My first TT - please help

[osirees]

I am planning to jump on to Vinyl bandwagon and I read quite a few posts in the forum.
It was enlighting as well as confusing. After much thought I have narrowed down to 2 TT and weirdly both are not in the same budget range.

Either start with basic Denon 29F or spend some more and go with a Project Primary E.

One school of thought was start with basic so Denon 29 but then few of the veterans were saying if the TT is not good you won't enjoy the music so Project Primary E.

Let me know if there is a better one between these two.

Thanks

 

[arj]

Hi Osirees, The usual recommendation is to get the best source possible but this can be misleading/confusing as
when you talk of a vinyl source you must consider all 3
1. turntable with tonearm
2. Cartridge
3. Phonostage

Only with all 3 can you connect it to an amplifier and play it, since you are just entering this bandwagon, I would assume you do not the phono ? The advantage of the Denon is that it has all 3. you could also consider the marantz.

The Project Primary would be far better but you will need to factor in the price of the phono as well. At minimum the project Phono box would be around 10-15 L additional. If you can get a Schiit Mani , then thats the best bang for the buck you could plan for.

I assume you already have enough Vinyls ( they can end up costing more than your setup !. Do share the speakers/amplification you plan to use as well.

 

[Bloom@83]

I assume you already have enough Vinyls ( they can end up costing more than your setup !.

As all vinylheads can attest , vinyls end up costing much ,much more than the actual setup.

 

[Haribabu]

What's your budget ?
As suggested Arj you need to decide based on Phono preamp, Cart , Tonearm

if you're looking for entry level then you'll have to go for upgrade in one or two years.

Denon 29F/ Marantz TT5005/ Audio Technica AT-LP60 are more or less same level, sounds same quality and same cart used, They're basic models and good for short period only, there're no scope of upgradation except Cart.

There're few popular brands available in India from budget models to high end you may consider

1. Pro-Ject
2. Rega
3. Audio Technica

Most of higher end models don't come with Preamp , you need to buy separately, you can easily upgrade Cartridge of your choice, come with excellent Tonearm that you need to set parameters based on carts when changed.

 

[osirees]

Thank you everyone for your recommendations. I realized I should have specified my speaker setup as well.

I have Yamaha N303 amp which has a phono paired with Wharfedale 11.1 speakers.

I can stretch the budget to 25k or 30k if it really is worth it and would make a huge difference from the basic setup of 29F/TT5005

 

[newlash09]

As all vinylheads can attest , vinyls end up costing much ,much more than the actual setup.

I would fully agree

The records end up adding more than the rig. And I have been reliably told that the quality of the record is just as important as the quality of TT, tone arm, cart and phono stage. So it is a very deep and long rabbit hole in the end

 

[drkrack]

can stretch the budget to 25k or 30k if it really is worth it and would make a huge

Rega is one of the best for beginners as it doesn't need lots of experience to set it up and get it singing...
Consider Automatic TT if you need the extra convenience of stopping automatically. Buy Vintage TT only if the seller lives in your Colony . I doubt you'd get a good result to keep you invested in Vinyl magic if you get the entry level models from Either Denon or Marantz. Its better to invest in a Project or Rega TT.

If you are open to buying used there quite a few good TTs on HFV classifieds. This one has a very good phono built in for very attractive price.

Thread '[Final] : Rega RP1 plus turntable' https://www.hifivision.com/threads/final-rega-rp1-plus-turntable.81644/

 

[osirees]

Rega is one of the best for beginners as it doesn't need lots of experience to set it up and get it singing...
Consider Automatic TT if you need the extra convenience of stopping automatically. Buy Vintage TT only if the seller lives in your Colony . I doubt you'd get a good result to keep you invested in Vinyl magic if you get the entry level models from Either Denon or Marantz. Its better to invest in a Project or Rega TT.

If you are open to buying used there quite a few good TTs on HFV classifieds. This one has a very good phono built in for very attractive price.

Thread '[Final] : Rega RP1 plus turntable' https://www.hifivision.com/threads/final-rega-rp1-plus-turntable.81644/

Thank you @drkrack I'll look out for Rega or Project.
The project primary is available in revolverclub - https://www.therevolverclub.com/collections/turntables/products/primary-om5e
Rega is around 40k and is little out of my budget.

