Turntable and Amplifier help

[Maskot]

My dad has a bunch of vinyl's and I asked him what I would need to play them, he says a nice turntable with good needle, amplifier, and speakers.  He made the suggestion that I should want to get a home theater amplifier as a way to find a use for it in the future.

So the question is, what turntable should I be looking to get and what 5.1 home theater amplifier should I be looking for.

He knows his stuff, but that was 30 years ago.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

30 years ago is exactly where you should start. It was just as good (if not better) back then and it's actually affordable now.

[Maskot]

30 years ago is exactly where you should start. It was just as good (if not better) back then and it's actually affordable now.

What I was saying is he doesn't know what to get or what brands kept their quality and integrity up to this point.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

What I was saying is he doesn't know what to get or what brands kept their quality and integrity up to this point.

 

What's your budget?

[Maskot]

What's your budget?

I have no budget, what's the best for the money before diminishing return? I'd like a nice selection if you would be so kind.

[ShearMe]

@mr moose and @t0wer know their stuff.

[mr moose]

Any home theatre amp with a phono in is what you need. There is no need spend lots on the amp, most decent amps made in the last ten years will be better than the turntable anyway.

 

As for turntables I would stay away from anything under $200 new,  be aware you can easily spend too much on a turntable, especially if your vinyl is 30 years old. I would look for kenwood, denon, akai type brands from second hand shops if you need to keep the budget in check but in doing this before you buy Make sure you can get/afford a new cartridge.

 

And just remember with vinyl you are not listening to sound quality, but music quality so don't be disappointed if you spend $500 on a setup and still hear a click pop on every second song..  

[t0wer]

project's and rega's are some of the cheaper(if $300 is cheap) turntables you can find new that are decent.

I typically look around thrift stores and occasionally find a nicer old one.

 

as for the receiver/amp

vinyl won't get you 5.1 if that's what your looking to do.

 

all you need is a stereo receiver with phono stage.

or dedicated phono stage and any stereo/surround amplifier with stereo line/aux input.

 

for an extremely low budget setup, these are all you need for amplification

http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396136509&sr=8-1&keywords=lepai+amp

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-PP400-Ultra-Compact-Phono-Preamp/dp/B000H2BC4E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396135999&sr=8-2&keywords=phono+preamp

 

or for something like this if you need it in 1 unit.

just check the back inputs for phono w/ a ground plug

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-PM5004-Integrated-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B003R7KMTC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396136259&sr=8-1&keywords=pm5004

[ShearMe]

as for the receiver/amp

vinyl won't get you 5.1 if that's what your looking to do.

 

I think his dad was thinking along the lines of future upgrades to a surround sound system with some non-vinyl music and movies, since plenty of AVR's have a phono input. 

[mr moose]

Deep purple released a quadraphonic version of lazy on their machine head LP, It's all binaural of course but it wouldn't surprise me of dolby couldn't resurrect a descent surround form it.

 

suffice to say I assumed (bad me) that the op wanted 5.1 for future use with a dvd player or pc or something.

[Maskot]

Any home theatre amp with a phono in is what you need. There is no need spend lots on the amp, most decent amps made in the last ten years will be better than the turntable anyway.

 

As for turntables I would stay away from anything under $200 new,  be aware you can easily spend too much on a turntable, especially if your vinyl is 30 years old. I would look for kenwood, denon, akai type brands from second hand shops if you need to keep the budget in check but in doing this before you buy Make sure you can get/afford a new cartridge.

 

And just remember with vinyl you are not listening to sound quality, but music quality so don't be disappointed if you spend $500 on a setup and still hear a click pop on every second song..  

 

project's and rega's are some of the cheaper(if $300 is cheap) turntables you can find new that are decent.

I typically look around thrift stores and occasionally find a nicer old one.

 

as for the receiver/amp

vinyl won't get you 5.1 if that's what your looking to do.

 

all you need is a stereo receiver with phono stage.

or dedicated phono stage and any stereo/surround amplifier with stereo line/aux input.

 

for an extremely low budget setup, these are all you need for amplification

http://www.amazon.com/LP-2020A-Lepai-Tripath-Class-T-Amplifier/dp/B0049P6OTI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396136509&sr=8-1&keywords=lepai+amp

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-PP400-Ultra-Compact-Phono-Preamp/dp/B000H2BC4E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1396135999&sr=8-2&keywords=phono+preamp

 

or for something like this if you need it in 1 unit.

just check the back inputs for phono w/ a ground plug

http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-PM5004-Integrated-Stereo-Amplifier/dp/B003R7KMTC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396136259&sr=8-1&keywords=pm5004

I'm going with a 5.1 home theater amp as to have greater use for it in the future.

I'm thinking to get a Denon DP300F   

 

As well as a Denon AVR-E300

[Maskot]

Deep purple released a quadraphonic version of lazy on their machine head LP, It's all binaural of course but it wouldn't surprise me of dolby couldn't resurrect a descent surround form it.

 

suffice to say I assumed (bad me) that the op wanted 5.1 for future use with a dvd player or pc or something.

Yes, this is why I want the 5.1 system, I would be using the front headphone jack for my headphone listening since I don't have a sound system.

[mr moose]

I'm going with a 5.1 home theater amp as to have greater use for it in the future.

I'm thinking to get a Denon DP300   

 

As well as a Denon AVR-E300

 

Yeah, they look alright.  Enjoy.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

I don't know much about surround receivers, the ones I've heard haven't been convincing to me however a lot of people seem to be using them these days. In my opinion nothing beats a good preamp and amplifier, however this is not what most people desire so I will refrain myself from talking more about that.

 

The turntable however is a different matter. For me there is only one option in the lower price bracket, and that would be the Rega Planar 3. They can be picked up for cheap second hand and they're absolutely solid performers, up there with much more expensive turntables. When you buy a used turntable the seller will most likely throw in a cartridge, however if he doesn't Grado and Ortofon has several great offerings in every price range.