shrewd
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Bought TT, now what???
dcstep
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Welcome.

Nice TT. It brings back memories of my youth, long ago.

What equipment to you already have?

Do you already own some LPs?

Dave

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Looks like a beauty! Now as to the "now what?" Could you narrow that down a bit. Obviously the dealer schooled you in the need for a phono pre-amp (or your receiver has one). And this TT came with a cartridge I assume? So, I'd say get a basic record cleaning set (maybe disc doctor brush and fluid and then start buying! If you have a local shop with used near by even better.

See the Stephen Mejias Blog for all sorts of new and old posts about record buying, cleaning and loving.

http://blog.stereophile.com/stephenmejias/

shrewd
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Excellent tips.

I do own a lot of LP's (well, about 50, probably not a lot to most of you), I had planned all along on buying a TT once I found the right one, second hand was the best bet for getting a dynamite table for a bargain price. I need to get an amp and some speakers. That is really what I need suggestions on, I figure I probably shouldn't have put the paragraph under the picture, since that was what I was really trying to say.

Any recomendations? Brands? Types? Used? New?

Thanks again!

dcstep
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Well great answers so far, but I forgot to ask what you budget is.

Dave

shrewd
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Willing to spend around $1,000, give or take. I'll most likely buy it in pieces.

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Quote:
OK, I know there are a ton of these, but I really need some guidance. I'm trying to put together a great entry-level system. I just bought a Denon DP-60L from a local record shop, which was tweaked by the record shop owner, who owns the same model. It's in mint condition and dead sexy. It is a direct drive, and I know some people look down on DD's, but I have heard nothing but good things about this model.
What I am looking for is some advice on the other components, what do I need? Pre-amp? Amp? Speakers? I'm looking for suggestions on all of these things, and I'm willing to spend about 1K, give or take. Any help at all in matching up these components with my table would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.


That's a superb turntable . I owned one some years ago and found the arm on it matched the top of the range Shure MM cartridges and most of Sumiko's moving coils. The best you match though, the Garrot Bros 'Optim' range, http://www.garrottbrothers.com/ is way above your budget but keep it in mind for when you eventually upgrade. The Denon will justify a number of upgrades over time. However, if you don't mount it on a rigid surface you'll not get decent bass and mid-range clarity. If you don't have a concrete floor and a rigid well damped stand try and mount it with heavy brackets into a brick wall. It's worth the trouble.
You should be looking at an integrated amp with a good phono stage. There aren't that many out there these days though. As to speakers that depends on how much low bass you want, how loud you want them to go and how large your room is.
The most important thing you need though ( start saving right now!) is a vacuum LP cleaning machine.
Oh, and DON'T ever try and clean an LP while it's on the Denon & it's rotating. You can easily damage the timing feedback circuitry. The technical explanation for that I've forgotten but the dealer I bought mine off all those years ago really drummed the warning into me. Maybe someone else here can explain that?
Good luck and welcome to the insane world of the LP.
Oh, and replacing the headshell with a more rigid design ( search AudioAdvisor's catalogue) pays dividends but in the mean time press several gobs of Blutak , the size of half a match head, at the rear of the headshell and at the sides of the cartridge where it joins the headshell above.

shrewd
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After a little bit of browsing other threads/reading some reviews on the site, I came down to two components.

Amp - Onkyo A-9555
Speakers - Epos ELS-3

What are your thoughts on these components matched with my TT? Do I need a pre-amp?

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions.

judicata
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Quote:
After a little bit of browsing other threads/reading some reviews on the site, I came down to two components.

Amp - Onkyo A-9555
Speakers - Epos ELS-3

What are your thoughts on these components matched with my TT? Do I need a pre-amp?

Thanks for all your thoughts and suggestions.

That should sound fine, but you can't be sure until you hear the combo. You won't need a phono preamp with the A-9555. If you want to improve the sound later, you should try getting a good external preamp (and plug it into Aux or Tuner or something - not Phono), as they can dramatically improve the sound. The Onkyo's phono stage is supposed to be pretty good, so you're fine for now -- just throwing the option out there.

dcstep
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Here's a nice review of the Onkyo, including praise for it's phono stage:
Stereophile Review of Onkyo

Looks like a great basis for the start of an LP-based system. There's lots of room to improve, but this is apparently a great value.

Dave

shrewd
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I was thinking maybe I'll wait a little longer to get the Epos M5's, what do you think of those? Would they be a good fit with the amp?

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Quote:
It's in mint condition and dead sexy....

2 thumbs up!

JoeE SP9
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That's a very nice looking TT! If you don't have the manual for it www.vinylengine.com has a PDF file. It's free for members. You'll be spinning vinyl so you might want to join anyway.

JSBach
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Quote:
I was thinking maybe I'll wait a little longer to get the Epos M5's, what do you think of those? Would they be a good fit with the amp?


If you can save a little longer to step up to the very best two way speaker on the planet ( well, the very best I've heard myself & I've heard a few) look into the Jamo C 803's. An astonishing speaker I've been raving about for some time now.( Nobody listens though.)

shrewd
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Well, I was visiting the parents this weekend, and remembered about some speakers my dad bought in the early 90's, a pair of JBL LX44's. I remember rocking out to these as a 10 year old, but years later, they just sit upstairs in the storage room. How would this match with the Onkyo integrated amp? Wouldn't be bad to start with, save a little money up front.

JoeE SP9
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It seems like you can get them for the best price. Free! Give them a try. You've got nothing to lose. At worst use them until you can afford what you like. Check the surrounds on the woofers. If they are foam they may have dried out and flaked away. If so ask the guys at www.audiokarma.org about replacement foam surrounds. They are into "vintage" speakers. JBL speakers have a large following at AK. Foam replacement kits are inexpensive. I don't mean Stereophile inexpensive. I mean real world inexpensive.

JIMV
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Buy a turntable amplifier...there are a lot from around $150 to $500 that would help...If it was me, I would buy a Parasound ZPHONO at about $150, a record cleaning machine, used if possible...maybe $300, and a good cartridge, like an Ortifon blue. Then get a stylus pressure tool, stylus cleaning liquid, spare record sleaves, and a subscription t both Stereophile and Absolute Sound.

JIMV
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I think I misunderstood you...are you looking for $1000 for the total system or $1000 to make the front end primo?

shrewd
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Quote:
I think I misunderstood you...are you looking for $1000 for the total system or $1000 to make the front end primo?

Well, I'm just counting the rest of the components, not including the expense of the turntable. So, 1K on the amp and some loudspeakers.

JIMV
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Then folk are giving you pretty good advice..leave some cash for basic record care and system alignment tools...it does you no god to have a good system set up wrong.

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