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$5,000 Vinyl system. How would you spend the money?

34dean

34dean

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I am looking to build a vinyl concentrated system and have a budget of $5000.
First off, from a macro standpoint, how would you divide that money into:

Power amp
Pre amp
Table (cartridge/tonearm included)
Speakers
Cables/Interconnects

Secondly, please share any suggested pieces of gear. Listening area is 14 X 12 so large speakers (Maggies etc.) won’t work.

Thanks all!
 
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Do you currently own a lot of records?
That would determine the spending balance for me.
 
A lot of it is going to be up to what kind of room you have (large/small), what you like to listen to and your particular taste...
 
Vintage or new?
Tube or SS?
Direct drive or belt/idler?
MM or MM/MI?
 
I would dedicate at least 1/2 of the investment in speakers. Doesn't matter how great every other piece of gear is the sound will only be as good as the speakers. Next on the list of importance is the amp, you can generally get a bigger bang for the buck with an integrated. Cables and interconnects all I can say for a system in this price range is Blue Jeans Cable. For TT look at the entry level tables from Pro Ject, Rega etc then if needed upgrade the stylus.
 
I did this same thing about a year ago, i went with a (new) Parasound Hint6 integrated, a 30yr old pair of MartinLogan Sequel2’s and my Denon dp59L. I added a BlueSound Node2 for streaming MQA tracks off of Tidal. Then i added an Oppo CD player for tracks not on Tidal.

i didnt go with a vintage Power/Pre for reliability reasons, but the Denon and Sequel2’s are old.

Regardless, good luck, i had a lot of fun searching around for gear, btw my part time install gig is a Parasound dealer thats where the Integrated came from :0)
 
DeadTrader said:
I would dedicate at least 1/2 of the investment in speakers. Doesn't matter how great every other piece of gear is the sound will only be as good as the speakers. Next on the list of importance is the amp, you can generally get a bigger bang for the buck with an integrated. Cables and interconnects all I can say for a system in this price range is Blue Jeans Cable. For TT look at the entry level tables from Pro Ject, Rega etc then if needed upgrade the stylus.
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Agreed speakers and amp take top billing many decent tables in the $300-500 range and those you probley want to upgrade the cartodge
 
speakers $2000
amp/pre $1500
TT $1000
cables/cart etc. $500

Speakers get the most because you probably won't want to upgrade for a while. Your listening area is smallish so you won't need honkin' large speakers. If you got the space go with towers. Klipsh, Martin Logan (a bit more$), or KLH comes to mind. All high sensitive so you won't need tons of power.
Amplifier and/or preamp is flexible, depends on what you find. Think about getting the best phono stage you can afford; it does make a big difference. I'd probably go $500 on the phono stage (Darlington Labs) and $1k on the amp.
Spending about $1k on a TT gets you in the game without thinking of upgrades. Yet. If you are dedicating to vinyl don't go with an entry table; you'll only upgrade sooner rather than later. I have a Rega P3 because of the tone arm, but I did look at vintage Thorens. Lots of nice stuff in the $1k range.
Cables and a good cart will be the rest of your budget. Cart I would look at least in the $200 range, anything less and you won't maximize your TT. Don't skimp on cables, you don't want to think about upgrading here until later. I had ICs from my old system and the rest I use Blue Jean ICs. Cart is Audio Technica VM750SH ($400) but I started with Ortofon 2M Blue.
Shop well and spend wise and you should have a killer system!
Good luck!
 
If it was me I would go for less boxes of higher quality. Quality amplification is a cornerstone, so I would select this B stock Parasound HINT 6 integrated amp at an attractive price.

https://www.safeandsoundhq.com/prod...FnDHAb9pFb6uAdA5fdYDRM-i_aaNL9pAaAr7GEALw_wcB

I would then go over to Underwood Hi Fi and pick one of their speaker specials. The GE Teddy speakers are budget friendly and look to be built in the British vein.

But if I had my choice I would get one of those LS20 speakers on their non trial special sale.

https://www.underwoodhifi.com/december-sale-95420207543

Then that leaves a turntable, and to be honest I probably be busting the $5K budget. But a Technics SL1200 MK 7 and a Audio Technica OC9 series moving coil would probably be what I would choose to get close to budget.
 
Thanks guys, you rock! On the amp side, I already have an Apt Holman completely recapped preamp as well as a completely recapped/ restored Mac 4100. Should I stick with one of those or should I look for something else?
 
34dean said:
Thanks guys, you rock! On the amp side, I already have an Apt Holman completely recapped preamp as well as a completely recapped/ restored Mac 4100. Should I stick with one of those or should I look for something else?
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An Apt Holman was my first decent preamp. My son still has it. If it’s been gone through, you should be fine for a while.

I’ll second the Sequel 2s as well as SL3s or ReQuests as sounding excellent, but be prepared for a bit of sticker shock if you have to replace the panels.

The amp you choose will follow your speaker choice, but the Mac should suffice for the time being unless you end up choosing something with really squirrelly impedance.

