Hey, new to this site and am asking for some input if thats cool

[orstrong]

So im an aspiring audioholic and want to start purchasing my first components. The style of music I listen to is mostly classic rock and and other pre-70's genres of pop, R&B. I know that the format I will mainly be playing my music on is a vinyl player so Im also looking for a somewhat entry level high-end turntable. I have heard the music hall brand could be a good option for that. In terms of speakers Im probably looking to spend at most $2,000-$2,500 on speakers alone and would need an amplifier to go with the speakers as well. I was looking at Bowers and Wilkins 683 and 684 models. I would greatly appreciate any input or suggestions anyone may have. Thanks

 

[markw]

Welcome. The first thing I would do is go out and listen to as may different speakers as possible.

You can read all the subjective speaker reviews with all the fancy, glowing, ambigious terms the reviewers like to use, read all the speaker specs in the world, and analyze all the waterfall charts you can find, but nothing can tell you what you will prefer better than using your own ears.

Your choice here will determine what size power amplifier you need.

As for turntables, yes, MH is good but so is Pro-ject, Thorens, Rega, and many more brands as well. Ultimately, the cartridge, being a transducer like a speaker, has more of an impact on the sound than the turntable, though. But, you'll proably be going for an all-in-one where the carridge is pre-mounted and this is an excellent place to start. You can always replace it when you choose.

[edit] You might want to update your profile with your location. Sometimes this can help when recommending dealers or products.

 

[fmw]

I'm a fan of B&W speakers as well. I've owned many of them and loved them all. Hard to go wrong with them. There are a lot of choices for playing records. Mark gave you some suggestions about affordable turntables and he covered them pretty well. The one I use is the Music Hall 2 I which think has a newer version. I use a Grado moving magnet cartridge. The Grados are simply outstanding for the money. Since I use a high output moving magnet cartridge I can get away with using virtually any phono stage in any preamplifier that has one. In my case I use an integrated amp from Pioneer Elite. The new model of that unit is the A35R. It comes equipped with a moving magnet phono stage. Pioneer also has a newer one called the A20. It, too has a phono stage. I have ripped most of my records to digital so I can play them from a hard drive. I use an old CD recorder to burn a CD-r and then I put the CD-r into the computer and rip it to the hard drive. There are probably more efficient ways to do that but I have the gear so I use it. Good luck.