Looking for Intro Setup Advice

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Submitted By: weskinner

member

Location: Alabama

Joined: Jul 24 2012

Posts:

Looking for Intro Setup Advice

Posted: July 24, 2012 - 10:17am

Hello all. First post here.

tl;dr; below is a list of equipment I currently have and I'd like to put together a first setup for listening mostly used / some new vinyl and cds.

I just signed a lease on a new apartment and while looking at the place I noticed there was a used / new record and cd store in the bottom floor of my building. I decided to go in and check out the store and was instantly blown away by the amount of great albums they had and the cool relaxing atmosphere of the place. Not to mention the owner is an American Lit. professor at a nearby college and seems like he knows his stuff. So after seeing this place I knew I HAD to get a turntable but I would like to get some advice here as to which model I should look at and what kind of additional equipment I would need to complete a sound system. I already have a few things but not sure how they will work together in the same ecosystem. I'll just list them:

-2 KRK Rokit6 studio monitors (http://www.krksys.com/krk-studio-monitor-speakers/rokit/rokit-6.html)
-Onkyo P-301 Preamp
-Onkyo M-501 Power Amp (http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=M-501&class=Amplifier&p=i)

I realize the power amp is useless with the self powered speakers but just figured I'd list everything I've got.

Submitted By: jackfish

senior member

Location: Western Wisconsin

Joined: Dec 19 2005

Posts:

What is your budget? How big is your room?

Posted: July 24, 2012 - 11:03am

My first inclination is that you probably want to preserve your investment in the active monitors and just get a turntable to get your feet wet. The Onkyo P-301 has a phono input so to get started you would just need a turntable and CD player. I believe an entry level turntable starts with the Music Hall MMF-2.2 or the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon. Forget the Rega RP-1 and Pro-Ject Essential or Debut III. For $404 new, the Emotiva ERC-2 is an outstanding CD player. The Spin Clean is a good low cost system to get used vinyl in shape.

Submitted By: weskinner

member

Location: Alabama

Joined: Jul 24 2012

Posts:

Cool. Thanks for the

Posted: July 25, 2012 - 8:05am

Cool. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm really liking what've I've read over the past 24 hours about the Pro-Ject Carbon. Initially what I was seeing was a lot of people suggesting the Rega P1, but you say forget it?

My budget for the turntable / cd player is about what you've posted. Around $400 for each. The room is ~ 20'x20'

Submitted By: jackfish

senior member

Location: Western Wisconsin

Joined: Dec 19 2005

Posts:

There are construction quality issues with the Rega RP-1.

Posted: July 25, 2012 - 9:21am

The Music Hall MMF-2.2 in basic black for about the same price has a better cartridge than the RP-1 and adjustable VTA should you ever want to upgrade to a different cartridge. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon has a good tonearm and a better cartridge than the RP-1. About the only thing the Rega RP-1 has going for it is the 9.3" RB-101 tonearm.

The Emotiva ERC-2 CD player is a great deal at $404.10

http://www.stereophile.com/content/emotiva-erc-2-cd-player

Submitted By: commsysman

senior member

Location: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Joined: Apr 4 2006

Posts:

Turntable

Posted: July 28, 2012 - 10:39am

I suggest the Music Hall MMF-2.2 turntable, for around $450 including cartridge. I suggest that you get a dedicated Phono preamp, and the Musical Fidelity V-LPS is excellent for around $170. While your preamp does have a phono stage built in, those seldom sound all that good due to poor-quality RIAA filters.

I suggest that you buy the OPPO BDP-93 which is $499 direct from OPPO online. It is an excellent CD and SACD player, as well as a DVD and Bluray player.

It sounds better playing audio discs than any of the CD players you can get for $500, and does a lot more too.

I guess you will just connect the preamp directly to the active speakers and set the power amplifier aside.

The power amplifier will always be there if you want to invest in some high-quality passive speakers later.

weskinner wrote:

My budget for the turntable / cd player is about what you've posted. Around $400 for each. The room is ~ 20'x20'

Submitted By: weskinner

member

Location: Alabama

Joined: Jul 24 2012

Posts:

Jackfish, I took your

Posted: September 7, 2012 - 12:55pm

Jackfish, I took your recommendation and went with the Pro-ject Carbon. I also decided to build a pair of speakers b/c my significant other complained enough about the cannary yellow of the KRK's, ha. Those will have to be my new computer speakers :) . I've gotten everything setup and having some sound issues with the turntable. I posted about it here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/vinyl-playback-fuzzy-distorted-first-....