Starter Turntable

Wow guys this is great. It seem like everyone who have vinyl are really passionate about it. Well I guess I should tell why I got interested. All the magazine and forum I read, everyone seem to say that the only way to listen to music is with vinyl. Yesterday I was at a used book store (Half Price Book) that also sells used music media (cds, vinyl, and tapes). In the music section a box sitting on the ground said “Mystery Box $10”, it was packed full of records. I almost brought it since I figure there might be something good in it. If not, I ‘m still not losing much and I can even sell it on Ebay. But I didn’t buy it since I got no room for it. However I did buy a box set of the Boston Pops for $1.00, which looks like new.

So that my story so now I am looking a TT. How about a Rega P3 with the RB300 as a starter table? I read many good things about it and it relatively cheap when buying used. Also pardon my ignorance but what does the “phono stage” do? I got an Audio Research LS-2B and I know it doesn’t have the phono. Does the phono amplify the signal from the pickup?

I greatly appreciate all the help here.

i'm going to chime in on the keep it simple side to start with. My analog system consists of a CJ walker table with a linn basic arm..can't even remember which linn cart. i'm using an old B&O reciever for phono pre and a tuner. i have an ACR CD-2 for digital source. Guess what? there are areas where my simple analog (like sence of realism and 3-d nature of the sound) walks all over the ARC and that is a highly rated $3k player. The ARC does better on the freqextensions but sounds pretty wall paper like in comparison with the vinyl. I'm not sure what a good analog rig sounds like but the cheapies are pretty good. not to mention all the like new records you can find for under $2

Not everyone. I have a rega planar 3 with a Linn K-9 cartridge. I have about 200 albums. That's really the only reason I have a turntable. Many date back to when I was a teenager.

My CD playback is a marantz CD67SE driving a Monarchy DIP jitter filter into a Monarchy 22A DAC. Quite expensive in its day the Monarchy DAC can be picked up for about $200 used now.

This plays through a Densen B-100 amp ($1300) into Green Mountain Audio Europa speakers ($900). It's a very revealing amp-speaker combo.

Overall I would say that the sound quality from the turntable and CD is about equal, and more dependant on the quality of the recording, than on the medium. Some CDs sound stunning, others not so good. Same for the turntable. I could not make the statement that the turntable sounds better, because to my ears it doesn't. It looks better, and there's much nostalgia in some of my LPs, but on sound quality alone I would stick with CDs and buy a better CD player. That is, if I didn't have such a large collection of LPs.

That said a used Rega planar 3 could be bought and subsequently sold for little loss, if you find out it's not for you. A phono stage is essential as it not only boosts the signal, but corrects the frequency response. (LPs contain reduced bass and increased treble, following the RIAA curve ... to maximise the signal to noise ratio ... the phono stage cuts treble and boosts bass to restore the frequency response). Project, NAD and creek make phono stages ... the creek is probably the best, but also a little more costly. Budget for $150.

Rega cartridges are a piece of cake to fit to the rega arm, but unfortunately, not very good. Much better would be a denon dl-160 (if you like it exciting) or a benz micro (if you like it smooth), both at about $180.

"Overall I would say that the sound quality from the turntable and CD is about equal, and more dependant on the quality of the recording, than on the medium."

Sean Taylor is right on. Wake up & smell the roses. There's red roses, there's yellow roses. My Dan Wright modded belt drive transport is a killer unit--and so is my KAB modded direct drive TT.

All this hype about 'analog' sound is just that--hype.

To answer your question about phono circuits, since records are a physical/mechanical system, then the bass frequencies must be attenuated before cutting the master-discs to prevent too-large excursions (squiggels), making it impossible for a cartridge to track the resulting very large grooves. Similarly, the high frequencies are amplified before cutting. The phono stage must equalize the signal coming off your record player to create a flat frequency response. To achieve the 3-D effect which vinyl does so well and digital loses, one must have a system capable of reproducing this effect. Since you have a tubed preamp (I believe), I would suggest an Antique Sound Lab Mini Phono, which is a cheap ($250) and very good tubed phono stage with excellent imaging (as only natural in a tubed unit), excellent rhythm and very good detail/clarity. Make sure, if you buy this, to immediately install matched and improved tubes. I use Philips and they sond great and are not very expensive. The Rega P3 is an excellent beginner's 'table, as it is good quality and more importantly simple and easy to use. Good Luck.