I would look at speakers. First, of course, these will affect all output. Particularly if you go used you can be in the $5K new range… likely to be a very substantial upgrade. And finally, since digital can sound as good as analog in roughly the same price range these days, while giving access to nearly infinite music… this gives you more time to ponder this before the next time the bug bites.
Speakers or Turntable upgrade
I've been bitten by the upgrade bug. It's amazing how a small initial thought can snowball. I found a Clearaudio MM cartridge I forgot I had. It's been sitting in a drawer for 10 years due to upgrading the cartridge out of the box on my Clearaudio Concept TT. My thought was to get a cheap TT to mount the cartridge for my office system.
That turned into finding a good deal on a Rega Planar 2 with an ND cartridge. My other Turntable is a Rega Planar 3 with 2M Bronze. The Planar 2 got sold which led me to a Planar 3 with an Exact 2, but I didn't want the same TT. That led to looking at the Planar 6 and 8. I came to the conclusion that the 6 wouldn't be a big enough jump so I'm looking at a Planar 8 with ND7. Planar 8 would be my main rig and the Planar 3 would go to the office system.
I'm now looking at $3500 and started thinking if my money would be served better by upgrading my speakers instead. Sorry for the meandering post.
My system:
Rega Planar 3, Rotel RC 150, Rotel RB-1080, HTPC with DAC.
Speakers: Paradigm Studio 100 v2. and SVS SB3000 subwoofer
I listen to classic rock, new rock, 80's rock, and metal. I listen at fairly robust volumes.
Am I better off sticking that money into speakers than upgrading my TT?
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- 35 posts total
@mustangjeff if you really want to blow yourself away, you get a second matching subwoofer and a MiniDSP SHD to replace your preamp. It will provide first class bass management for your subwoofers and will raise your entire system to a whole new level. Your current table will do for the time being, but you will need to upgrade it in the future or you won't use it. The SHD has a Volumio chip in it and will stream Qobuz in high resolution. That and your current digital sources will seriously outperform your current table. You will have to get a P10 and a Lyra Delos to keep up. |
what happened to the Clearaudio Concept TT? i'd keep that for now if its still in the house. IMO your speakers are the week piont in your system. So before you spend thousands on a new table i'd look closely at the speakers. Maybe take a trip to a local dealer to have a listen to some newer models to see if they are giving more then the 100's are currently. |
- 35 posts total