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February 2, 2013 - 12:42am
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Budget would be in the realm of $2500-4000, I am interested in bang for your buck but am willing to shell out more if it warrants it.
Tell us about your listening preferences. Music genres, loudness, flavor, etc.
And finally, is the $2,500-$4,000 for turntable/cartridge, phono stage, preamp, amplifier, speakers and prehaps a subwoofer?
Room is either my computer area which sits between two levels of my house, high ceilings due to two stair cases but very long and slender. The next is an almost perfectly square bedroom. The computer area is nestled in a corner of the long slender room.
A bit of everything to be honest. I listen to a lot of metal but lately I've been listening to anything from ambient field recordings to jazz to noise. Loudness is not an issue, I have two rooms which could have all the components, and both are small rooms in which I couldn't go very loud due to neighbours. The idea of warm but detailed sound seems ideal to me. Little excess noise would also be ideal but if I'm not listening very loud I don't think that would be an issue?
Thanks
Yes 2500-4000 is "all in"
The Rega RP1 is a good choice, or the Music Hall MMF-2.2; both very good.
The Clearaudio phono preamp is fine, but for half the price the Musical Fidelity V-LPS may be even better. IMO the V-LPS is one of the best phono preamps for under $800, and it only costs $200.
A really excellent integrated amplifier is the Creek Evolution 2. It has great sound quality and enough power to match well with those speakers. For only $1200, it is a very fine component to be the heart of your system.
Those units will make a very high-quality system when mated to the Magnepan speakers.
(An integrated amplifier, by the way, has a power amplifier and preampllifier combined in one unit. Some also have an included phono preamp, although most do not. The Creek Evolution 2 has an optional plug-in phono preamp module available, but I would recommend the V-LPS rather than spend the money for it).
Just to clarify teminology; the Clearaudio and Musical Fidelity units are a phono preamp (which includes the essential RIAA equalization circuit). They ARE NOT a "preamp with phono stage", which would be something like the Audio Research SP17.
So I could go:
Rega TT > The Creek Evolution 2 > Speakers
OR
Rega TT > Musical Fidelity V-LPS > Speakers?
the music hall mmf 2.2 ($450) over the rega. i had the rega rp1 and i like the music hall a lot better. it has better bass. then i would go with the musical fidelity VLPS 2 phono pre amp ($200). for a pre amp i recommend the emotiva XSP-1 for $899. then for amps i would go with emotiva XPA-100 (they are 250 watts) and go for $449. emotiva is the "bang for your buck" leader. this equipment comes to $2450 which would leave you roughly $1500 for speakers. good luck!
Being a former Maggie owner, I can attest that Maggie's are power hungry. The Creek wouldn't be my first choice. Question- when listening what is is important to you? Remember that all amps sound different. Creek is British, and so is its sound signature . I would look into amps with 150 plus watts into a 4 ohm load.
So Music Hall MMF 2.2 > VLPS 2 > XSP-1 > (2) XPA 100's > Speakers?
Sorry for the double post.
It's starting to sound like maggies may not be the best choice for me but I am interested in warm but detailed sound. I like hearing all of instruments with clairity but not having a sharp sound.
You need the Creek Evolution 2 AND the V-LPS PHONO preamp; plus speakers. (you can buy both units online or by phone at Audio Advisor and other stores).
The PHONO preamp boosts the cartridge output signal and performs RIAA equalization on it BEFORE it is ready to go into the integrated amplifier.
The cables from the turntable go to the INPUT of the phono preamp, and then cables go from the OUTPUT of the phono preamp to one of the integrated amplifier inputs.
IMO the Creek is much better-sounding than the Emotiva gear. For a person who is a music lover, this is a major difference.
The only real downside to the Magneplanars is that they are large and don't go real low in the bass.
A good alternative would be a pair of Monitor Audio BX-5 speakers, which you can get for $750 per pair.
music hall mmf 2.2 > VLPS 2 > XSP-1 > XPA-100's > speakers. i think you will be happy with this.