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Finally stepping into the hobby after 30 years of watching from the sidelines

Ok, so I hope you are all ok with a longwinded post from a first time user of the forum.  I have been obsessed with vinyl and tubes since my dad played records for me as a 5 year old.  My wife and I are finally in a place that we can take the leap into the scene.  We want to grow our system over time and may even create 2-3 systems along the way as we have a bed and breakfast where we want to make analog part of the theme. 

We have made up our mind that our first speakers will be Vandersteen 2CE sigs.  That is about as far as we have gotten.  We definitely want to power them with tubes and have very little idea of where to start.  Obviously the mainstream option would be a Mcintosh mc275 and our local HiFi salesman would LOVE to sell us a pair of those.  However, we know that there are several cheeper/better options out there and would love some input from the board.  We'd like to keep the first amp under $3,000, but we aren't locked into that.  Keep in mind that we are ok starting with a single amp and then adding a second one along the way to mono them.  Also, we would love some help with a table/arm/cartridge!  One with an integrated phono stage is fine to start with and we would again be open to upgrading and adding a stand alone phono stage later on.  

We will be doing some electrical work soon to run a 40 amp fuse to the BnBs espresso machine and would be open to setting up a dedicated line for our main system at that time so that we can have clean power.  Has any one had any experience with this?  Any ideas or recommendations that you may have would be a big help here! 

Thank you all in advance, and we are really excited to finally be part of the scene! 
cottguy
raymonda
847 posts
 
A pair of JM Labs Mini Utopia's just popped up for sale here. The appear to be in very good shape, sound fantastic and are tube friendly.

I run a pair of Micro's on 60 watts of triode. They barely need subs. However, I do run subs with them. 

Couple these with a nice integrated tube amp and you're on your way to audio heaven. Seriously!


raymonda
847 posts
 
He also has a VPI Classic for a nice price, too. Here is a great opportunity to take care of two of your components for really low dollars. Do the math and you'll see the fantastic deal you would be getting on two great pieces. 

I have a feeling this is a buy now or cry later situation.
cottguy's avatar
cottguy OP
44 posts
 
The JM labs are out of our range.  But the VPI Classic is in our sweet spot for the table.  If we go smaller on the speakers, we would invest more in the table.  We want the table we buy to stay in the main system for a couple years.  You have us talking about it...
raymonda
847 posts
 
It come with cartridge too. Sweet deal. I don't think you would be unhappy.
inna
5,245 posts
 
Cottguy,
You mean Interspace deck/arm of course not AceSpace deck/arm which is an equivalent of what I have only better. AceSpace deck/arm is about $4.5k new, I think, and Interspace with arm is $2.5k new.
Would it be enough for you? Would, say, used VPI Classic with arm be a better choice than new Nottingham Interspace ? The answer to the first question depends on how high your expectations are and will also depend on the rest of your equipment including cartridge and phono stage. I heard it once not in my system, I liked the table but not the rest of the system, as I remember, but still I wanted to go one step up, that's Spacedeck or AceSpace as it is now. To answer the second question I would need them side by side with the same MM cartridge and phono. My wild guess is that Nottingham would win in engagement musicality look and feel, and VPI in resolution. I like equipment that has character, that gets you involved. Nottingham does this for me, so does my Redgum solid state integrated. I can sacrifice some resolution and precision, and I don't chase ultimate bass.
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