2. analog
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Getting into analog is tough....

I have been thinking hard about getting into analog, but the more I research, the more it puts me off. First, I need a phono stage. Then, of course, I need the turntable. Then, I need a tonearm. Then a cartridge. Then a needle. Ok, now will it be MC or MM? How about the arm? Will I get a turntable without an arm? No, get a turntable with an arm because setting up an arm for a newbie can be a disaster, right?. How about the cartridge? Ok, my budget is $1500 for a phono stage and a turntable. But, a tone arm by itself might be more than the turntable and the stage. Oh, the cartridge might be more than everything, but which one? Who has a turntable I can listen to? What, almost no one I know has a turntable these days? What about the thing and the other thing and then there is this thing and that thing and cables and..........AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

You know, my CD player doesn't sound that bad. In fact, CD players are easy. You just plug and plug and listen.

So, what was the reason I wanted to get into analog?
matchstikman

Showing 2 responses by seandtaylor99

seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
If you don't already have an LP collection then I would not bother with analog. Like Patrick said $1500 buys a lot of music. If I were you I'd put the $1500 into CDs and /or upgrades to your digital front end, or get an SACD player. I listen to vinyl/CDs about 50/50, but I think in my case this is only historical, because I already had a turntable and an LP collection. I can't say that I categorically prefer the sound of one to the other. To my ears the quality of the engineering of the album makes more difference than the format. A good CD sounds much better than a bad LP.
I'll disagree with Pat on the cleaning system ... my cleaner cost $40 (Allsop orbitrak) and it gets very good results.

Lastly how do you plan to purchase vinyl ? If you're prepared to spend $15 per LP then you can get new albums. These days I only buy used LPs, which I have to thoroughly clean. It's very time consuming, so I only do it because to me it's fun, but many of my friends think I'm mad spending hours at the local record store going through hundreds of albums looking for the 5-10 albums that I want, that are not thrashed. Financial cost is nil (50cents per album) but time cost is very high.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
For plug and play it's hard to be simpler than a rega p3 with an elys cartrige. The cartridge has 3 bolt points so that on a rega arm there is no alignment to consider. There's almost nothing to adjust on the rega other than tracking weight and anti-skate, which takes about 10 minutes. If you stick with the 3 point rega cartridges there's no VTA and no alignment

It may not be the absolute best for the money, but it's not bad, and later if you get the urge to upgrade the rega arms have many mods. That said, if you like to listen to music, and not to the hifi I think the rega will fit the bill. People like to bash rega, but they have sold an awful lot of tables.

As for phono stage, I'm not sure, but the creek obh seems to be quite well regarded. I personally use an audiolab 8000C for my phono pre and headphone amp, and I picked it up used for under $200. Great little class A (aka hot) preamp.

I think rega 3 + cartridge (Elys) + Creek pre should be under $1000, leaving plenty of money to buy more CDs and or LPs. Budget cleaning tools (which you will really need if you have old LPs) include allsop's orbitrac ($40) and discdoctor (similar price). Both will get you started without hundreds of dollars in expense.

Add in the shure stylus force guage ($25) and a hunt or similar carbon dry brush ($20) and you're up and running.
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