Thinking about getting into vinyl again...


After 25 years. Any suggestions (besides don't ; )?

Thanks to my Audio Note Dac, I have an Awesome Digital setup and am very pleased with the sound. However I do love vinyl setups when I hear them. Further, now that my system's just the way I want it, I have nothing to obsess about, research, tinker with...etc.

I have a Modified Musical Fidelity A5 integrated...to my, ears the best sound I've ever heard and I've tried many many pieces. (In fact, that may be why I've run into a wall, I'm done looking at amplification too). Hoping to avoid the whole phone stage thing... assuming the A5's is decent.

I want a decent vinyl setup -- but don't want to spend a fortune either. After exhaustive research I'm pretty set on trying a Rega P3 w the Elys2 cartridge (bit over a thousand new). Right or wrong, part of the reason I chose this is relative simplicity of setup and use. Although I'm open to messing with accessories and upgrades, I don't want to mess with spacers, complicated adjustments, changing arms, or hacking the table in any way.

Any thoughts about:

The move in general
Tips and tricks
Accessories: Cleaning Kits, scales, etc.
Upgrading that MM Cart (slightly, I don't want to spend more than a hundred or so more)
I thought a bit about getting a professionally restored Thorens?
Vendors (No real table dealers around me...looking at Music Direct...especially because of the easy return policy ....and they've been good in the past)

(Note: I will very likely stick to new on this as the idea of buying and shipping (again) a used turntable seems fraught with risk)

(One bonus question: When I switch my a5 to phono (nothing connected) i get some hum/noise...I'm assuming that's because nothing's connected to the the inputs or the ground?---Just hoping I don't go through all of this just to find out I have a bad phono section!)
ml8764ag
Why stop posting in this thread. I am loving the back and forth. Each of you have different views and are expressing them without personal attacks. That's what forums are all about, right?

As for the Rega, to me it's a great deal if you like their sound. It didnt' do it for me and I kept looking. I bought my first ever piece of equipment without listening...the Basis 1400 with Basis 300 arm, Basis weight and the Benz Glider cart with Heed phono stage Quasar preamp.

Johnny just came to install the TT, phono pre and Vandy Treo's. HOLY CRAP. What a sound. My digital is nice sounding and the Vandy's aren't even close to being broken in, but man do they sound great out of the box. Well the Basis is a demo (new old stock kind of deal I guess). I am so glad I got it. I am in love with the relaxed, but detailed presentation. Even this unit needs breaking in, but the mids are lush and relaxed. Very detailed and the bass is tuneful. I heard the differences in notes. The micro and macro dynamics are awesome. I can tell that once broken in, it will most probably blow me away a to how good this turntable set up will sound. It's already sooo much better than any digital I've ever heard and I've heard the 50k plus systems that are out there as I have been visiting every high end shop on the east coast during my travels as I knew I was getting a new system.

I will save up for the Vector arm. I spoke with AJ at Basis about upgrades for the table and he said that I can upgrade the bearing or a few other things, but nothing is worth it until I upgrade the arm to the Vector. That's what I'll save up for my next analog upgrade.

I was a smart shopper and I won't say what I paid for all of this, but I didn't go over my budget and all the other tables I was listening to (new and used) didn't sound this good to my ears. I would love to hear my set up vs the Linn that I heard in DC or the Ayre (DPS) Ortifon set up I also heard down there. Both were wayyyy above the 5k mark,not the 1500k mark, but I bet my systems is close enough for my ears. Just glad I found so many cool albums I never knew I had. Happy camper here.
Glad it worked out for you, Ct. A knowledgeable dealer, as they say, is beyond the price of rubies.
Terry, you are correct. I had been looking for used tables or demos. I love my dealer as he's walked me through everything. He just wants me to have the best system I can afford. More than a few times he talked me out of spending more on components. John just gets it. I have been to so many dealers in the last 8 months or so and I only trust a small handful. I won't go into the names, but either they seemed dishonest or clueless or both.

I spoke directly to AJ at Basis before I made the purchase and he said that John was a great guy to deal with (I already knew that though). He told me to stay away from used tables as they rarely are in good shape. he said they do their best to fix broken tables, but it's not always easy or sometimes they just can't. I've never wanted to buy a table or CD transport used as they are moving parts and you never know if they've been taken care of properly. Were they stored correctly or moved correctly. As for listening, it's the most important thing. Even though I never heard the Basis, I trusted Johnny because he knows my ear and he knows my system. It worked. If I didn't like the Basis, he would have taken it back and helped me find the right table. I will also have to say this Heed Quasar phono is as good as the EAR or any other phono I've heard recently. It's an absolute steal at the price and I don't even have the separate power supply for it yet. I don't even know anyone other than Audio Connections who sells the Heed product line(I'm sure there are a few though). It's very special for under 1k and it has MC and MM stages.
Ok so my last post was knee-jerk, I'll apologize for that. Rega's are good. I just don't see 3k in the RP8 vs the Classic 1. You're right, we can agree to disagree, with no hard feelings. It's all good. I guess this site isn't so bad after all. Lol
"Line" stage was a typo. Wow, this is getting too weird for me. Feel like I'm being stalked a little. I've decided I'm not OCD enough to belong on this forum.