Audiophile novice needs advice

[Julier]

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'm Julian a 20 year old student from northern Italy and about half year ago I got into vinyl.
I bought second hand a Pro-Ject Essential turntable and spent quiet a sum on a dozen records.
Unfortunately I can't afford vinyl at the very moment. It's more a gimmick. It's very nice to have a few records and digging through them, but I cannot afford it to go all analogue.
At the moment my system is the following:
Stereo System: Audio Analogue Enigma: http://www.audioanalogue.com/en/enigma/enigma-rev20-multifunction-unit
Speakers: Piega Tmicro 3
Pre Amp: Pro-Ject Phono Box S
Turntable: Pro-Ject Essential

My system feels quiet unbalanced. The Audio Analogue is a good system. It's got a tube pre-amp and has a very nice sound, especially for voices. But it has no Phono Input, that's why I am using a pre amp. It's a cheap one. The Piega speakers deliver a very balanced, warm and natural sound. Paird with the Tmicro Subwoofer it would be a very good set-up, but only if I'd be into CDs or into digital music. (flac files).

On the other hand I own a old Pioneer AJ-7 Stereo System. (Amplifier, Casette Recorder, CD Tuner and stereo boxes)
http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/pioneer/a-j7.shtml
The Pioneer supports phono input, without the need of a pre amp but the stereo boxes are no good. They deliver a noisy sound. It's good for punk music, thought.
I'd like to stick to vinyl, but I thought to do sort of a crossover. I'd like to build a system that supports analoge such as digital. I don't think that both set ups will do it.
The Audio Analogue will be refurbished by the company, so I could sell it for good money, and invest into the Tmicro Subwoofer if I go all digital; or : http://www.piega.ch/en/products/tmicro/tmicro-sub or if I decide to keep the vinyl thing going, I'd keep the Enigma and get new speakers, a turntable and a good pre-amp or sell the whol system and build a new one. I'd think about investing 1000 to 15000 bucks or so.

I lay my eyes on the Yamaha AS-701 which supports phono such as digital inputs. Do you guys recommend it, or do you have other recommendations. And with what speakers and turntable should I pair it. In matters of speakers, I only have a small room and don't like huge speakers, so a balanced pair of stereo speakers would be nice.

Thank your for your advice.

 

[sqlsavior]

I don't want to discourage you from vinyl, but it definitely takes more money than digital to get similar sound quality, imo. Spending more to get a good vinyl front end makes more sense for someone who has a lot of records, but perhaps makes less sense for someone who doesn't. Both your turntable and your phono preamp are entry-level. The turntable will probably suffice for awhile. I'm not sure about the phono preamp, because I haven't heard it. The nature of any deficiencies are unlikely to give "unbalanced" sound, however. Lesser phono preamps sound veiled, or lifeless, or murky, but usually not unbalanced, which I'm assuming refers to tonality. I would think your Phono Box S would at least be tonally balanced.

That leaves the cartridge, which you haven't named. My guess is that it is a bottleneck. Which cartridge do you have? What don't you like about your vinyl sound? If digital sounds good for you, then everything downstream is OK, relatively speaking.

Welcome to AK!

 

[Mister Pig]

Would agree that vinyl can be expensive to do well. I would not call it gimmicky. but rather a niche product where quality components cost a decent penny to acquire. If you don't have a significant investment in vinyl, and have a limited budget, I would suggest leaving it alone. Digital is capable of excellent sound quality, is more affordable, and a bit more convenient to boot.

Regards
Mister Pig

 

[HTWillie]

You don't have to abandon vinyl. For me, records have value because they are physical media, which I own. They don't disappear when a hard drive dies or when Terms of Service for streaming or cloud services change. I can digitize them and make them portable, or put them on my own server to access from anywhere.

The fact that my playback hardware isn't spectacular is a secondary concern for now. I'll upgrade as priorities change and opportunities arise. Take your time to learn what you need and what works with what you have. The worst thing you can do in this hobby is to be in a hurry to be "done".

 

[jimf42]

I would focus your funds on speakers. They make the biggest sound difference despite electronics. Just make sure the speakers you buy (from listening before you buy) are compatible with your receiver or amplifier. I listen to vinyl and to CDs and audio DVDs.

Once you have chosen your speakers, keep in mind that the quality of the recording is more important than whether the media is vinyl or cd/dvd. All can sound very good...but I have poorly recorded vinyl and poorly recorded cds. I think that CDs are less forgiving of bad recordings then vinyl...but that is my opinion.

Keep in mind that used high end equipment is a great way to buy. Most of the equipment have few or no moving parts and last a long time..

 

[Hawkeye83]

Agreed with all. Get some speakers you love, then focus on the rest later. Speakers don't have to be your whole budget...some that you love may actually be quite affordable...but they will make the biggest difference in the sound, by far (IMO).

 

[jimf42]

Oh yes...don't worry about cables...just get decent quality, monoprice or similar...it is highly unlikely they will make any difference in your sound...

 

[Judas Priest]

Don´t limit yourself to vinyl. You don´t have to listen to vinyl to be an audiophile.

 

[Julier]

Thank you very much for all the different opinions. HTWillie I agree with you. Vinyl is wonderful in terms of owning music. And playing a vinyl record is like a mantra. Through vinyl I enter in a physical relationship with the music itself. It becomes a person. And there's nearly nothing so exciting and soothing as to dig through your record on a rainy and foggy afternoon.
My current cartridge is an Ortofon OMB 5e.
I would like to combine both worlds. Analoge and digital. I don't need to own all music what I am listening to on vinyl. But at least get the vinyls that I really love. And for the rest... time will come.
That leads me again to my set up. I have to change something. If I want to combine both worlds, I would like to own a stereo amplifier which features analoge such as digital inputs as well. The Enigma doesn't. It's a very nice and good sounding amplifier when it comes down to CDs. But I don't own a single cd. I own vinyl and flac files. Also the my parents vintage Pioneer A J7 is no good for it, because it features no digital inputs at all. It has got a nice sound for vinyl thought. I thought about doing the following: Getting the Marantz PM6006 or the Yamaha A-S701 as a solid stereo system. Both feature digital and analogue inputs and got good reviews and are in the 700 Dollar price class. The Marantz delivers a more musical, warmer sound while the Yamaha is more clinical. What would you consider? They are a few hundred bucks below the Audio Analogue Enigma price class, but I think that means not much. I would get a new turntable too. I thought about the Rega Rp1. With the rest of the money I'd like to get a few new records. It's nearly half a year that, I haven't got any new records.
And about the speakers. This week I will give the vintage Pioneer J-7 Speakers a good listen to. They are pretty solid, thought and deliver a nice rich and room-filling sound. I made pictures of the speakers. I think the Yamaha A-S701 would fit better with the speakers, because it delivers 100Watts per channel. The Marantz delivers 60Watts per channel. I know that more Watts doesn't mean better sound.
But I'm up to discuss it with you guys.
Or do you have other set up recommendations within this price class?

 

[HTWillie]

To to use both analog and digital sources, another option would be using a standalone DAC with multiple inputs. Then you have a much wider set of amplifiers/receivers to choose from, including the Pioneer AJ7 of your parents.

I don't have a DAC myself, but the ones I've looked at are the Schiit Bifrost and the Schiit Modi.