Turntable question

[ematthews]

Will be picking up a new Pro-Ject Carbon turntable since I will be getting a room full of old great LP's from my mother and father...Now my Primaluna HP Integrated did not come with a phono amp in it. Is it better to pick up the new Turntable with a built in amp or will I get better results with an external preamp connected between my Primaluna and turntable.

 

[slipperybidness]

If I were in your situation, I would probably go with the Emo
https://emotiva.com/products/pres-and-pros/xps-1

I will leave all the debating on internal/external pre-amp to the other guys.

 

[3db]

Will be picking up a new Pro-Ject Carbon turntable since I will be getting a room full of old great LP's from my mother and father...Now my Primaluna HP Integrated did not come with a phono amp in it. Is it better to pick up the new Turntable with a built in amp or will I get better results with an external preamp connected between my Primaluna and turntable.

Choosing a turntable with a built in amp dramatically lowers your choice of available turntables. The money spent on a turntable with an amp stage is generally not as good a table as an equivalent costing table without the amp stage. I would leave my options open on turntables and buy an external pre-amp. You get the most choice that way and best bang for the buck.

Look here for the choices available;
http://www.needledoctor.com/Online-Store/Phono-Preamps

 

[cvcgolf]

I purchased a Pro-ject Esprit a few months ago and it's great.. It's the Carbon but with all the upgrades.. Ordered mine from Crutchfield and received it in 3 days, free shipping.. You can purchase a Pro-ject pre amp or Cambridge pre amp.. Read the reviews on Crutchfield site and also speak to them over the phone.. They're really helpful..

 

[ematthews]

Thanks guys.

 

[cpd]

I purchased a Pro-ject Esprit a few months ago and it's great.. It's the Carbon but with all the upgrades.. Ordered mine from Crutchfield and received it in 3 days, free shipping.. You can purchase a Pro-ject pre amp or Cambridge pre amp.. Read the reviews on Crutchfield site and also speak to them over the phone.. They're really helpful..

I got the same table for x-mas and love it. At first it had a right channel hum, but replacing the stock cable with a BJC eliminated that problem. I also have a Pro-ject preamp that works great.

 

[Swerd]

For what it's worth, I bought an Audio Technica PEQ3 phono preamp a number of years ago, and readily recommend it. TLS Guy had previously said he liked it, so I bought it. It does MM pickups only.

For reasons I don't know, AT doesn't sell it in the USA anymore, but Amazon has the Japanese version at a cheap $45.

http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-AT-PEQ3-Phono-Equalizer-Japan/dp/B00008B5PC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437832630&sr=8-1&keywords=audio+technica+peq3

 

[ematthews]

OK. SO I still haven't purchased the table yet. Does anyone have any opinion on if this Pro-ject carbon WILL sound any better than the Audio- Technica LP120? Would be nice to save some money. My concern is as of right now I don't know how much I will use it. But then again if I fall in love with the LP sound then I may regret not getting the better turntable on the first purchase. Any thoughts?

 

[fuzz092888]

TLS is an ardent advocate of belt drive. I'll have my Pro-ject Debut Carbon (DC) on Friday with the Ortofon OM10 cart. Although I have no point of reference, I trust TLS when he says belt drive over direct drive.

 

[ematthews]

Thanks. It's my first choice. Just read good stuff on the A-Tech..

 

[slipperybidness]

When direct drive is done correctly, it can compete with belt drive! Technics SL1200 did DD right.

 

[CDogg]

I have owned an Emotiva XPS-1 for a year and a half. So far, I have found one phono preamp that is equal to the XPS-1 and that is the ClearAudio Nano V2. The ClearAudio is more expensive than the XPS-1.

Since this will be your first turntable, I would recommend a U-turn orbit. The base model cost $179, and one with all the goodies is around $350 or less. You would be getting a good quality turntable for less money. If you decide you love vinyl, you can always recoup most of your money from selling the Orbit. However, you could always keep it and add another turntable to your system.

My audio system consists of three turntables... Denon DP300F with 2M Red cartridge, a custom AR XB with an AT-MONO3/LP moving coil cartridge, an AT-440ML/OCC moving magnet cartridge, and a Denon DL-110 moving coil cartridge, and a Dual 1219 with a Shure M97xE moving magnet cartridge for now, but I will be upgrading to something better soon.

The Orbit turntable plus the Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp would make the ideal first turntable package for anyone who is looking to save money but still have good quality components.

Good luck on your search!