EDIT: With the advice given here I’m going to put my focus on Speakers. Let’s say (without doing ANY research yet, my budget is $2000 but if I can do very well at $1000 or $1500 I’m good. If $2500 gets me a quantum leap forward I’m in.

Living room is about 12x16 but it’s open to much of the lower level so let’s figure 600 sq ft. Speakers will be in living room which has limited space so bookshelf size or something in a slimmer tower. Amps I’m looking at push 50-80 Watts 8 ohms.

Discuss -


Original post -

At my wife’s request I got my wife this turntable

Rega Planar 2 Turntable with RB220 tonearm, Glass-platter and Carbon Cartridge https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K...cp_api_erZ-BbR102GN1

I about shit when I saw the price but I know she’s wanted a sound system to play her ever growing collection of albums. She’s very musically inclined, she works hard and deserves it. Plus, I went out and bought a boat this year and while it was used and responsibly priced she deserves a nice splurge for herself and if a $675 Turntable evens the score then I did pretty well

So sadly at 50+ years each we really don’t have a sound system in our house. I have a Yamaha stereo in the basement so I thought maybe we could put that to use. It sees no use down there. But I figured I’d go to Best Buy and see what they had. I asked for help and the gave me to a specialist who brought me in the stereo room. My jaw hit the floor when I was amps $2,000-$5000. The two lowest were a $1300 Rotel A14 80 Watts/channel and a $1700 Rotel RA1572 120 Watts/channel. Still way more than I intended but the guy made some sense - she’d see few of the benefits of the high end turntable powered by a cheap amplifier. Since I paid for the turntable (gave it to her as a anniversary gift) I’d like to see my investment go to good use so I came to terms with what I was facing. If need be I could swing 1300 and maybe even $1700 for her and realizing I probably have another $500 + expense for speakers.

http://rotel.com/product/a14
http://rotel.com/product/ra-1572


What stereo guy told me is the are different classes of amps. A, AB (what I think both of these Rotels are) Both have Tubes and that’s what delivers the clarity and take advantage of the power output for clarity. Less expensive amps are digital and while that can have its advantages clarity and crisp sound is not one of them. This sounds about right - CD/digital music files are not as pure as vinyl albums, the analogue turntable cost 4 times what a digital one costs so I’ll buy that.

Any recommendations on an alternative? Again, I’m not totally opposed to spending the money to power this turntable but in my limited search I didn’t find a lot on amp alternatives or places to buy them. Even Crutchfield only had class D (I think they call them DAC Digital Analog Conversion) I’m open to buying high quality used if available. Cyber Monday coming tomorrow, hopefully I can take advantage of that but it seems high priced audio doesn’t move much in price.

Also, she said she doesn’t need a receiver or CD player but if there is one that has one or both of these, I’d consider it but just the integrated amplifier.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BRL,

Look into local shops and look into used tube equipment. I can't give you a good recommendation, but that's how my father got an amp that matched his reel to reel machine.

Check out Emotiva for good quality, affordable amps. They have a budge integrated with phono stage that should work well with some moderately efficient speakers

https://emotiva.com/collection...amps/products/ta-100

Nobody and I mean nobody spends 1700 (+700 turntable) on an amp and $500 on speakers. You have it totally backward. So start over. The speakers don't care the source. Any good quality amp will do fine at this point. Get the best speakers you can afford. Period.

I have an ADCOM preamp and amplifier I've had for many years, and was always happy with the sound quality. They were very well reviewed when I bought them in the 90's.
You can find them now on eBay for <$500 for a preamp (which will have a phono input for the turntable) and a separate stereo power amplifier.
They were always considered very good value for the sound quality.
A preamp model would be 450 or 465; a power amplifier would be a GFA 545 or 555.

Thanks PGT. That looks like a good option.

shrill, help an uneducated OG. What is the difference between a pre amp and a power amp?

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:
What is the difference between a pre amp and a power amp?

A preamplifier is just that... it provides the first step or pre amplification of a signal. But it also functions as a switch between sources (Radio tuner, CD player, turntable, tape recorder, etc.) and may add some contouring like bass and treble adjustments. Here is where you want to see both moving coil and moving magnet circuits for your wife's turntable which will allow the handling of a complete choice of available cartridges should she upgrade from the piece that came with the turntable.

An amplifier takes the signal the preamp has selected and boosts it sufficient to drive headphones or speakers. Don't get mired in the sales talk about Classes of amplifiers, tubes versus transistors, and power ratings (games can be played there by the unscrupulous).

As others have said, pick your speakers first and then marry their power needs to an appropriate amplifier.

That help?

I have always been partial to outlaw audio.

https://www.outlawaudio.com/mo...blackfriday2018.html

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I have always been partial to outlaw audio.

https://www.outlawaudio.com/mo...blackfriday2018.html

+1 I've got a couple of their big subwoofers.

