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new to the vinyl world and I'm already lost

A

ayluros

New Member
Good evening/day lads and lassies,


I've recently purchased a Thorens td-160 (my first vinyl purchase) and now I've been looking for other stuff I need like speakers, receiver etc. I've been completely stuck for the past few days looking for a vintage receiver since that was recommended to me. I live in the Netherlands which makes it a bit more harder to find one that's vintage. I kind of have a tight budget right now which doesn't make things any easier but could always upgrade In future after saving up. I have quite a small room about 9m2 / 96,875 sq ft. So I wouldn't need something that's crazy loud or whatsoever since I have a small room and also kinda sensitive to loud sounds. Just need something to set up a mood and still enjoy it.


sorry for the long wall of text, I hope someone is able to help me out.
 
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From what I understand, you have a very nice turntable. Maybe try eBay Europe. Or try looking in Amsterdam or Rotterdam classified ads. I spent a couple years driving around the Netherlands. Nothing is very far away. Happy hunting.
 
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Jason Lafler said:
From what I understand, you have a very nice turntable. Maybe try eBay Europe. Or try looking in Amsterdam or Rotterdam classified ads. I spent a couple years driving around the Netherlands. Nothing is very far away. Happy hunting.
Click to expand...
Vintage isn't an absolute. There are low priced new 2 channel receivers out there come to think of it. Sony strd 190. Sony entry level receiver.It's rated at 100 watts, so watch the volume. Priced lower than most vintage sets. Has a dedicated phono input. I had one. Might be 150 to 160 euros. Not sure what current exchange rate is to the dollar. Reliable receiver. Just don't lose the remote. Most controls are on the remote. Also Bluetooth capable.Vintage is nice, but it can be a crapshoot. Could work for 5 years or 5 minutes, and get expensive to repair. At least an entry level new piece of gear will have a warranty.
 
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Vintage can be a factor especially in the midrange to upper-tier category. For some reason vinyl seems to to "take" better with those... but if you go that way stick to electronics. Today's good quality speakers are far better engineered and cost-effective than half a century ago. And they too love good ol' parallel-wired vintage gear but that one's a no-brainer, they have less of a payload with old amps that outputed roughly what written on the box, say continuous 80wx2 20Hz to 20Khz, compared with many today that boast "110wx2 at !1kHz!". Notice the absence of a spectrum output? That's because there are some people who can fart louder than that at said fixed frequency but like gaseous colons, output drops dramatically at 1.2kHz. Oh well, at least we don't have to deal with foul fumes so that's good.
 
As you shop, keep in mind that modern affordable receivers and integrated amps often do not have a phono stage or have a cheap phono stage. If you decide to buy a new (or fairly new) reasonably priced receiver or integrated you'll need to budget in for a decent phono stage. The vintage units tend to have very good phono stages, because vinyl was "the" main source back in that day. A well restored vintage unit is not cheap though, so??? I had a simple Kenwood KA-3500 in College and it was very musically satisfying, well built and had a nice sounding phono stage. Old units like that can sound good, but they can also be unreliable or may have been "rebuilt" by other than qualified individuals. Tough choices, but worth the effort and expense to find a good unit :-)
 
That Thorens is a really nice turntable and everybody has their favorite idea of what would their best combo. Buying vintage electronic gear is not something I would recommend for someone starting out. There is probably a good chance the unit may need work. At your stage a decent system and cost, covered by a warranty, would be my choice.
Suggestions:

Sony receiver with phono input
Yamaha AS303 integrated amp with phono input
Cambridge AXA35 integrated amp with phono input

I think the Sony has Bluetooth built-in
The integrated amps would need a Bluetooth adapter.
If you have good FM stations in reach a tuner would be needed for those amps.

About 60 years ago, when I was starting out, I started with just an amp and a turntable, later on I added a tuner.

Speakers:
There are many nice low cost speakers available, here are a few;

Cambridge SX50
Polk model 15
Dayton T625 Air mini tower
Dayton B625 Air bookshelf

Have fun!
 
Welcome to the AK Crew.

I detect a slight frantic mood
in your share...I could be wrong.

You've a solid base to build on
with your TT.:thumbsup:

Take your time! Look around.
Get the basics down...you will in time.
Consider your budget. You can
later upgrade.

Within months, you'll have a better
understanding. And...ask lots of
questions!


Q
 
First of all I want to apologise for not replying any sooner! I somehow didn't get any emails that people posted in my thread and I myself completely forgotten that I posted here...(I blame my amnesia for this.)
and secondly, I want to thank everyone for their time and recommendations! I ended up with a Scott 460 A, it's still in a good state and have tested everything out. Thankfully everything seems working I haven't come across any issues.

I went with Wharfedale diamond 220 speakers. I could always upgrade this later. for now this seems working for me.

Again, thank you all very much I really appreciate the help.
 
ayluros said:
First of all I want to apologise for not replying any sooner! I somehow didn't get any emails that people posted in my thread and I myself completely forgotten that I posted here...(I blame my amnesia for this.)
and secondly, I want to thank everyone for their time and recommendations! I ended up with a Scott 460 A, it's still in a good state and have tested everything out. Thankfully everything seems working I haven't come across any issues.

I went with Wharfedale diamond 220 speakers. I could always upgrade this later. for now this seems working for me.

Again, thank you all very much I really appreciate the help.
Click to expand...


Wharedales are great!:trebon: You will not regret this buy!

I speak from personal experience.


Q
 
ayluros said:
Good evening/day lads and lassies,


I've recently purchased a Thorens td-160 (my first vinyl purchase) and now I've been looking for other stuff I need like speakers, receiver etc. I've been completely stuck for the past few days looking for a vintage receiver since that was recommended to me. I live in the Netherlands which makes it a bit more harder to find one that's vintage. I kind of have a tight budget right now which doesn't make things any easier but could always upgrade In future after saving up. I have quite a small room about 9m2 / 96,875 sq ft. So I wouldn't need something that's crazy loud or whatsoever since I have a small room and also kinda sensitive to loud sounds. Just need something to set up a mood and still enjoy it.


sorry for the long wall of text, I hope someone is able to help me out.
Click to expand...
Enjoy the journey ! Lots of options that’s the fun it would be boaring if you fell into a perfect system right away! This is a great hobby and half the fun is getting there and laughing about some of the crap systems you had along the way!
 
Welkom to the wonderful money pit that is VinyLand!

Your Thorens is an excellent turntable. I imagine you might need a cartridge (or stylus at least); I like the Grado Green on the TD160, for a budget cartridge (but even the first generation tonearm, the TP16, can handle really good LOMC cartridges as well!).

To do it justice, here are a couple of suggestions:

The Chinese clone of the famous EAR 834 tube phono preamp is IMO the best bang for buck in budget hifi right now. They can be found on ebay and aliexpress.

For now, get whatever amplification and speakers you can. In my neck of the woods, there are lots of free or dirt cheap old speakers and A/V receivers that would be OK to get started. They won't do your front end justice, but they could be good enough for you to get a feel for your turntable. And then you can upgrade them over the next few years.
 
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