Have fun building your rig, and be patient in your equipment acquisitions. The journey is half the fun, but start by finding a set of speakers that can allow you to get lost in the music and build from there. Good luck.
:beerchug:
 
If you live in Canada $5000 is about 160 new records at $30 a pop. Maybe 200 or so if you're in the US. That doesn't seem like a very extensive music collection to me. Vinyl is a huge investment these days. Not the best use of audio funds unless you've got time and cash to spare.
If I didn't have a life times worth of records now, I don't think I'd enter this arena.
 
Rega Brio Integrated with phono - $1,000
Rega Planar 3 - $1,000
Audio Technica ATVM95ML - $150
Fyne Audio F500 speakers - $2,400
Monoprice Monolith stands - $200
Cables, turntable accessories- $250

I have heard this setup before, and the Rega amp really drove those Fyne speakers right.
 
kyle said:
If you live in Canada $5000 is about 160 new records at $30 a pop. Maybe 200 or so if you're in the US. That doesn't seem like a very extensive music collection to me. Vinyl is a huge investment these days. Not the best use of audio funds unless you've got time and cash to spare.
If I didn't have a life times worth of records now, I don't think I'd enter this arena.
Click to expand...

well he did state:" But album collecting is outside of this budget."
 
That's a tough one. There's some really awesome gear out there, but way more absolute junk.

I would spend $5000 this way:
$2000: Lyra Delos Cartridge (new)
$800: Technics SL-1200mk5 Turntable (used, avaialble on USaudiomart)
$350: Cambridge Audio Duo Alva Phono Stage (new)
$350: Topping PA5 Integrated Amplifier (new)
$1000: KEF LS50 Meta Speakers (used, with shipping, available on USaudiomart)
$500: ProJect VC-E Record cleaning machine
$5 RCA to TS adapters (qty 2) (#7176)
$8 2pr Monoprice RCA cables (3', #5346)
$30 Monoprice OFC speaker wire (12ga #2747)
$120 Monoprice Monolith 28" speaker stands (#31263)

Just a hair over, at $5163, but it's REALLY close, and having a record cleaning machine is a gargantuan leg up for used record collecting.

I have heard and cannot recommend current products from any of the following brands: ProJect turntables, Ortofon 2M cartridges, Ortofon SPU, Denon 103 and 103R, Rega, Shure, Grado, Nagaoka, Klipsch, JBL, Monitor Audio, Revel, B&W, Sumiko moving magnet cartridges, Linn, and I have my doubts about any modern tube devices, any speaker with a horn in it that I haven't heard, and anything touted to be "high efficiency" at any sane price point or sold widely to consumers. The KLH 5 "reissue" is also garbage.
 
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vinyldavid said:
That's a tough one. There's some really awesome gear out there, but way more absolute junk.

I would spend $5000 this way:
$2000: Lyra Delos Cartridge (new)
$800: Technics SL-1200mk5 Turntable (used, avaialble on USaudiomart)
$350: Cambridge Audio Duo Alva Phono Stage (new)
$350: Topping PA5 Integrated Amplifier (new)
$1000: KEF LS50 Meta Speakers (used, with shipping, available on USaudiomart)
$500: ProJect VC-E Record cleaning machine
$5 RCA to TS adapters (qty 2) (#7176)
$8 2pr Monoprice RCA cables (3', #5346)
$30 Monoprice OFC speaker wire (12ga #2747)
$120 Monoprice Monolith 28" speaker stands (#31263)

Just a hair over, at $5163, but it's REALLY close, and having a record cleaning machine is a gargantuan leg up for used record collecting.

I have heard and cannot recommend current products from any of the following brands: ProJect turntables, Ortofon 2M cartridges, Ortofon SPU, Denon 103 and 103R, Rega, Shure, Grado, Nagaoka, Klipsch, JBL, Monitor Audio, Revel, Sumiko moving magnet cartridges, Linn, and I have my doubts about any modern tube devices, any speaker with a horn in it that I haven't heard, and anything touted to be "high efficiency" at any sane price point or sold widely to consumers. The KLH 5 "reissue" is also garbage.
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Many fine products on your no go list. I’m surprised.
 
kyle said:
If you live in Canada $5000 is about 160 new records at $30 a pop. Maybe 200 or so if you're in the US. That doesn't seem like a very extensive music collection to me. Vinyl is a huge investment these days. Not the best use of audio funds unless you've got time and cash to spare.
If I didn't have a life times worth of records now, I don't think I'd enter this arena.
Click to expand...
Buy used... even as expensive as records have become, there's plenty of titles that I find that are in great condition and less than $20. if you're willing to spend some weekends record hunting (and for some of us, that's part of the fun) you can find garage sales and estate sales that have some great bargains. I've recently bought a handful of records at such sales and spent $10 all the way down to $2 for stuff that I was pretty happy to find. If you didn't need to spend all of that money in one shot and could wait around to find bargains and spend a little bit at a time, $5 could buy a lot...
 
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