Post your stereo system!

Gern Blansten said:

I need help....I am so far removed from what the best equipment is I'm clueless.

A few years ago I was motivated to get some new equipment.  I bought a really nice audio-technica turntable that I just unpacked yesterday.  

What would be a decent receiver and speaker set up?  

It would be nice to have a receiver that would let me hook up via bluetooth.  I don't need to blow out the windows but would like to get a decent pair of speakers.  

What's your budget?  It's all about that.  

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

I need help....I am so far removed from what the best equipment is I'm clueless.

A few years ago I was motivated to get some new equipment.  I bought a really nice audio-technica turntable that I just unpacked yesterday.  

What would be a decent receiver and speaker set up?  

It would be nice to have a receiver that would let me hook up via bluetooth.  I don't need to blow out the windows but would like to get a decent pair of speakers.  

What's your budget?  It's all about that.  

probably around $2000?  I was thinking around $500 for a receiver and wasn't sure what speakers cost anymore.

do you have to get a separate subwoofer or is that included in a good set of speakers?  I'm out of the loop.

That should give you plenty of options.  Here are a few more questions:
1. Do you need a phono preamp or do you have one already (or built into your TT)?
2. How big of a room (or how far will you be sitting)?  Book shelf speakers are built for near field listening.  You don't necessarily want towers if you're sitting close (or vice versa).

Regarding the other question, any decent set of speakers will not have a sub that comes with them.  But a nice set of towers won't need them, unless you need it for movies.  For bookshelves, that's preference.  I use a 10" sub with my Dynaudio bookshelves and I'm quite pleased with the fullness.  

That was FOUR years ago that I bought that turntable.  Christ I procrastinate

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

Thanks for your help....here is what it has in the back....switchable pre-amp?



The room is probably closer to 18x18

Presumably that means there is a built in phono amp that you can either use or bypass.  The USB is likely used to send an asynchronous signal to a computer so you can rip your vinyl.  So the phono switch gives you flexibility.  You can 1. use it 2. bypass it and buy a standalone phonoamp (the best but costliest option) or 3. Use a phono stage on the stereo/integrated you choose.  I doubt it's a great phono stage in there, so that's something to think through.  

Regarding the room size, you're right on the edge of a medium size room, calculating the ceilings at 9 feet.  So if you're going to be sitting on the other side of the room from teh speakers, towers are probably the best bet.  If you're sitting in the middle of the room, then I would go bookshelves.  If you're 2/3 away, probably large books or small towers.  This is probably the most important decision you make.  

Interesting...so if you bypass the phono amp and use a standalone, is the difference really noticeable?

I might measure that room tonight to get you better info.  You seem to know what you're talking about

I appreciate it!

cool....what phono amp would you recommend?

Gern Blansten said:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GA9COMM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

here is my turntable

I'm familiar with that one.  My wife actually bought it for me about ten years ago.  It's a solid entry TT.  With your budget for speaker and amp, you'll outgrow it in a few years. But if you're not sure how deep you're going into vinyl, that's a good start, lest you overspend on something that doesn't control your life like vinyl does for many of us. 

I will be straight honest with you and tell you that when I used that TT with that cart, I could not hear a difference between lossless digital and vinyl.  Now.. to be fair, I was also using a Pioneer Elite AVR which is not ideal for vinyl.  I also used the phono built into the TT.  I almost gave up on vinyl but ended up going to the Proj-ject Debut Carbon, upgrading teh platter and to an Ortofon Blue cart. Also using a dedicated 2 channel integrated made all the difference.  So if you're using a dedicated 2 channel amp with a discrete phono, it will sound better than what I did.  You have it, it's paid for, you might as well start with that and see how you like it.  But it will probably be the weak point in your chain.  

Today I'm using a VPI Scout Prime with a 2" platter and 10 inch tonearm.  It's a fairly high end table.  The cartridge is a Hana MC, and the phono is an Emotiva XPS-1.  I like my phono because you can control the resistance, which is important for a MC (moving coil) cart. 

Gern Blansten said:

It's amazing that there is such a difference among turntables.  

Law of diminishing returns, but definitely a difference. 

pjpjpaul said:

mrussel1 said:

I will be straight honest with you and tell you that when I used that TT with that cart, I could not hear a difference between lossless digital and vinyl.  Now.. to be fair, I was also using a Pioneer Elite AVR which is not ideal for vinyl.  I also used the phono built into the TT.  I almost gave up on vinyl but ended up going to the Proj-ject Debut Carbon, upgrading teh platter and to an Ortofon Blue cart. Also using a dedicated 2 channel integrated made all the difference.  So if you're using a dedicated 2 channel amp with a discrete phono, it will sound better than what I did.  You have it, it's paid for, you might as well start with that and see how you like it.  But it will probably be the weak point in your chain.  

Today I'm using a VPI Scout Prime with a 2" platter and 10 inch tonearm.  It's a fairly high end table.  The cartridge is a Hana MC, and the phono is an Emotiva XPS-1.  I like my phono because you can control the resistance, which is important for a MC (moving coil) cart. 

Nice. I have the AudioTechnica AT-LP5 turntable with a 2m blue. Thinking about upgrading the phono stage to a pro-ject tube box s2 in the not too distant future. 

I still have my 2M Blue and think it's a great cart.  Nicely balanced and definite upgrade from the red.  Well worth the money.  That's cool that you're going tube.  Is the rest of your chain solid state?  Supposedly tube front with solid amp is the best of both worlds.  I want to do a tube preamp at some point. 

Gern Blansten said:

Denon AVR-S540BT  

Any opinion on that receiver?  It looks like I could use the USB optical cable to connect the turntable to it

No, not likely.  That USB is designed to send a signal to a computer for vinyl ripping.  Your Denon can be connected by using the Line switch.  That will activate the internal phono amp in your TT and then you can connect to any aux/cd/whatever red-white analog input you have.  If your Denon has a Phono input, that means it has an internal phono stage.  In that case, you would switch to "phono" on the TT.  It will send the low signal, and then the phono stage on the Denon will amplify it.  

Edit - I just looked at your Denon unit.  There's no phono stage.  There are two sets of analog input.  So you would set the switch to "line" on the TT and plug into one of those two sets.