2. analog
  3. 1145978446

please help with new purchase

My home is very modern...hard woods, Floor to ceiling glass windows(11 ft), and lots of natural stone. In short, very bright sound. I like great sound but i don't like stacks of equipment. As well I live in a resort town which is a 6 hour drive to the nearest hi end audio dealer so I don't have the luxury going back and forth from dealers trying out turntables. My budget is $2500. I have a McIntosh integrated amp with phono inputs. my question is.....should I just go out and by a Rega P3 for $600 and be done with it for a year or so to see if I really like the vinyl sound? Or have you found that really thats a waste of time and money because I will just want to upgrade to a better unit shortly after. In short, I am trying to get a sense of whether or not the addition of a tuntable can be a simple process.....or will I be creating a monster (wanting to start tweaking and buying complement products).
csmithbarc
joe_in_seattle
114 posts
 
I agree with the Rega as a good place to start. I auditioned the P3 and the P5 extensively before choosing the P5 with Rega Exact cart. and the upgraded PSU.....it would fall nicely within your price range. And, added benefit, you may not need to upgrade in a year or three.
jj2468
280 posts
 
No brainer. Get the scout and a good cartridge.
csmithbarc OP
29 posts
 
Can you please explain this "Also make sure the cartridge's output matches the Mac's phone stage gain".
maineiac
649 posts
 
It seems more logical to buy the best you can get for your entire budget because of the very low chance that you won't like vinyl. Also, if you didn't like it, you would be nagged by the possibility that you might have liked it had you got a better table to start. I just got back into it and LOVE it, both finding great LPs cheap and the quality of the sound.
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Csmithbarc,

Cartridges have varing levels of output, from low output MC's to high output MM's. If you use a high output MM cartridge just about any phono stage will have enuf gain, but many built in phono stages are not high gain and cannot drive low to medium low output cartridges. You need to make sure the amount of gain you have in your phono section is enuf for the amount of output from the cartridge.
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