Looking for suggestions ...

D

Dima R.

Enthusiast
I have a pair of speakers and not so old Onkyo receiver.
I bought a receiver around 10 years ago, and it sounds perfect and satisfied me to all aspects .. up until now.

I want to buy a turntable - a good turntable, thinking about Pro-ject DC or DC-evo.
So, the issue is that my receiver does not have a phono pre-amp.

I have a dilemma to purchase a separate pre-amp and later - a separate blue tooth transmitter (not an urgent need, but is in the plans)
or
to buy an integrated receiver that will have those 2 already in it.

Can anyone help me with the thoughts that can help me make a decision ? what to look for ?
I was considering something of a Cambridge Audio AXR85 - but together with the turntable it will set me far outside of my initially planned budget. So, I would be needing to think real hard if I decide to go this route.
Any thoughts, please share
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I have a pair of speakers and not so old Onkyo receiver.
I bought a receiver around 10 years ago, and it sounds perfect and satisfied me to all aspects .. up until now.

I want to buy a turntable - a good turntable, thinking about Pro-ject DC or DC-evo.
So, the issue is that my receiver does not have a phono pre-amp.

I have a dilemma to purchase a separate pre-amp and later - a separate blue tooth transmitter (not an urgent need, but is in the plans)
or
to buy an integrated receiver that will have those 2 already in it.

Can anyone help me with the thoughts that can help me make a decision ? what to look for ?
I was considering something of a Cambridge Audio AXR85 - but together with the turntable it will set me far outside of my initially planned budget. So, I would be needing to think real hard if I decide to go this route.
Any thoughts, please share
The ART DJ PRE II is a very affordable phono preamp with excellent specs for the asking price:


It was reviewed and is highly recommended:

The Schiit Mani would be a second choice in the budget price category:

 
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Mikado463

Mikado463

Audioholic Spartan
I'm in agreement with Verdinut, my brother in-law has the Schitt Mani up against his Rega P1 and it performs flawlessly.

As for a really good inexpensive TT here's my pick ........


It has a built in phono-pre(which you can bypass) and comes with a Ortofon Red cartridge installed
 
D

Dima R.

Enthusiast
.... really good inexpensive TT here's my pick ........


It has a built in phono-pre(which you can bypass) and comes with a Ortofon Red cartridge installed
Unfortunately, this turntable is inaccessible for the moment ... Looking at EVO at $600 is already more than I planned, but I am stretching myself for it ... $1.2K Technic ... is .. out of the question for now ...
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
Unfortunately, this turntable is inaccessible for the moment ... Looking at EVO at $600 is already more than I planned, but I am stretching myself for it ... $1.2K Technic ... is .. out of the question for now ...
The Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB turntable is an excellent alternate option to the more expensive Technics. I own one and it's solidly built by another Japanese company. I strongly recommend it.

It is very well rated. Some DJs even prefer it to the Technics. You can substitute the cartridge later on with an Ortofon Black:
 
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lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
If budget is a concern why would you spend money on a tt? You have an existing vinyl collection to play? What speakers do you have now? For wireless around the home I'd look to wifi rather than BT solutions....
 
D

Dima R.

Enthusiast
If budget is a concern why would you spend money on a tt? You have an existing vinyl collection to play? What speakers do you have now? For wireless around the home I'd look to wifi rather than BT solutions....
Yes, I do. I do have vinyl records .. and .. I do have a record player (not a turntable, as I learned) a crappy Jensen, that i did not buy, but that ended up in my hands as a prize or trophy .. for something. Over the 6 years I was casually listening to it, purchasing a record here and a record there ... and It got to me, I started to enjoy that.. I like the music styles from the vinyl ages, and while I do understand that many records purchased may end up being actually remastered from digital.. somehow it still has that appeal to me...

The speakers I have are inexpensive but very good to my liking - Klipsh R-15M...
I also have pair of floor standing B&W (Bowers and Wilkins) from the 90ies ... that I currently do not use, but may be going back to them.

What would you suggest, for the wireless option ? I would like to avoid having to "send" files .. but rather.. stream from PC/phone's spotify, etc...
(I do have a smart TV, and am able to listen to spotify / google, etc.. on tv ..) but it is not as good of a sound
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Had to ask. I rarely bother with vinyl any longer, altho I still have a good tt and my collection, but I grew up with it and was glad to switch to the higher quality of digital long ago. Nostalgia is what it is mainly for me these days, as well as some recordings I only have on vinyl. It's pricy and fussy but do understand how some find it different from growing up with digital....but if I didn't have the existing collection/hardware I wouldn't start over with it.

What model B&W floorstanders? Those could well be more interesting than the Klipsch, but not always.

I stream to my gear using a few different wifi (dlna) based options from my laptop, tablet and/or phone. I use apps like bubbleupnp and foobar2000 with gear varying from avrs to bluray players to Chromecast Audio units. I use bluetooth in the truck via a simple bluetooth receiver, and have used that bt unit in the home, it's okay but wifi is more useful, has better range and is higher fidelity.

As far as phono stages, I have an ART Phono Plus I got for digitizing vinyl which works very well and is priced nicely (but gave up on digitizing the vinyl, takes too much time :) ). I'd simply add a phono stage if your Onkyo works in other regards (what model Onkyo is it?) rather than go the more limited offerings in 2ch integrated amps generally.
 
D

Dima R.

Enthusiast
The Audio-Technica AT-LP1240-USB turntable is an excellent ...
Yes, I was looking at that.
However, I am not sure .. I was not looking for an "alternative" to Technics...
and of AudioTechnicas I was considering more of a
AT-LPW50PB
But, .. somehow it seems that Pro-Ject debut carbon at the same price is a better turntable ? or for an extra $100 -Evo is a even a better than that ..
I am still in the research mode soo ... nothing final
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I haven't seen many comments on the AT belt drive tt, but the 1240 is a decent alternative to a Technics unit (I'm prejudiced, still use my Technics SL1200 mk2 now for 35 plus years). What cartridge are you thinking of?
 
D

Dima R.

Enthusiast
What model B&W floorstanders? Those could well be more interesting than the Klipsch, but not always.
My B&W are B&W DM220 model... late 80ies / early 90ies. I bought them for .. something like a $100 for a pair

The Onkyo that I have is TX-SR506 - 7.2 chanel one. Sounds great ... features are great .. for I was buying it for .. HDMI - at that time, I thought it was needed. But, it does the job for the ONKYO CD Deck and a good DVD player i use for MP3 cd listening

I never built a system on purpose, but since I already have the pieces, may as well play around them
 
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