£100 to spend

I was thinking of dipping my toe into the wide world of vinyl.
I have absolutely no records at all, but have seen enough second hand boxes full for ridiculous low prices in my local "cash convertor" type shops that I could probably build up quite a collection.
Musical tastes: eclectic, modern rock/pop/r'n'b/classical etc etc.

However....I'm being a tight arse and am therefore going to go down the second hand route.

Can I do this for only £100 (if budget=£200, i'd be tempted by the project debut 3 tt with debut phono stage for a total of £175, but as I said, i'm being tight , and surely I could get the project stuff second hand for £100?)

I don't really know much about vinyl replay and my amp has no phono stage, so I was planning on the price including the following:

Deck
Arm
Cartridge (?MC better than MM?????)
Phono stage able to take MC and MM

I don't mind sticking 'em together with £10 cables over and above the £100 budget.

Cheers for any help

 

I know sod all about vinyl too. I seem to recall project used to make a very cheap & ok deck a few years ago.

 

buy a used rega 3. they are awesome and indestructable.and can rival most cd players.or second to that a rega 2.
but i think you'll have to stretch to £150 for the cartridge and phono stage.
i think you'll be converted once you've experienced vinyl. so warm and cozy sounding compaired to cd.

 

the phono stage is the sticking point. Its hard to get a decent one for sub £50, even second hand.

There are loads of decent decks you can get for about £100, like a Thorens for example, or a rega. It will probably come with a cartridge attached (if you're lucky).

I'd stretch to a graham slee phono for about £85 if I were you. My logic is, if you are dissapointed with the sound quality, will you actually be motivated to buy and play records?

Graham Slee - new for £85 - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Graham-Slee-G...oryZ3283QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

My family used to own a Thorens, and it was very capable - it sounded great. Trouble is, I dont know which Thorens are good, and which bad. Here are some that look good value on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thorens-TD166...5806731373QQcategoryZ3283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/THORENS-TD150-MKII_W0QQitemZ5807159555QQcategoryZ3283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem ( I think this is the one we used to have!!)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Thorens-TD-16...5808245007QQcategoryZ3283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A rega
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REGA-PLANAR-2...5807152880QQcategoryZ3283QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Personally, I'd rather have a Thorens with a Graham Slee phono stage than a rega with some £20 phono stage - I say this because the rega's will cost you a bit more.

Cheers
Chris

 

Utter BS, it seems Mr Aliarse has not heard any CD players.

 

Have you heard a planar 2/3??? nothing warm and cosy about them... Neither is there anything warm and cosy about michell turntables... i think this is a bad generalisation on "some" suspended decks that they can sound warm.

vinyl is just smoother, better paced and generally more musical than CD.. but arguments of warm/bright are a component to component case... with some CD players sounding completely lush even by vinyl standards (meridian 200/203 anyone)

my rega on the other hand is fast open dynamic and clean id definately never call it warm.

 

PIoneer PL12D from Ebay, second hand Project Phono box, If you're lucky the PL12D will have a cart that will do the job on. This is a fantastic budget deck, as good as the Pro-ject Debut, but best of all they're cheap as chips!

 

You could also take a look at the NAD PP2,which for the price is almost unbeatable....about £50 new.

The point made by several people above is very true,however,in that really decent cheap phono stages are hard to come by,as I recently found out.
The Project range are good in terms of value for money throughout the range,and can be found at decent prices used.
The MF offerings can also be picked up at good rpices,but perhaps a little more than you may wish to spend.

 

Look for the Rega killer ......on ebay.....I mean the Thorens 160super or bc at a pinch. Some of the latter models are less good and used leaf springs rather than the coils that are best.

I put my modded 160 up against a number of rega's which all without exception crashed and burned. But that was before the rb300 arm was used.

My thorens 160 had a Helius standard arm, perspex arm board and dynevector ruby, a supremely musical combination.

 

The PP2 is a good shout. The MF usually goes for about £80-£100. The PP2 and the Phono-box are about £30 second hand. That leaves you about £40 for the TT, prime PL12D territory, and £30 for a cheap cart probably an Audio-Techna. If the deck came with the ubiquitous Shure 75-ED I'd buy a new stylus for that.
This is a good deck, it was my first proper one and a great stepping stone from where I started. In fact with a Creek 4040 and some Rega Kytes it made such a lovely little noise I sometimes wish I'd never started the upgrade treadmill!

 

So is mine! Penance - AFAIK it pisses on most CDPs I've heard for musicality, if not "hifi". All IMHO of course...

I don't think Gaffer74'll get a Rega 2, let alone a 3, for £100 these days, thanks to Epay...

 

Not heard many then?

 

I've been toying with the idea of a cheap TT as well, and like Gaffer currently own no vinyl so it would mostly be for playing charity shop offerings. The query I have is what would be needed to clean these to a playable state and what would it cost?

 

I think lord Summit's got a point. I've experienced the entry Project and consider it to be a flimsy pile of cack. I reckon he's right - a looked after PL12D or Sansui 222 would probably see it off.

bob

 

£45.00 ish for a knosti (http://www.hificables.co.uk/brandlist/mcs/brand/Knosti/) and a tenner for a decent record cleaning brush

 

Also if buying 2nd hand I recommend an Onzow Zerodust. These are £30 but very good at cleaning the stylus without having to use a brush or fluid - you will be amazed at the amount of cack that comes of the stylus with these after playing 'dirty' records.

If you buy 2nd hand records it is always useful to keep the stylus clean as this will give it a longer life.

 

i reckon

ar eb 101 mk2 approx £40
denon dl110 cart approx £70
cambridge audio phono stage £40
i doubt you'd get anything else near it for the money.

 

I'd recommend breaking the budget and buying my STD

 

I wouldn't want your STD for all the tea in China mate. What are you doing bragging about things like that on the forum. Have you tried the clinic?

 

Yeh but at least penicilin clears it up, unlike Naim ownership which appears to be terminal.