Go here... Audio Engine...and buy to your price point, using your computer to do everything else.

Don't bother with the vinyl until you have a better idea of it.

Now, go study.

(Welcome. You'll love the Audio Engines.)

The Audio Engine A5s with your computer and lossless audio files should sound pretty good. It sounds like you need to do some serious introspection before you get into vinyl. If you have to preface your discussion with "sturdy" perhaps you should keep with lossless digital audio files and a computer as a music server.

I've got Audioengine and highly recommend them in that type of setting. Make sure your downloads are lossless. You'll regret it latter if you don't build you library in the best quality that you can.

Dave

Don't even touch this turntable. Even thirty years ago when it was being made it was junk.

My sister has that same table. It's just sitting there. She hasn't used it in years. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to sell it to you for a few grand. This way, your wallet will be a few grand lighter, but you'll have that "pride of ownership". You just can't put a price on that.

There is a wonderful thread on turntables under $1,000.00 While this is more than you plan to spend I'm sure, any of these would be a great place to start and are available used.

Vinyl is amazing fun and is a great way to get into good musical sound.

I am not the most knowledgeable on this topic (by far), but those that are will hopefully show up soon.

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Thanks, I had been checking out that awesome sticky and the only ones I could really find for sale on the net were the rega planar tables. The p2 seems to be a bit cheaper than the p1, so I'm thinking of going with that. I found this one on ebay for a good price.

Hey evw2k.
Rega makes great turntables. If you're interested, see our coverage of the P3. I'll be buying a new P3-24 soon.

The P1 is Rega's entry-level model and most affordable (new); the P2 is a step above it; the P3 again one up; and so on.

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It looks like its in awesome condition except for the belt thing as you can see in the videos. So is that a simple fix? It seems like it would be, but I have memories of how expensive it was to fix the belt on my folk's table.

The P2 that you found on eBay looks very nice, and the price is excellent. New belts cost around twenty bucks, I think. A dealer should be able to help you there, at not much cost.

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I still need to figure out a good receiver or amp or something though because I can't play music (not loud enough to hear) with just a record player. I guess I should start thinking about speakers too as they are semi-dependent on the receiver/amp?

You'll need a receiver or integrated amp and a phono preamp. Sometimes the phono preamp is included within the amp/receiver, sometimes it isn't. The phono preamp is very important, however -- without it, you won't be able to hear your music. Some companies you might want to consider are NAD, Music Hall, Cambridge Audio, Rega. There are many others, of course.

For speakers, you'll probably want something small for now, speakers that you can place on a desk, bookshelf, or on stands if you have the space. Companies you might want to consider include PSB, Paradigm, Usher, Totem, Epos. Again, there are many others.

Take a look at our Budget Components.

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Oh, and I should probably mention that I listen to rock and electronic mostly. Apparently genre plays a part in what equipment you get. So if a table is really good with orchestra or something, I don't really care.

No worries. The Rega is great for rock and electronic music.

Good luck, have fun, and thanks so much for joining the forum.

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Wow Steve that was an epic post. Thanks so much for that. I'm sure that will distract me for a little while. I'll continue to post as I have more questions. The only one I have now is this: this rega p2 says it comes with a shure v15 v type cartridge. Is that better than what usually stock with the p2 or is that why this table is slightly cheaper than most others? I'll be back with more questions soon but that's all for now. Thanks again, this is awesome.

No worries. I'm happy to help. I'm new to vinyl, too, though, so my help will be limited.

I haven't heard the Shure, but, from what I understand, the V15V model is something of a classic, like the Denon DL-103. Time-tested work horses of cartridges, offering great sound for relatively little money.

If you want to save some money on a nice, if basic phono amp, consider a parasound Zphono and look at factory rebuilds. I bought one from Audio Advisor for about $120 and find it is more than I need. Good value for the money with a warranty.

I'm pretty new to vinyl as well, and here is my 2 cents:

You'll probably want to find an integrated amp with a "phono in" at first, UNLESS you find a really good deal on one without a built-in phono stage. In my experience, the integrated phono pre is good enough to start you off, but you will want to upgrade to an external relatively quickly. You can read about my experience with an internal/external preamp here. Please note - I'm not telling you that you have to spend over $200 on a phono pre. At your budget, my point is to save your money. Getting an integrated amp with a phono stage will usually be cheaper. But if you get a fantastic deal on something without one, remember you can pick up phono preamp for less than $100 (Bellari VP-29, audio technica, etc.) that I suspect will be very happy with.

(1) You'd probably be happy with either preamp. A big jump will come in with the VP-129 tube preamp. But, at $250, it's out of your range.

(2) There are some considerations, but the amp will pretty much drive any speaker in your price range.

Pick speakers first. The speakers will dictate the amp.

