Looking for suggestions...listening to vinyl only

[Willis927]

I recently received a Project Carbon DC turntable as a gift from the wife. I'm looking for suggestions on a receiver, pre-amp (if needed), and speakers for vinyl and my new turntable. The only other equipment that will be connected to the receiver would be an ipod or cellphone (no dvd, cd, computer, etc). The room size is approximately 14' x 20'. I would like to keep the cost under $2k if possible but all suggestions are welcome. I'm thinking 2 way w/ sub based on the size and needs but again, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[PENG]

I recently received a Project Carbon DC turntable as a gift from the wife. I'm looking for suggestions on a receiver, pre-amp (if needed), and speakers for vinyl and my new turntable. The only other equipment that will be connected to the receiver would be an ipod or cellphone (no dvd, cd, computer, etc). The room size is approximately 14' x 20'. I would like to keep the cost under $2k if possible but all suggestions are welcome. I'm thinking 2 way w/ sub based on the size and needs but again, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks so much for your help.

$2K is a good budget for some higher end units but I think something like this http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-R-S700BL-Natural-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B0044779G8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1424010360&sr=1-1&keywords=r-s700+yamaha is probably good enough.

Or this http://www.harmankardon.com/images/media/HK_3770_SS_EN.pdf if you want to have an usb input for your apples.

 

[Swerd]

The Yamaha receiver Peng mentioned is a good one. That would leave as much as $1500 left over in your budget for speakers. You didn't mention a preference for bookshelf or floor standers, so I'll suggest both types.

Bookshelf speakers
Philharmonic Audio Philharmonitor $850/pair
Salk SongSurroundI $895/pair
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1 $850/pair

Floor Standing speakers
Philharmonic Audio Slim Tower $2000/pair
Salk SongBird $1500/pair
Salk SongTower $2000/pair
Ascend Acoustics $2000/pair

All these makes are sold only by internet direct, but they are in my opinion, the best available in these price ranges.

There will be a wide range of opinions whether a subwoofer is needed. For music, I think you might be alright without one. The floor standing speakers will go a bit deeper than the bookshelf speakers.

 

[Willis927]

Thanks guys. One follow up question. Are the phono inputs "good" enough in the receivers you mentioned? Would you get more performance with a quality pre amp?

 

[Swerd]

Are the phono inputs "good" enough in the receivers you mentioned? Would you get more performance with a quality pre amp?

The phono preamp sections in these receivers are fine. They are made for moving magnet (MM) pick up cartridges with an output of roughly 3-5 mV. If you have a MM cartridge, you probably won't notice any improvement with an external preamp.

If you have a moving coil (MC) type pick up with a much lower output of less than 1.0 mV (these are much less common), you will need a separate MC-capable phono preamp.

 

[Willis927]

Thanks Swerd. At the risk of sounding less educated than I already do, would the project carbon debut dc, Yamaha R-S700BL Natural Sound Stereo Receiver, and ascend acoustic sierra 1 set up be worth the price difference between say the project carbon debut dc and Audiogene A5+ setup (powered speakers). Again, room size 14' x 20', vinyl input only, and I have a good ear for music just limited knowledge on the equipment. Thanks again.

 

[markw]

You're really comparing a full-blown component setup to what's essentially a pair of very good computer speakers?

 

[Willis927]

I'm not comparing the obvious potential quality difference. I'm asking, given the size of my place and the fact that I'm not going the home theater, multi speaker route, if the difference would be "that" noticeable. Head to head, at any mid to high performance standard, there is no comparison. I get that. Just curious on opinions based on my use of the system.

 

[markw]

In a room that size, I'd be looking for a somewhat larger driver, at least the Philharmonic previously mentioned. Unless, of course, you want a strained sound when going for any bass authority. You can't cheat the laws of physics which dictates a larger driver moves more air with less effort.

Expecting those Audioengines to provide adequate sound in a room that size is like trying to heat it with a 4x4x6 ceramic heater.

 

[Swerd]

I have to agree with Mark. The Philharmonitor at $850 is probably the best among the 3 bookshelf speakers I mentioned.

I haven't heard the Audioengine 5+, but at $400/pair (including the built-in amp) it won't be close to any of the speakers I linked. The Audioengine may be good compared to other computer speakers, but its not in the same class as those others.

To answer your head-to-head sound quality question directly, I'd bet the mortgage that you would notice a large difference between the Audioengine 5+ and any of the others within seconds. And I'm not a gambling man. I can't say what you might prefer to buy, but I'm pretty certain you would hear a large difference in sound quality.

The amps in the powered speakers may not provide enough power to drive them to adequate listening levels when you are sitting farther away than at a computer desk. I found little useful information about them at the manufacturer's web site.

