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Looking for Advice To Build a Small System Around Thorens Turntable

I'm looking for advice and input around building out a system around a turntable I've been gifted by a family member. Apologies in advance for my limited knowledge in this area. The turntable is a Thorens TD125 MKII that I understand has been well cared for. It has an SME tonearm and Shure cassette, but no idea which models or how to figure that out at this point. My hope was to set it up in my home office (12' x14'). My musical tastes are pretty broad, but if I was trying to focus it'd be acoustic and rock in the Dire Straits vein. Would love to keep the cost under $5000 for amp and speakers... oh and might like to add a decent CD player to the mix. I've been reading through the forums and seeing so much info covering so many specifics, but was hoping for a few condensed possibilities that work well together. Many thanks in advance.
gokartsonmars
6 responses Add your response
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,586 posts
 
gokartsonmars, your best bet is to find a good dealer that can assist you.

A turntable needs to be setup correctly and if the cartrige is older it would need to be changed as well, as you need to make sure the  that the cartridge is tracking properly and at the right force.

A good little system for that size room Rega Brio R which has a phono stage $1100 plus Rega CD player $1000 a pair of Kef R5 monitors $2,000 and you have some room for good speaker cables $300 and two good sets of interconnects.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
fstein's avatar
fstein
197 posts
 
Go listen to speakers. Start with the speakers.
gokartsonmars OP
1 posts
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,404 posts
 
You should not need to spend $5k on this. 
mesch
3,394 posts
 
I would reserve some of your budget for the possibility of needing or wanting a new cartridge.

Look for a speaker that is reasonably sensitive (85+dB) and does not drop below 4 ohms impedance. Therefore most 50-100 watt amplifiers will serve, given your room size. There are many integrated amplifiers having a retail price of $1500-$2000 that would fit your budget. Likely could be purchased at less than retail.

When shopping for speakers consider the amplifier driving them. If you purchase an amplifier 1st, take it to auditions.

I agree with noromance, you may not have to max out your budget to find yourself with a very pleasing system for your office.
freediver
1,010 posts
 
iFi Audio Stereo 50,EL84 Integrated Amplifier with SUPERB Phono Stage,DSD DAC & headphone circuits...Add small speakers like Dynaudio Excite X14,Harbeth P3ESR or Spendor SA-1 & a really good set of headphones,cable with Nordost..
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