartridge and stylus

I did a demo at Hifisound of the Rega p6 with the Rega aria preamp and I tested that against a similar priced Graham slee preamp and the diffence was huge.

End game I am looking at a good note ph10 but that's way down the line and for now I am enjoying the ifi zen as for £90 used it is outstanding.

Whether you benefit I guess depends on the rest of your Hifi chain - if you're happy with the sound then be happy with it but if you feel there is something missing it's a definite upgrade and I expensive

Where you "need" one usually is where you step away from moving magnet (MM) carts into the realm of Magnetic Coil (MC) which are more expensive but the right ones are generally seen as far superior to MM. most entry level phono stages and integrated phono stages are MM only. Another advanatage to the ifi zen phono is it has both inputs and you can even, if you have them, use two different turntables wired up to it, one of each type. Some people have different setups for example for different types of music but obviously that's in edge case territory

For streamer look at wiim- few models from. £80 to over £200 depending on needs

Thanks for the info mate.

Regarding price, i don't have anything specific in mind, i just want something that compliments the system i have. I guess there is little point in spending a fortune on speakers if the other equipment isn't at the same level.

I will go to Richer Sounds, tell them what I have just bought (CD player and Amp) and that i will, in time, upgrade my turntable (which is an Audio Technica Bluetooth).

There is so much info out there, it is difficult to know what is best, especially when you are new to it all. There is a lot of facets to a hifi system.

 

[ThatFragranceGuy]

Thanks for the info mate.

Regarding price, i don't have anything specific in mind, i just want something that compliments the system i have. I guess there is little point in spending a fortune on speakers if the other equipment isn't at the same level.

I will go to Richer Sounds, tell them what I have just bought (CD player and Amp) and that i will, in time, upgrade my turntable (which is an Audio Technica Bluetooth).

There is so much info out there, it is difficult to know what is best, especially when you are new to it all. There is a lot of facets to a hifi system.

If you go to Richer sounds; take your amp with you and that way you're hearing the speakers they show you driven by your specific amp rather their test units

Speakers for me were the most used-friendly thing you can buy - as long as they work, you can expect them to keep working for decades if looked after; so as long as in good condition then your money goes a lot further used

Turntables used can make sense but you need to know what you're looking for due to moving parts and cartridge wear is an unknown quantity

Of your amp was £399ish which Google suggests it was, that should be fine to power a decent set of speakers, a preamp may improve things but that is down the line. It won't make it louder, just processes that tiny signal better so you might get a better sound stage, better bass/treble etc

i started out with a used project but I got scammed with it as it was broken. Luckily i took the cartridge and stylus off it and sold it as broken/spares and sold the cartridge and stylus separately and made the money back, bought the fluance rt-82 and was happy with that for a bit

I was going to go down the rega p6 route but ended up getting a technics 1210GR2 as there was a promo for a free ortofon OM2 black which is like a £550 cartridge/stylus so a no brainer for me.

Think it all comes a down to knowing how much you want to spend. Do demos so you know what upgrade your money is going to get you most value out of and look at which parts of the chain you need to improve - no point in having quality speakers if you only listen to records on a cross let suitcase player for example and no point having a great turntable with a £45 phono stage and no point having a great phono stage if you have weak speakers... so yeah it's complicated but once you start listening to stuff you know what you want to improve and it goes from there.

Im happy with my setup for now, whereas before I would listen to a record and enjoy it but then stream the and album and it sounded far better which I didn't like - issue was i was streaming with a very high end stereo amplifier/streamer but with a £50 stylus and a £45 phono

 

[ThatFragranceGuy]

I found my old technics turntable in the loft but the mrs wont tolerate big speakers in any room. Was thinking of hooking up to high end soundbar instead. Would that be possible and what sort of sound quality compared to conventional speakers

It would be possible but many soundbars tend to be digital., and the drivers are all in one place so you don't get very good stereo separation. Do you not have a spare room you can make into a listening room? My girlfriend wasn't very open to the idea but I think she just knows I'll do it anyway and now I've got a 5.2.4 surround system and happy with that.

Some high end soundbars are decent but you're looking at about £600-£1k for decent soundbars and although some do atmos and have rears etc, they'll never have proper stereo separation like bookshelf or floorstanders but if she is a hard stop then that's obviously a restriction.

Another option would be putting money into some high end headphones and listening that way

If she won't have big speakers, are bookshelf an option? They can go on stands or on units etc, don't have to be massive

 

[ThatFragranceGuy]

My next trick is some floor standing speakers. Since we moved (bigger lounge) my desktop ones, whilst fine, could do with an upgrade.

I've got the Planar 1, really solid turntable. I've replaced cartridges (Rega) but not upgraded yet. Some of the really high performance ones go for considerable amounts. What are people's views whether its worth it or not?

What speakers do you have now? Some bookshelf ones can be pretty good if you add a subwoofer - speakers themselves will then only need to do mid and highs. But floorstanders are the way to go for a lot of presence

What does your p1 have now? The carbon?

 

[sherlock]

My next trick is some floor standing speakers. Since we moved (bigger lounge) my desktop ones, whilst fine, could do with an upgrade.

I've got the Planar 1, really solid turntable. I've replaced cartridges (Rega) but not upgraded yet. Some of the really high performance ones go for considerable amounts. What are people's views whether its worth it or not?

Rega's own Kyte speakers are great with the Planar 1.

 

[Glover_elbow]

It would be possible but many soundbars tend to be digital., and the drivers are all in one place so you don't get very good stereo separation. Do you not have a spare room you can make into a listening room? My girlfriend wasn't very open to the idea but I think she just knows I'll do it anyway and now I've got a 5.2.4 surround system and happy with that.

Some high end soundbars are decent but you're looking at about £600-£1k for decent soundbars and although some do atmos and have rears etc, they'll never have proper stereo separation like bookshelf or floorstanders but if she is a hard stop then that's obviously a restriction.

Another option would be putting money into some high end headphones and listening that way

If she won't have big speakers, are bookshelf an option? They can go on stands or on units etc, don't have to be massive

I have a box room, small single bedroom i could put speakers in would that be too small for good sounds

 

[ThatFragranceGuy]

I have a box room, small single bedroom i could put speakers in would that be too small for good sounds

Yeah it'll be fine - bookshelf speakers will be more than capable. If you didn't want to spend a fortune on a separate amplifier, a Fosi bt20a / or the pro version will power most bookshelf speakers well, and it has Bluetooth to listen off a phone too. It's about £80 on Amazon I think. Then you'd just need a phono stage

Put the speakers as wide as they can be apart so you get a good stereo effect

In my home office I've got 2x Dali Oberon 1 speakers and they sound great , driven by that Fosi amp. It's no match for my stereo all downstairs but I can have it louder than most people will listen and it sounds pretty good for the money

Only key thing is don't have the speakers on the same surface as the record player which is a common faux pas. It'll pick up vibrations off them.