I'd also point out that a separate receiver like the Yamaha or HK will provide a remote control and much more flexible control over the sound. Using powered speakers without a receiver will require you to use the volume knob on the back. That may be OK while sitting at a computer, but over time in a larger room, you won't like that.

It's up to you how much money you want to spend, but if it were my choice, I'd spend most of my money on good speakers.

 

[highfigh]

I recently received a Project Carbon DC turntable as a gift from the wife. I'm looking for suggestions on a receiver, pre-amp (if needed), and speakers for vinyl and my new turntable. The only other equipment that will be connected to the receiver would be an ipod or cellphone (no dvd, cd, computer, etc). The room size is approximately 14' x 20'. I would like to keep the cost under $2k if possible but all suggestions are welcome. I'm thinking 2 way w/ sub based on the size and needs but again, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks so much for your help.

If you don't need surround or more than two speakers, I think the Parasound P5 is a very good preamp for the money. The phono section handles Moving Magnet and Moving Coil cartridges (it has two input impedance settings for MC) and the sound quality is excellent. I'm using a Parasound Halo A23 power amp, FWIW. A less expensive amplifier would work well, if the speakers are better than average (the speakers really make a difference).

The combination retails for a little over $2000.

The P5 has an input for small devices like cell phones and iPods, but it's better to bypass the DAC in the phone, for the sake of sound quality. If your phones are Apple AND you have iPods, I would recommend using an APpleTV, so you can stream via AirPlay and use the optical output to feed the P5's optical input. The DAC in the P5 is very good.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

You don't mention the need for AM/FM, so I am surprised to hear recommendations for a receiver.

I would echo the recommendation to check out the Parasound Halo P5 preamp (phone MM + MC inputs, plus other analog inputs, plus a 24/96 DAC) and suggest a pair of the higher powered Emotiva Monitors like the Airmotiv6 (2x 100wpc amplifiers built in to each enclosure).

The Airmotiv tweeters get rave reviews, and the 6.5" mid/low driver will deliver the goods.
Parasound P5 $MSRP 1095
Emotiva Airmotiv6 $MSRP 449 (sold each) or $900 per pair.

Parasound Halo P5 reviews:
http://hometheaterreview.com/parasound-halo-p-5-21-channel-preamplifier/
http://www.stereophile.com/content/parasound-halo-p-5-21-channel-da-preamplifier
Stereophile review of Airmotiv4's
http://www.stereophile.com/content/emotiva-audio-pro-airmotiv-4s-powered-loudspeaker
Audioholics review of Airmotiv5's
http://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/emotiva-pro-airmotiv-5

 

[CSG]

For a simple system (which is what *I* prefer), I would be looking at the PM series of Marantz integrated amps or the Yamaha integrateds. As far as speakers, you might look at NHT Classic 3's.

I have a system in my living room (about 14x18) that consists of a Marantz PM8004, their CD6004 CDP, and a pair of NHT SuperOne speakers. I don't have a turntable in that system and use it mostly streaming a few jazz stations and Pandora via an iPad Air through the headphone out to RCA ins on the amp. It's background music while we read the paper, have coffee, check our online stuff, etc. but I am quite pleased with the sounds and the little SuperOnes fill the room easily.

The Marantz integrated amps have a very good phono stage for MM. I have three turntables but have removed all but one as I've moved away from playing vinyl in favor of digital/streaming.

 

[Thomoz]

Onkyo WRAT receivers have current to spare and a really low noise floor.
The build quality is great - I have owned an Onkyo A/V receiver for 11 years - and buttons on the face are quite sturdy, no crackle in the pots after all this time.
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-8160-Network-Stereo-Receiver/dp/B012J1DKQS/

A Prima Luna (tube) setup would be more musical but it costs 5x as much.

As for speakers the ELAC Debut B-6 ($280/pr) will blow away most of the competition under $2000.
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/speaker-desiger-andrew-jones-does-it-again-time-elac

- - - -

This coming from a McIntosh/Magnepan guy. Anyone given a $300-400 turntable
when they did not previously own one is unlikely to want to spend $8000
on the gear he's going to hook it up to. For comparison, 2 of my phono cartridges
are worth $1000 each. I'm obviously nuts, right?

 

[3db]

For speakers, I would also look at PSB Imagine X2T and a pair of sealed subs from Rythmik (L12) or SVS (SB-1000).


Frequency response curve for the speakers below;

 

[Bjens]

Mmm. Those are nice. Bet it sounds great.

 

[3db]

Mmm. Those are nice. Bet it sounds great.

They do but our hearing is different so that would warrant an audition on your part