Sammysmiths
Well-known member
Don’t buy a cheap turntable and cartridge. It will sound awful. .
When you say cheap, how cheap do you mean.Don’t buy a cheap turntable and cartridge. It will sound awful. .
The essential 3 is ok, you'll be fine as a starter setup and you'll be getting an acrylic platter.When you say cheap, how cheap do you mean.
Will what i am looking at sound awful. The essential 3 gets cracking reviews.
On eBay you can get that phono for about £25-35 based on sold prices - if they don't have it used in hifisound I'd pick one up off there and it'll do to start with and then you have a clear upgrade path later on. New on Amazon it's £45. Like I say, depends on priorities - you can spend that and have a clear upgrade with later on, or try get a zen phono and know that at least that element will not need upgrading, down to you really!The phono preamp i was going to go for is the Pro-Ject Phono box E, it was recommended by the 2ndhandhifi.co.uk shop you mentioned, but i will have a look at the Zen as well now. The turntable is from them as well so will come with 3 month warranty. I didi think about asking them for a demo, but the turntable i am looking at getting is the only one in the whole shop that is within my budget, they deal in much higher end stuff, so i would have felt a bit stupid asking them go to the trouble of setting up a demo for me when it was the only one i could afford anyway. Plus it was 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon and the guy was leaving shortly to go to the match. I didn't like to put people to too much trouble when i am not spending much.
My budget is quite small, but so is my living room, so won't take much to fill it. However i still want it to sound pretty good. The Denon speakers i am using sound fantastic in my opinion so i am not worried about them. The main thing is to get the best a i can for my budget, and get a decent preamp.
I am going in to Middlesbrough town centre today, so i am going to pop into the 2nd hand shop that is in the old Shakespeare pub, might as well see what they have.
Yeah it really does punch above its weight. I used to have a lyngdorf TDAI-1120 stereo amp which had a good phono stage onboard but when I upgraded to the much more powerful TDAI-3400, it doesn't have one as I guess at that level you would want a better one, so I started off with the project phono box E but it wasnt the best - upgrading my TT and cartridge will have also had a big impact but even then it was initially with the phono box, when I got the zen phono It was night and day.I have been having a read up on the Zen phono you mentioned, the reviews are fantastic. I will have to see if I can adjust my budget and get one, I will get the turntable first, then see how the funds are.
The second hand shop in the Shakespeare pub was closed when I got there, it is closed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays.
I've sent you a message re: turntable, assuming the messaging works.Looking for a turntable with preamp to plug into my Denon HiFi system. I am only looking to pay up to about £200.
I have tried Currys at Teesside Park, but they only have one on display as they have sold the rest off as they are having a refit in February.
Tried Richer sounds but they mainly just have higher end stuff above my budget.
HMV have a decent selection, but i was just wondering if there are any more shops i have missed in the area that stock them.
Do you know if the cartridge is upgradable, it sounds like it probably doesn't need upgrading, but would like to know just in case.Rega P1 is excellent, I got it as part of the Rega System One package
Do you know if the cartridge is upgradable, it sounds like it probably doesn't need upgrading, but would like to know just in case.