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Budget Set Up For Newbie

These old amps being recommended aren't the caps going to be shot by now so servicing is going to be needed?

Yep. The eBay wheeler-dealer wide boys might even have given them a wet wipe, perhaps even a light sheen of tung oil or similar, before taking a photo, to make them lustrous. The seller of that Sansui AU-2900 suggested above even put a bright blue LED on it. JFC. They are generally rank on the insides though.


My list...
Yamaha AX-396, £50, they go for peanuts and are very capable amps/decent phono stage/tone controls/REMOTE CONTROL/etc. They run cool too, so will likely not be electrically wrecked.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=292119225659

Mordaunt Short ms10i or similar non-limelight brand, £50, they also go for peanuts and are good, though these ones have had their tweeters prodded up. Perhaps even a pair of huge old PA speakers in good condition.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=152548130733

some 2.5mm Van damme blue or anything in that price range/cross section, might want a secondhand set of terminated leads.

Premium component video leads nobody uses anymore and sell for peanuts also (3 a set = 2 phono + 1 spare for digital coax :p)

That leaves 480 or so for the deck/cart/stand. I know nothing about decks outside of how they work tbh, so no suggestions from me, but there seems to be a focus on vinyl? so go wild there :p
 
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That might be a nice 505 but the price is very tippy especially in relation to a new Rega or Project.

There's loads of good stuff out there. Brit box speakers for £100 etc. Something like what Tim Jones has. Look at the usual brand names of Rega, ARCam, Cyrus, Rotel for electronics. Mordaunt Short, KEF, B&W, tannoy for speakers and you'll be ok. Don't worry too much about new caps in amps. You'll be fine for about £100 on an amp. If you get a couple of years out of it that's a £1 a week. Get a system and get playing music!
 
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Arcam alpha 3, tested out a few Alpha's recently, definitely the pick of the bunch, has that addictive quality that makes you scour your music collection.

Cannot suggest a turntable but I would second Mordaunt Short MS10i, pearl edition or classic, I have the classic, they are excellent speakers, sound superb with the Arcam.
 
That would make for a superb system, an Onix A21 would also do the job for the amp.

I had an Obelisk 1. Lovely amp but I genuinely doubt it had the brute force and ignorance required to knock some semblance of music into Kans.

I also had 2 x Obelisk 3X-X-Pak which might have.. but I'd suggest almost any budget speaker over the Kans. Also later iterations such as Kan 3 were .. err. crap.

Any decent budget Rogers. LS 33 was it? Or if very lucky you might even drop on Studio 3s

Repeat. Tannoy 'Sixes' if you can find them. The originals with the 'Tortoiseshell' tops were beautifully made for the money and sounded excellent. 603/605/609 most popular IIRC

A good Cyrus 2 takes some beating.

Royd 'The Seven'.. or better if you're lucky..

EPOS

Some of the 'Gale' badged stuff from Richer sounds.

Assorted Heybrooks esp HB1

I wouldn't touch old Missions. Personally always found Rega speakers a bit much esp in an all Rega system. A bit too 'boing boing' for me although Rega kit well matched is always fun and the entry TTs pretty unbeatable for the money.

Frankly.. I wouldn't spend much on speaker wire in such a system. TBH I wouldn't spend that much on speaker wire in any system. I'm using Van Damme Blue from Mark Grant in a £8-10k system. 79 strand is fine. A bit of old Linn K20 if it's about for peanuts. .. some old Chord Co whatever... Whatever.

Mull
 
Thanks everyone for the advice, a lot for me to take in being a newbie returning to HiFi after some thirty odd years.
 
Been posting on HiFi Wigwam and recieved great advice from the guys there. so thought i will post here also as the more advice i get the more i learn.....i think? :eek:
...

Have you not heard of the paradox of choice? :)

I would suggest finding a local dealer and listening to what a budget price Rega or Project offers. At least it would give you a starting point as to what to expect.
 
Have you not heard of the paradox of choice? :)

I would suggest finding a local dealer and listening to what a budget price Rega or Project offers. At least it would give you a starting point as to what to expect.