 

[arj]

Thank you everyone for your recommendations. I realized I should have specified my speaker setup as well.

I have Yamaha N303 amp which has a phono paired with Wharfedale 11.1 speakers.

I can stretch the budget to 25k or 30k if it really is worth it and would make a huge difference from the basic setup of 29F/TT5005

In that case any entry level TTs mentioned - Rega/Project will all be good. The Project comes with a very good Cartridge as well..just that very soon you will find the bottle-neck will be the built in Phono in your int amp

 

[osirees]

just that very soon you will find the bottle-neck will be the built in Phono in your int amp

Hi @arj ,what do you mean by this? The phono in the amp is not good and we need a dedicated phono amp?

 

[arj]

For now its perfectly fine !
All I meant is that the Phono wold be the bottleneck and in the future if you do want to improve the sound, thats the area you should look at rather than the cartridge or TT.

Try it out..if you like it then forget everything else and enjoy the music ! makes more sense to spend money on Music than on equipment anyway !

 

[osirees]

For now its perfectly fine !
All I meant is that the Phono wold be the bottleneck and in the future if you do want to improve the sound, thats the area you should look at rather than the cartridge or TT.

Try it out..if you like it then forget everything else and enjoy the music ! makes more sense to spend money on Music than on equipment anyway !

Thank you @arj

 

[osirees]

Hi @osirees...just my 2 cents...digital playback is cheap and sounds really good., especially if you subscribe to a high quality streaming service like tidal.. ..but to get vinyl to supersede digital audio involves a lot of money . I bet it sounds different. But if that's a itch you have to scratch, then of course go ahead.

Thank you @newlash09 I'll keep that in mind.

 

[arj]

If you already have Vinyls then even an entry level TT is well worth the price..especially for older music. Digital content for most music from the 80s or earlier is anyway compromised hence no matter how good a digital setup you have, the vinyl will be better

But for new music its a different matter..and buying Vinyls now is pretty expensive.

 

[fLUX]

Just curious to know what would be considered as a good phono, I have a behringer PP500 paired with the Project Debut Carbon and was wondering what a good pre would be to help elevate the experience.

 

[osirees]

To be honest @Bloom@83 , the day you start feeling guilty about how much you have spent, is the day you are going wrong with this chase

Are you feeling guilty

 

[Sushant Sharma]

..

For now its perfectly fine !
All I meant is that the Phono wold be the bottleneck and in the future if you do want to improve the sound, thats the area you should look at rather than the cartridge or TT.

Try it out..if you like it then forget everything else and enjoy the music ! makes more sense to spend money on Music than on equipment anyway !

"makes more sense to spend money on Music than on equipment anyway". Yes.

Personally, I can spend the money to buy records and not feel it being an extravagance. I should also add that I do not and cannot afford to buy first or audiophile pressings.

 

[rajnair74]

You can consider a new Pioneer PLX-500.

 

[arj]

I guess we are seriously going OT since the OP only wanted an entry level vinyl Rig hence moved some points to another more relevant thread

My first TT - please help

I am planning to jump on to Vinyl bandwagon and I read quite a few posts in the forum. It was enlighting as well as confusing. After much thought I have narrowed down to 2 TT and weirdly both are not in the same budget range. Either start with basic Denon 29F or spend some more and go with a...

www.hifivision.com

 

[A K Bhattacharjee]

I am planning to jump on to Vinyl bandwagon and I read quite a few posts in the forum.
It was enlighting as well as confusing. After much thought I have narrowed down to 2 TT and weirdly both are not in the same budget range.

Either start with basic Denon 29F or spend some more and go with a Project Primary E.

One school of thought was start with basic so Denon 29 but then few of the veterans were saying if the TT is not good you won't enjoy the music so Project Primary E.

Let me know if there is a better one between these two.

Thanks

Hi Osirees, I want to add one thing that first you decide whether you want to go with fully automatic tt or manual. For automatic tt you may also give a look to Denon 30 f. But if you go for manual tt you will have all the options for upgradation. Enjoy the vinyls.