The speakers you are auditioning don't seem to need an awful lot of power, so your choice of amplifiers becomes much greater. What's your speaker budget and is that for HT or stereo?

By HT, I meant Home Theater vs two channel for playing music. Since you want to spend $200 on speakers, I would suggest the used market.

Try the following:

Paradigm 9SE

PSB 600

Energy Pro 22

PSB Century 440i

Monitor Audio Bronze 1

I think either of these are excellent for under $200 as well as Stephen's recommendations.

Power requirements are not an issue if you have the power. That means that your amplifier choices will be more limited given your budgetary constraints. I wouldn't necessarily worry about it in terms of picking a speaker STRICTLY on the fact that it requires more power or less power. I would make sure that you get a speaker that you like best and then worry about the amps.

Good choice. Consider raising your amp budget if possible.

The Athena LS-300 from Audio Advisor for $200/pair should also get consideration.

I'd try to listen to anything I buy before a purchase.

The Paradigms are an excellent call. I built my system around a pair of 7se MkIIIs (family "heirloom") and haven't looked back. They sound excellent, and, imho, are still competitive with modern speakers. They are also relatively light and easy to haul around, which is an important consideration for me, as I am also a college student.

Rega have been selling Planar 2s and 3s like hotcakes at fat camp for about thirty years, so there are lots of used ones floating around, both online and at local dealers.

I have a Planar 3 (with the famous RB300 arm - Look for this in particular, as its value far exceeds that of the table itself. The early Planars did not use the "RB" series of tonearms). I use a Sumiko Black Pearl cartridge, which is a good value at $75. The Rega carts are excellent, and naturally mate well with Rega arms.

For reference, a genuine Rega belt runs $39. I believe some companies manufacture Rega-compatible belts for around $20.

Do you live on campus or off? (I apologize if you covered that, but I just sort of skimmed my way here.) Space constraints may preclude good speaker setup in a dorm room, making large speakers somewhat more of a liability than an investment. Keep in mind that things like turntables and record collections eat room, too. I should know.

I'll echo Buddha and say the Audioengines may be the way to go for now, especially if you are short on space. Now, if you have an apartment (or a huge dorm room...*jealous*), I say go for the full monty and rock some vinyl. I'd never deter someone from going analog, if it's feasible.

Just for fun, here's my system in its entirety:

Paradigm 7se MkIII
Rega Brio3 integrated amplifier
Rega Planar 3/RB300/Sumiko Black Pearl
Oppo DV-980H universal disc player
NAD 4020A AM/FM tuner
iMac G5/iTunes/Airport Express/Audio Alchemy DDE v1.2
Linn K40 speaker cable (7ft pair)

Welcome to the forum! Welcome to the hobby!

one of us...one of us...one of us...

That's definitely an RB series tonearm, probably RB250.

NAD amplifiers are good budget choices for Paradigm, and there are lots of used integrateds floating around out there. The ones made prior to a few years ago also had phono inputs, which would save you the trouble of buying a separate phono preamp (which still might be a good idea later). Some models have a selectable "soft clipping" circuit that - in case your roommate is an idiot and decides to turn your system up REALLY loud while you're gone - may save your tweeters from serious damage when the amp runs out of clean power.

I wouldn't know about the SL-1200, but some guys swear by it. The Rega/belt drive versus Technics/direct drive battle has been waged for a good part of vinyl history, and likely will never be resolved. In case you're unfamiliar, a belt drive turntable's motor drives the subplatter with a belt, and is thus physically isolated from the platter, which introduces less resonance into the cartridge. The drawback is that it's more difficult to design a belt drive turntable that will consistently spin precisely at 33.3333 rpm (or 45, or 78). A direct drive turntable's platter is driven directly by the motor, which is underneath and attached. This has the potential to introduce more vibration, but tends to be very speed-stable.

I'd say that unless you intend to listen to a lot of piano or orchestral music (the long, sustained notes of which would tend to highlight speed instability through pitch variation), go for a belt drive.

I have nothing against the Technics per se, but am a Rega guy at heart.

At any rate, with some modifications, you could always throw an RB300 on it later.

Belt drive turntables take a few seconds to get up to speed. It may need a new belt, but not based on the startup speed. You can also give the platter a little spin while right before starting it up to give it a boost.

It also sounds like you may need to raise the arm (you may need shims - I'm not familiar with that TT). Also, I'm not sure how you are selecting the tracking force. If you don't have a gauge, pick up a $10-$15 Shure tracking force gauge.

Finally, it sounds like the TT's 45rpm speed doesn't work. You would be able to tell a difference. And as a general rule, if something doesn't say 45rpm, it probably isn't.

Not all 45s have a large center hole (none of mine do, actually). But you won't be playing a record at the wrong speed (33/45) and not realize it. The difference is not subtle.