Can anyone recommend me a budget hi-fi system that can play vinyl? I am in the UK and have about £300 max to spend.
November 29, 2011 1:24 PM   Subscribe

Can anyone recommend me a budget hi-fi system that can play vinyl? I am in the UK and have about £300 max to spend.

My wife and I have been living without a decent music system for some time and I have decided it is time to remedy the situation. Neither of us know a lot about the technical aspects of hi-fi systems, but we basically want something that will play cds, vinyl and ipod (either through a dock or through an aux cable). Ideally, it'd have DAB radio too, but that's not a must. The main thing is that it plays vinyl well though. The type of music we'd be listening to in the main would be a mix of 60s stuff and more modern alternative indie. The budget is £300 and there isn't much flexibility on that.

I've tried researching online but get a bit overwhelmed by everything that's out there, especially when it comes to hi-fi seperates as there are so many. I don't really know what to look for, so thought I would turn to you in case anyone has some good recommendations.
posted by Pilly to Shopping (12 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Go to Richer Sounds with a printout of this question. They are good people.
posted by caek at 1:42 PM on November 29, 2011


On that budget I'd go for the Project Essential turntable for £150 and, er, whatever mini system Richer Sounds are doing on clearance for £150 at the moment that has phono inputs.
posted by jack_mo at 2:00 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Ahh - seems like a good plan to get a turntable separate and then a mini system to save some money. I've had a quick look and found a few mini systems, but they only have a 3.5mm input; would this be enough to link to a turntable separate or does it need to be a rca type input?
posted by Pilly at 3:01 PM on November 29, 2011


No, you need a special phono RCA type input, as it has to be amplified more than an ordinary line level input.
posted by ambrosen at 3:12 PM on November 29, 2011


You will specifically need something that has a Phono input unless you want to buy a separate Phono Pre amp, these almost always have an RCA type plug.

I don't think you will get everything you are looking for with that budget, you'll have to choose between CD or Vinyl or go second hand.

The cheapest turntable worth buying is a Project = £150
That only leaves another £150 for CD player + Amplifier + speakers.

Something like a used Denon mini system on ebay might be a good way to start. Unlike 'proper' hifi components, used mini systems often sell for peanuts. The Denons usually have a phono input. The speakers on these systems are always the weak point, but you can always upgrade those later.

The important thing is not to cheap out too much on the turntable as you could end up with a load of scratched records.
posted by Lanark at 3:17 PM on November 29, 2011


You will need more than just RCA inputs for a turntable. You need an input specifically designed as a Phono input or a phono preamp between the turntable and standard RCA inputs. Records have something called an RIAA equalization curve and cartridge output is much lower than standard line level.

It's really hard to get everything you want in the budget you listed. Here is a bargain basement integrated amplifier. This is a budget phono preamp. You'll save money on speakers by assembling them from a kit.

This is about as cheap as you can get without sacrificing on the sound.
posted by TrialByMedia at 3:20 PM on November 29, 2011


Response by poster: Thanks a lot for the advice - that's really helpful. I shall do some research based on all this info tomorrow. I think I need to do some reading on all the preamp stuff to get my head around it and how it works.
posted by Pilly at 3:27 PM on November 29, 2011


I think your best bet is looking at used vintage gear to get great quality for a budget. I don't know about the market around you so I'm going to make some broad suggestions to get you started.

I'd look at Technics for the turntable. If you can find a 1200 mk2 that has been used but not abused (not a DJ table) or a SL-1X00 series. The mk2's of any model numbers are more desirable but the regular series has several solid starter tables. The replacement stylii are readily available which is a big plus.

Ideally you should spend most of your budget on speakers but unless you get lucky you'll be putting a good amount toward an amp/receiver. I really like the sound and look of vintage Marantz like the 2245. Sansui also made some great sounding amps. They have built in phono preamps that are made to sound great with vinyl.

Speakers will probably shape your sound the most. I like Large Advents, KLH models 5, 6, 17 or 23, Rectilinear III and Dahlquist DQ-10's. Other well-regarded speakers to look out for are AR 2ax, early KEF models, early Harbeth monitors, early JBL monitors. Lots of vintage speakers have rotted out foams and can be had for cheap as "broken" but in truth the old foams can be replaced for very little cost or effort.

If you are interested in the vintage route you should check out AudioKarma. Lots of knowledge there.
posted by tinamonster at 10:27 PM on November 29, 2011


Although it's a good idea to properly hook up a deck via RCA inputs and the appropriate pre-amp (be it built into the amp or seperate pre-amp), there are other ways of getting sound from vinyl to speakers.

For example, the Ion deck claims to 1) have some sort of switchable pre-amp built in, so could connect directly via RCA to any amp, and 2) outputs via USB, so you could connect it to a laptop that could connect to some powered multi-media speakers. It also has a line-in, so you could daisy chain an iPod connection through it. The Ion looks pretty plasticy, but it's made by the same company that makes Numark, a DJ kit make with a decent rep at their price point. In fact, the Ion decks seemed to basically be rebadged Numark decks, with the additional pre-amp / USB.

There's a Numark / Ion portable deck too (I have one and it's not bad) but there's also the cult Vestax Handy Trax (I have of these too and it's great). Sound quality wise you're almost certainly better off getting a proper deck second hand, or stretching to the bottom of the range Pro-Ject, but there are some definite advantages with a portable, aside from budget. Firstly, if space is tight, you can pack it up and stash it out the way. Secondly, they have a line out / headphone out, which means that you could buy any amp / mini-system that allowed for a line-in, and use the deck on the same cable you'd use to plug in an iPod. Thirdly, hey, it's a portable, the joys of playing records at a picnic are not to be underestimated.
posted by iivix at 2:10 AM on November 30, 2011


Seconding Richer Sounds. They have a shop in Preston (your profile says you're in Lancaster). They live for this kind of challenge. All my friends have used them since we were broke students and we've never been disappointed.
posted by sleepy boy at 3:19 AM on November 30, 2011


Response by poster: Thanks for the further replies; I like the look and idea of the Ion decks (especially the portable one) and realise they're probably not as good as some of the more expensive ones. If I went for an Ion/Numark deck that had a pre-amp inbuilt, would that mean it could be connected up to a stereo with a single line-in with the correct cable? Or would that still require something in-between?

I think a trip to Richer Sounds is going to be necessary irrespective...!
posted by Pilly at 11:47 AM on November 30, 2011


> If I went for an Ion/Numark deck that had a pre-amp inbuilt, would that mean it could be connected up to a stereo with a single line-in with the correct cable?

That's the idea, yep. I have no idea what sort of sound quality it would be, but I'm sure it's fine.
posted by iivix at 1:56 AM on December 1, 2011


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