Mopar Muscle Association UK

I haven't had a record player for 23 yrs having given it away when my first born was a toddler and kept banging into it. I'm looking for turntable, amp and separate speakers (new i suppose). Not looking to spend a fortune. £6/7 hundred or less. Looking for some advice from you music gurus out there. Anyone any recommendations?

You need Jem on this,,

go on ebay -loads of nice Garrard decks on there- even some old Dynatron set ups with separate speakers(they usually have a Garrard deck)
Garrard SP25 MK4 or a 401 use to be a good deck - used to be able to buy em for a fiver-not anymore

Linn stuff is supposed to be the dogs wotsits isn't it?

A good Linn Sondeck turntable with a good cartridge will give exceptional sound if partnered with a good valve based amp.
You can get new ones, but i'd hunt around ebay for a B&O Beomaster series, they're bloody bulletproof and produce a lovely tone with vinyl.
Speakers are either a pair of vintage wharfedales, or get some nice Yamaha HS8 studio cabs.
Most importantly, ONLY buy 180 gram vinyl - the cheap mass produced stuff damages so easily and really doesn't sound nearly as good.
I come from a long line of family audiophiles, as well as radio and club Dj's ...... perfect vinyl sound is very important to me !

You're not going to be in the market for a Linn Sondek on your budget. They cost an arm and leg and are often sold without tonearm and cartridge to maximise resale value. Ask me how I know! If you just want a good quality proper hi-fi turntable at a sensible price then look at Project turntables. With your £600 - 700 budget I would probably spend half on a Project Debut carbon DC with the other half spent on your choice of amp and speakers depending on room size. Try richer sounds or Sevenoaks for plenty of choice with the facilities to listen before you buy. Happy hunting.

:cheers

Jem is your man for vintage hiFi, thought he'd be all over this...

Sorted. Went to richer sounds who relieved me of a grand. Guess the supercharger will have to wait.

So what did you buy then?

Got the project turntable and Q acoustic speakers and an amp and some other things. Collecting it today. Time to annoy the neighbours!

bought my mate a Project for his wedding present 15 years ago, He purchased the best man suit i purchased a record player.....

simple in the extreme but still going strong......main plus is nothing to go wrong and decent decent sound, and they fit in with what the rest of the family see as appropriate for any room.
improved with better stylus even if you keep the ortofon OM cartridge.

i prefer 1960s heavyweights so i stick with a garrard 401 but have in the past had a lenco 78 and a Thorens TD-150 and 165

all ebay fodder, the 401s go for big money, these days and the 301 even more
(TrevD was selling a NOS 401 a while back)
but you can get a lenco or a Thorens for £150-£200 nice decks former idler drive the latter a big twangy belt

none of them are small or wife friendly hnec all my kit is banished to the office

i'm currently restoring one of these

nice to look at but only useful for mono 50s and 60s vinyl or dub reggae really. the arm is too heavy for much else. it ploughs records rather than playing them




Dave

Dumped a lab series Garrard not long back!