critique my setup -- weak link? best way to improve?


I just put together my first turntable setup after many years of listening to CDs only. It sounds pretty good -- good enough that I'm curious how to make it better. (: What weak link(s) do you see in this system? Where is the best bang for the buck?

Between the two of us we listen to a wide range of styles (symphony, choral, folk, indie, dark wave, metal). The one constraint is that the speakers can't be larger than about 20" tall and need to stand on a wooden sideboard/console type thing.

The setup:

Pro-ject T1 with built in phono stage

Luminous Axiom passive preamp

Rotel RB-1070 power amp

Blue Jeans interconnects

Klipsch KG2.2 speakers

Amazon Basics 12Ga speaker wire, Monoprice banana connectors

matthijs

@matthijs 

First of all as others have alluded, what is your budget either for total or how much potentially a year if you were looking to do it in steps.

If the latter is your route, as below its obviously going to be important for you to take steps that are immediately benefitting without the upgrade just being the limiting factor a few steps later.  I note in saying that you will have seen here you can 'always' find something extra to change. But what you want is to not feel the need to go around the loop again within what you were happy to spend overall.  If you find that hooks you into listening to more and more, then perhaps a second loop is worthwhile.  

Having got my system to a point where several of my personal TT System components were used at the UK HiFi show and there was little at the show to touch it. I have spent much of my 'available tinkering time' in the last year assisting friends and family to get a 'good proportion' of what mine can do for a cost effective price.  So I would give some suggestions for which parts to change based on that work that would fit in that budget, with "if you wanted to continue after, the next thing would be".

A question to start. Does the Project T have something like an Ortofon 2M Red or the "Project Pickit" cartridge / stylus? As that can have some influence on some early options.  If not which stylus is it. 

A separate phono preamp, definitely.  Schiit is a good recommendation for a budget price.  If the speakers *must* stay on the credenza, then get some desktop stands for them, they'll sound much better. IsoAcoustics are popular.  Otherwise separate stands will improve things a lot.  Between those two fairly inexpensive changes I think you'll get more enjoyment out of the current system.

If the speakers *must* stay on the credenza

I pretty much ignored this part. If you want good sound don't let the furniture determine it, proper stands and placement are literally the easiest and cheapest tweaks of the system and the best bang for the buck. 

If you are forced and willing to compromise with the placement, you are probably not crazy about achieving the best sound. And nothing wrong with that....

Based on your post focusing on your analog needs If you don’t already have the speakers isolated from your sideboard look at Isoacoustics mini pucks at a minimum. Also a standalone phono preamp from the likes of Schiit or others within your budget and an updated cartridge at least in the $200-300 range or more.

An upgraded Preamplifier more in line with your Poweramp would help your analog and digital quality.

Re Seeker, nearly all preamplifiers ever made operate in Class A, and many/ most modern tube Preamplifiers can drive a 10K ohm load easily (which is to say their output Z is 1K ohm or less). I agree those are parameters that need to be checked out before you buy a tube preamp to drive an SS amplifier. You want input Z to be 10X or more higher than output Z.