I'm not sure what you mean but i am guessing something to do with to much information, i guess? :confused:
 
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Thanks everyone for the advice, a lot for me to take in being a newbie returning to HiFi after some thirty odd years.
Not sure if you have already stated this but what equipment did you last own 30 years ago, as an aside, why did you leave it behind for so long.
I was starting out when you gave it up.
 
Where are you located? There is a Flexon Vinylplay at richer sounds in Lichfield, open boxed for £99. It's based on the Rega RP1 and seems a bit of a bargain.
 
I did the whole budget system thing last year:

OK, for no reason whatsoever I decided to see what sort of a second (budget) system I could build for a total of £500. I don't profess to be a hi-fi expert in any shape or form but I've just kept my eye open for local bargains. So far I've acquired:

• Nakamichi Cassette Deck 2 (£50)
• Rotel RCD-970 BX (£60)
• Mission Cyrus 2 Amp - series 3 (£150)
• Lenco Goldring GL75 with Ortofon Super OM20 Cart (£50)

That leaves me approx £200 to spend on speakers but I'm really not sure what to go for. Any ideas/recommendations gratefully received!

I ended up spending £225 on some Dynaudio DM 2/7s which work well with the Cyrus, giving me an overall total of £535. My observations from this experiment are:

1. Use eBay to see what's available locally. Often people will list stuff as 'collection only', meaning you can pick up stuff at a bargain price (it worked for all my acquisitions!).

2. It's a slippery spending slope - even for a budget system. Since parting with the £535, I've significantly modified the lenco (plinth, platter, arm & cart) plus added a firebottle phono stage. Still on the look out for a PSX to partner the Cyrus 2 as well.

That £535 spend has doubled in the space of a year - still, it's a damn nice second system for the money!
 
Not sure if you have already stated this but what equipment did you last own 30 years ago, as an aside, why did you leave it behind for so long.
I was starting out when you gave it up.

I have a picture of it somewhere although i can't remember the model numbers, it consisted of:

Sony direct drive turntable
Technics amp
Technics tape deck
Sony tuner
Bolivar 64 speakers and stands
 
Are you set on vinyl playback?

If not, spend most of the budget on speakers. £50 on a s/h amp and £30 on a basic streamer.

If so, see if you can find an original Roksan Xerxes with a flat top board. Bloody marvellous TT. Then spend £50 on a s/h amp and the rest on speakers.
 

This will be good.I have a Yamaha 501 and the phono stage and dac are very decent. You could get some decent Q Acoustics, a Project TT and Airport Express for streaming within budget if you look around. Great starter system.
 
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Are you set on vinyl playback?

If not, spend most of the budget on speakers. £50 on a s/h amp and £30 on a basic streamer.

If so, see if you can find an original Roksan Xerxes with a flat top board. Bloody marvellous TT. Then spend £50 on a s/h amp and the rest on speakers.

I agree with the whale. Unless you have a lot (>500) of records why use a vinyl source at all?

As a vinyl only enthusiast If I didn't already have a lot of LPs I wouldn't start again there. The fad will wane in a year or so. Besides 95% of modern vinyl is just digital recording delivered in an inferior format.

Obviously you may want to go into collecting vintage vinyl in which case any of the above suggestions will be fine.
 
I agree with the whale. Unless you have a lot (>500) of records why use vinyl at all?

As a vinyl only enthusiast If I didn't already have a lot I wouldn't start again there. The fad will wane in a year or so.
Why? personally I like when the record ends and the needle is stuck in the run off groove, I just leave it like that sometimes, gives me a sense of time passing, and a realisation that our time here is limited. I went to buy a record player back in the 90s. Turned up at the guys house, he wasn't in, look through the window, see a record player spinning. Neighbours say he's a piss head and not to bother. 25 years later I am that man.
 
Are you set on vinyl playback?

If not, spend most of the budget on speakers. £50 on a s/h amp and £30 on a basic streamer.

If so, see if you can find an original Roksan Xerxes with a flat top board. Bloody marvellous TT. Then spend £50 on a s/h amp and the rest on speakers.

Yes mate. Many years ago i had hundreds of albums, but foolishly sold them. I like the warmth of vintage vinyl and with the Sgt Pepper album getting a 50th anniversary box set release i thought now is as good a time as any to get back into it.
 


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