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First Audio System

A

artist

pfm Member
I have a nephew who came to my home and was amazed that vinyl sounded so good.
At only been 13 he is on a tight budget i have agreed to help out have been looking at the rega all in one system which is £1000.

I need opinions on this or other systems within budget
 
I have had some fun building an alternative system for the dining room. It was a fun challenge where I limited myself to £500 per component. Ok, not the budget in question but I was snaffling some vintage Sony ES kit tied in with Q Acoustics speakers. Mileage there...
 
I hope he knows how much vinyl costs. 13 year old me would want an SL-1210, cheap Philips CD off eBay, used Rotel/Sony/Rega amp around £200, then new streamer and speakers from Richer Sounds.
 
Amp - something old but not classic off eBay is appealing, but a £80 single input chip amp from Amazon will be fine, if inputs grow get a switch box. I generally point people towards Q-Acoustics for cheapo speakers, but I'm sure there are others. An afternoon at your local Richer sounds would be fun.
The rest of the budget then goes into the turntable. Rega Planar 1 with built in MM stage and the decent Carbon MM cartridge (maybe other bundle deals out there) would do a fine job, and last him until he's earning enough to better it.

You will have some budget left - spend that on records that nowadays are very expensive and of atrocious quality. My step-daughter sells off her old vinyl on eBay to finance her latest enthusiasm.

Before you start, get him to build a RPi with an Amp hat, and a pair of speakers, costs peanuts and maybe won't quite do what the Rega would do, but add in a year of Tidal or Quobuz and he's got access to (nearly) all the music in the world and the start of a fantastic journey.
 
JemHayward said:
Before you start, get him to build a RPi with an Amp hat, and a pair of speakers, costs peanuts and maybe won't quite do what the Rega would do, but add in a year of Tidal or Quobuz and he's got access to (nearly) all the music in the world and the start of a fantastic journey.
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I would second that, HifiBerry do an excellent Class D amp/DAC hat, a Pi3 is sufficient, in one of their plastic cases so that the wifi works well, and stick Volumio in it for ease of use. Get a set of cheaper Elac speakers for example, then do the build and software installation with him as a project and away you go.
 
Snufkin said:
This amp would be a good start and then find a deck and speakers. Should cost a lot less than £1000.
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Was about to suggest the same.

I have one with some Goodmans Ministers and a £70 dac, and it’s simply big open warm bouncy fun.

There are some larger vintage Goodmans for sale on here if he has the space.
 
A 13 year old may prefer brand new. The Pioneer PX 1000 got a great review in Stereophile, and it looks like a DJ turntable. Richer Sounds sell it for £600. It could be hooked up to a budget Marantz amp with a phono stage e.g Marantz PM5005 (£220) and a pair of Q Acoustics at around £150.

Or you could get a Rega P2 (£400) and use the Rega IO amp (£400) plus what ever budget speakers the dealer stocks.

Obviously have to budget some money for cables. An a tenner for Ikea Lack table for the turntable.
 
Second hand Rega deck, old Creek amp, new IFI Zen DAC to plug phone into for streaming, then speakers something like a pair of JPW monitor or Celestion DL4 or DL8 if space available, Linn indexII or Keilidh for something bigger. Easily in budget of an auction site.
 
Please spare him from vinyl. It's the 21st century and he's 13. Streaming all the way. Much less than £1000 too.
 
Only listened to the Rega One briefly at a show but really enjoyed what it was doing.

As others have said, you could build a slightly better system for about half that (and you've had some good suggestions) but it would be years old, open to faults, strange mods and all sorts, plus you'd still have to work at getting the synergy right.

I think it's different for us older hifi nerds that are happy to mess about and buy second hand stuff etc etc. I'm pretty sure your Nephew would rather have a brand new system that just works really well together straight out the box. Job done and you get a warranty.

Even if the LP thing turns into nothing, he will still have a decent amp and speakers for a digital source.
 
His father is upgrading his deck so his son is getting the rega p3 and now has more money for amp and speakers.He has been brought up on jazz so his collection will be mostly jazz vinyl.I did warn him that Vinyl can get expensive.He is an accomplished guitar and piano player and can read music.He has two students that he is teaching guitar and has saved his money
 
Call me a grumpy old ascetic, but surely he doesn't need a £1000 system at 13?

And the rest surely depends on his inclinations? Used or new, stream, vinyl etc? If vinyl then surely used. Can make a magic used system for <£500.
 
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