I also like Odyssey for my amplifiers. Klaus is great to deal with. http://odysseyaudio.com/

Monoprice has some nice little tube amps. Couple hundred $

check out a McIntosh MA252 from AudioClassics in NY

dedicated phono input, 3 unbalanced inputs and one balanced input

Be careful looking at newer gear. Many newer receivers just don't have phono level inputs anymore. You'll need to add an external phono amp. They start around fifteen bucks and climb from there.

Found out when I decided to get my old table working again....

Complicated topic. If you want to buy great components, money no object, it’s easy to spend up to your budget.

It’s complicated to buy to fit your needs. Your listening room and its acoustical characteristics is a big influence and starting point. Also, the type of music and intended listening volume. And then how critically you intend to listen (and of course how good your hearing is). For example, sometimes large speakers and powerful amps are not ideal if you intend to use low volume levels. And tubes may not be all that important if the music is rock instead of something more acoustical or vocal.

Absolutely would not buy new. Check out Audiogon and also the Audio Asylum classifieds (I've been a member there for 20 years). You can buy very good used gear that will be much higher quality than new gear, at the same price point. If you like, email me if you have a price range and I can make some recs for used gear that will be MUCH better than anything at Best Buy for the same cost. I started off with a Rega P25 almost 20 years ago, and then upgraded to a P9, before going all-in with the SME. Rega makes a great deck for the money.

This is what I run now for my main system.

https://cgi.audioasylum.com/systems/6663.html


Here is the classifieds page in the Audio Asylum. They are a non-profit group, and do not charge any fees to buy or sell. You can browse the amplifiers for sale, either tube or solid state.

http://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/index.html

If your wife were interested in buying a gun, we would recommend having her pick it by renting several and seeing what suits her.
In the case of audio equipment you should perhaps have your wife visit several audio stores (if you have them available) and listen to different speakers and amplifiers.

The "best" speakers depends on what kind of music your wife or you listen to the most. I love chamber music and vocal music, so accuracy and definition are more important than power or bass.

I have come to the conclusion that most people can't tell the difference between pieces of electronic equipment, except perhaps for the supposed "warmth" of tube amplifiers.

I certainly wouldn't spend thousands for an amplifier without being convinced I could hear the superiority of it from a $500 amp, or even a $500 receiver.

In my case, I spent years reading reviews before finally buying equipment; and spent quite a bit of time listening before buying.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Nobody and I mean nobody spends 1700 (+700 turntable) on an amp and $500 on speakers. You have it totally backward. So start over. The speakers don't care the source. Any good quality amp will do fine at this point. Get the best speakers you can afford. Period.

I must agree. The speakers, being the weakest point in the audio chain, will make the biggest difference. Of course, GIGO still applies. You've got to feed them something decent.

I've not been convinced that tubes are somehow better unless we're talking about guitar amps (which use tubes in ways they weren't actually designed for) considering they employ distortion. That's where even order harmonics make a pleasing sound and odd order harmonics not so much. On an audio playback system you're not looking for distortion from overdriving the tubes or transistors so many people prefer the sound of solid state (not necessarily digital) amplifiers.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Nobody and I mean nobody spends 1700 (+700 turntable) on an amp and $500 on speakers. You have it totally backward. So start over. The speakers don't care the source. Any good quality amp will do fine at this point. Get the best speakers you can afford. Period.

I'm leaning towards this camp as well. As a transducer (where the music changes form) the cartridge and the speaker characteristics are important to end listeners taste. I was taught to spend 1/2 budget on speakers.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
Nobody and I mean nobody spends 1700 (+700 turntable) on an amp and $500 on speakers. You have it totally backward. So start over. The speakers don't care the source. Any good quality amp will do fine at this point. Get the best speakers you can afford. Period.

Right on.
I was in the Audio business for many years before I went komputor but speakers (and room acoustics) is where you make the most difference.

quote:

Originally posted by BRL:
At my wife’s request I got my wife this turntable

Rega Planar 2 Turntable with RB220 tonearm, Glass-platter and Carbon Cartridge https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K...cp_api_erZ-BbR102GN1

Oh, man! You are really about to take a trip down the audiophile rabbit hole!

There is already a lot of sound (pun) advice above. My advice is just to get your wife whatever she think she wants to go with that turntable. She must have some opinions on it if she wanted a turntable like that!

I just happen to be an acoustic engineer, so I think it is almost all just marketing hype. If it sounds good to you, then it is good. But the advice above is good: Don't worry about tube amps; spend most of your money on speakers; most amps these days don't even have a phono input, so you will either need one that does, or use a stereo phono RIAA preamp similar to this:
https://www.amazon.com/ART-II-...A+Preamplifier&psc=1

Lots of good info above. I’m running a sunfire amp that’s getting aged and I’ll be finding something new in the future myself

Definitely do not Go cheap on speakers. They are key. I have monitor audio silvers

Audiogon is a great resource for top line components as many have the income to get the latest and greatest and sell the old stuff, often only a year or two old. I purchased a Sota turntable from there for 1/4 of what it would have been new