Comments on: Help with a christmas present Turntable and speakers….? http://www.blueboyrecords.com/turntable-cartridges/help-with-a-christmas-present-turntable-and-speakers Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:02:45 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: shidhet http://www.blueboyrecords.com/turntable-cartridges/help-with-a-christmas-present-turntable-and-speakers/comment-page-1#comment-1774 shidhet Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:20:59 +0000 http://www.blueboyrecords.com/turntable-cartridges/help-with-a-christmas-present-turntable-and-speakers#comment-1774 I may not be that helpful because I'm in the USA and I'm not too sure what's available where you are or how the prices run. But, I'll try... That turntable probably isn't the best choice for just listening to music. It has that short, straight tonearm that's good for DJ tricks and "scratching" with a conical stylus. These arms have more tracking error and aren't as good for sound quality in the long run or for use with better stylus shapes often used for hi-fi listening. An S-shaped tonearm or a longer straight tonearm with an angled headshell would be better for hi-fi use. A similar table that has an S-shaped tonearm and is more popular with people who just want to listen to records is the Audio-Technica AT-PL120. Not sure if that's easy to find where you are or if the price is comparable to what you were looking at. This table has a built-in phono preamp in case you end up with a receiver having no special input marked "phono". Some have a phono input and some don't. Wouldn't matter with this table. This table also comes with a cartridge having an elliptical stylus shape. This would give you better detail and tracking than the conical stylus on the other table you were looking at. Better frequency extension and cleaner sound. I've also seen tables from Numark that look very similar to what you were looking at, but with an S-shaped tonearm. As far as a receiver and speakers... I really don't know what's available in Europe. Sounds like you'd be interested in a basic stereo receiver instead of a home-theater receiver with more channels for surround sound with movies, etc... Speakers would less of an expense if you only needed 2... Several brands are still making 2-channel stereo receivers and the prices shouldn't be too high. You should be able to choose something... The Sony SS series of speakers aren't too bad on a budget and they're about as cheap as speakers get. The only major faults I find are that they won't play quite as loud as many speakers on the same power input (lowish efficiency). And the various models seem a little bass shy for their size due to very simple crossovers. For that reason, I think the dual-woofer floorstanding models sound the best if there's room and they're still not expensive. They have a reasonably revealing, yet smooth sound to them that is hard to believe for the price. I definitely prefer the larger models over any tiny speaker from a better brand name you might be able to find for the same price. I think the Sony speakers are a very good value. Wharfedale has also been known to offer some nice sounding speakers at low prices. These may be even less expensive or more available on your side of the pond....<br><b>References : </b><br> I may not be that helpful because I’m in the USA and I’m not too sure what’s available where you are or how the prices run. But, I’ll try…

That turntable probably isn’t the best choice for just listening to music. It has that short, straight tonearm that’s good for DJ tricks and "scratching" with a conical stylus. These arms have more tracking error and aren’t as good for sound quality in the long run or for use with better stylus shapes often used for hi-fi listening. An S-shaped tonearm or a longer straight tonearm with an angled headshell would be better for hi-fi use.

A similar table that has an S-shaped tonearm and is more popular with people who just want to listen to records is the Audio-Technica AT-PL120. Not sure if that’s easy to find where you are or if the price is comparable to what you were looking at. This table has a built-in phono preamp in case you end up with a receiver having no special input marked "phono". Some have a phono input and some don’t. Wouldn’t matter with this table. This table also comes with a cartridge having an elliptical stylus shape. This would give you better detail and tracking than the conical stylus on the other table you were looking at. Better frequency extension and cleaner sound. I’ve also seen tables from Numark that look very similar to what you were looking at, but with an S-shaped tonearm.

As far as a receiver and speakers… I really don’t know what’s available in Europe. Sounds like you’d be interested in a basic stereo receiver instead of a home-theater receiver with more channels for surround sound with movies, etc… Speakers would less of an expense if you only needed 2… Several brands are still making 2-channel stereo receivers and the prices shouldn’t be too high. You should be able to choose something…

The Sony SS series of speakers aren’t too bad on a budget and they’re about as cheap as speakers get. The only major faults I find are that they won’t play quite as loud as many speakers on the same power input (lowish efficiency). And the various models seem a little bass shy for their size due to very simple crossovers. For that reason, I think the dual-woofer floorstanding models sound the best if there’s room and they’re still not expensive. They have a reasonably revealing, yet smooth sound to them that is hard to believe for the price. I definitely prefer the larger models over any tiny speaker from a better brand name you might be able to find for the same price. I think the Sony speakers are a very good value. Wharfedale has also been known to offer some nice sounding speakers at low prices. These may be even less expensive or more available on your side of the pond….
References :

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