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Ben239

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My system is pretty modest. I have a marantz 2270, technics SL2000 with nagaoka mp110 cart, and infinity 4000 speakers. Black Friday and Christmas is coming up and I want to either upgrade my TT or speakers. I’ve been leaning towards a technics 1500, but I don’t know how much I’d gain from the sl2000. My budget is $1,500 for either a TT or new speakers. Which would I get the most improvement from upgrading and what fits in my budget?

thanks
 
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The 2270 is no slouch. The Texhnics 15000 looks like a nice deck. If you like the Nagaoka, you can spring for a MP-200, or MP-500 cartridge. The MP-200 stylus will work with the MP-110 also. I like the Nagaoka cartridges myself. I have a MP-110 mounted on one of my turntables at the moment. Speakers are a huge part of any system.
I'm not one that likes to plunk down big money on speakers without listening to them first though.
 
SL-1200 is an excellent deck. And from what I've heard from others, those speakers are very solid. I would be apt to put the money towards a nice external phono stage and a new cartridge, possibly even moving coil. You would definitely experience something different sounding...and I think for the better.
 
Hoytis said:
SL-1200 is an excellent deck. And from what I've heard from others, those speakers are very solid. I would be apt to put the money towards a nice external phono stage and a new cartridge, possibly even moving coil. You would definitely experience something different sounding...and I think for the better.
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I didn't even consider a phono stage. I really like the speakers, but admittedly I'm a simpleton and couldn't tell you a difference in $2k speakers from $20k. I do know what I like to look at and I'm not sure the JBL 590's will look right in my room. I've had my heart set on some vintage Heresy because I love the look and most everyone seems to love their sound.

I'm going to do some research on phono stages now. Thank you!
 
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Ben239 said:
I didn't even consider a phono stage. I really like the speakers, but admittedly I'm a simpleton and couldn't tell you a difference in $2k speakers from $20k. I do know what I like to look at and I'm not sure the JBL 590's will look right in my room. I've had my heart set on some vintage Heresy because I love the look and most everyone seems to love their sound.

I'm going to do some research on phono stages now. Thank you!
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Heresy's have beautiful mids and highs, but be aware they sound a bit thin on the very bottom end to some folks.
 
Hoytis said:
Heresy's have beautiful mids and highs, but be aware they sound a bit thin on the very bottom end to some folks.
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The Heresy IV's have corrected this to most people's liking. I was working in the house recently and fired up the rear channels part of the stereo and set it to playing while I worked in the kitchen. I played it probably 90 dB and threw in some tone control off the Marantz tone board and found perfectly acceptable bass off the FM rock station. That's Marantz separates circa 78 to 9 month old Heresy IVs.

The Cornwall IIIs on the front channels have better bass, but I think the fourth gen Heresies now have enough bass to be "what one would expect" from a speaker that size.
 
Kodaline said:
The Heresy IV's have corrected this to most people's liking. I was working in the house recently and fired up the rear channels part of the stereo and set it to playing while I worked in the kitchen. I played it probably 90 dB and threw in some tone control off the Marantz tone board and found perfectly acceptable bass off the FM rock station. That's Marantz separates circa 78 to 9 month old Heresy IVs.

The Cornwall IIIs on the front channels have better bass, but I think the fourth gen Heresies now have enough bass to be "what one would expect" from a speaker that size.
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That is great news. Glad they figured it out, as I know people were trying different hacks to supplement.
 
I'd upgrade the cart & try for better speakers.
There are plenty of solid speakers that fly under the radar & are great bargains used.
Patience is your ally here.
 
Hoytis said:
That is great news. Glad they figured it out, as I know people were trying different hacks to supplement.
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I should clarify, they have enough bass to satisfy ME, listening to rock, to a level that is 'enough.' It is not over-the-top bass, or even heavy bass. YMMV.
 
I have a 2270 as well and after a few upgrades settled on these Jamo c103 speakers, which were for a while easy to find for cheap as I got the more expensive walnut veneer version hardly used for just $350 and they retailed for something like $1800. My taste runs a bit to everything, but honestly they might not excel quite as much for rock as with stuff like jazz and other acoustic music, though I play all kinds of stuff though them and enjoy the sound. They have a really rounded, full sound, with excellent imaging, but aren't as lively as some. I do run my system with an SVS subwoofer, but even without, those speakers have a satisfying level of bass. I've heard that the phono stage is pretty good on those old Marantz receivers, though I feel like the sound did improve a bit with the phono preamps that I've had, first a Cambridge P651 and now a Schiit Magni mkIII (which is a very inexpensive upgrade).

As for the turntable, I was really satisfied with a Technics SL1300 table that I had for years, used with a cheaper (forgot the model Audio Technica cartridge that I upgraded with a better nude elliptical style stylus, which made a big difference in sound quality), that is until I got this old Yamaha PF800 table with a Denon DL110 cart. The Yamaha with that Denon cartridge, amped up with the Magni mkIII (a better match the the older Cambridge Audio premap that I had been using) really sounds incredible to me and though I was lucky enough to be given this stuff by a friend, it seems that these turntables are not that expensive. The one disadvantage that I can see with these things is that they are somewhat rare and apparently hard to find parts for (the tonearm is a unique kind of one-off design, I believe), but they're known to be very well made so that if you are able to find one in good condition it's likely to be really solid. Finally, like your Technics table, it's an auto return style, which is something that is important to me and likely some other folks (I don't want to have to deal with pulling the tonearm off of the record each play). I believe that you can find one of these tables for less than $1k and though I'm no expert, it might be a better value than anything you can get new for that price...
 
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