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Purchasing first system (your opinions are valued)

Speakers are always the first choice. They should be half the value of the system. You have multiple sources, so distributing the rest of the money is going to be tight. I like the fact you are selecting efficient speakers. That means the amplifier can be smaller. Either the Marantz, Pioneer, or Sansui, would be at the top of my list. The Pioneer is on the weak side. I like Sansui sound quality, but would probably choose Marantz.
 
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If you have a pc you can record analog to digital. No other device needed. (tt and phone pre of course, although I am cetain one can do riaa in the digital domain as well.)
 
Welcome to AK

My suggestion is to be patient. Do plenty of research and listen to each device before making any investment. If you watch your local craigslsist you will come across a deal and probably come in well under budget. My system is not top of the line but here is what I have and cost I paid for you to compare.

Sansui G-7000 AMP $450.00
Technics SL-1300 Turntable $50.00 (Came with AT 20SLa cartridge)
Audio Control C-101 Equalizer $40.00
Advent Large Speakers $150.00
Infinity Monitor jr Speakers $180.00

Tuner suggestion:
If you have the opportunity listen to a Kenwood KR-7600 receiver. I think that receiver is under rated and can be picked up usually under $250.00.

Streaming suggestion:
I believe you mentioned the Bluetooth device for interface between a modern TT and a vintage amp. I purchased a TaoTronics Bluetooth receiver and a 3.5mm to RCA adapter for streaming music from my IPhone. $20.00 investment

I did recently listen to another persons system and he was using Chromecast for streaming. I really did not hear any advantage over the way my less expensive Taotronics sounded.

Your ears wont lie. No Matter how great of review someone gives on X device it comes down to you enjoying the sound.

Good luck,
James
 
You mention that you want good sound, don't want this to be an extended search of thrift shops and estate sales, have a $1000 budget, want to play analog, and like speakers with a fair amount of bass and slam. What is not mentioned is where you live and what used markets or dealers you have access to.

The one option is to go to a dealer with pre-owned audio equipment. You won't pay less money than a CL purchase, but you will get a piece that has been checked out and often has a bit of warranty. Many mid sized cities have stores that deal in only used audio, or retail stores that have a used audio room or shelf. This is just one option.

Choosing speakers unheard is a bit riskier way of doing things, but it can be done. I lived in a small Eastern Washington city for 20+ years, and bought all of my audio gear over the Internet unheard. I did pretty well and put together some good systems. However, its not an option for everyone. But the speakers will define how the system sound, so getting a chance to listen to them is a good course of action, and you might be able to pick up a good pair locally. For the type of sound you describe, I would be looking at various Klipsch, JBL, perhaps Cerwin Vega, certain Infinity, perhaps floorstanding Mission, Paradigm, Sound Dynamics, and several others to choose from. If you can find your speakers locally off the used market, that would be the best option. But sometimes some very good speakers like the JBL S series come up for sale as refurbished from dealers on Ebay or other sites that have closeouts, and shipping is free. That makes them an awesome value. But the downside is that you are buying unheard, so you have to do your research carefully and be willing to take a bit of risk.

For amplification, don't forget a quality integrated amp if you are not a user of AM/FM. You will get a better amplifier for your money with a quality integrated versus a receiver. Integrated amplifiers are kind of shunned by the serious American audiophile, so they don't command as high a price on the secondary market as separate amplifiers and pre amps. There is a lot of good value going this way.

If you can find a quality used turntable from the 80's or 90's, I think there is a lot more value there than the current entry level offerings being produced today. The trick is to find one that is well cared for, and the seller knows how to pack if its being shipped. The Technics SL 1200 is a good example of one that can be modestly priced, rugged and dependable, and offer respectable sound. With a bit of shopping you should be able to find a well care for example under $400.
 
If you are going vintage for receivers the first thing to look at condition. Most name brand receivers from the 70s and very early 80s will sound pretty good actually so the brand is not nearly as important as the condition IMO. That being said I would stay with the biggest sellers from the time because parts are easier to get if it does need work. Those brands would be Marantz, Kenwood, Sansui, Sony, Pioneer, early 70s Fisher, Realistic (up to about 1981 or so) early 70s HH Scott and Onkyo. Depending on the country you live in, that list may change a bit. Right now I own receivers from Kenwood, Sony, Pioneer, Marantz, Realistic and MCS rated from 20 to 75 watts and I like them all.

As for wattage, depending on the sensitivity of your speakers (the higher the sensitivity rating the easier the speakers are to drive) 30 watts will make drive most any speaker to very loud levels. I have a 20 watt Marantz with a set of sensitive (95db) vintage Marantz Imperial 6s that the bass will make the fillings in your teeth rattle at only moderately loud levels but that is rather the exception. One of my bedroom systems has a Realistic STA 95 driving vintage Nova 6 speakers that will get as loud and have really good bass but those Novas need the 45 watts to do it that the Realistic receiver has. The biggest selling models from the 70s were the mid line models with wattage between 25- 55 watts and those are the best buys now because there are a lot of them out there. The higher the wattage wattage the higher the price you will see. Now some brands do command higher prices of course, Marantz especially and Sansui and Pioneer to a lesser extent.

Different brands have different things they were famous for but for the most part all of the big brands were pretty good at producing high quality sound. For somebody just starting out with a vintage receiver I think that going with something around 30 watts in good condition for under $300 would be the way to go. There are tons of them in good condition out there in that price range.

Speakers are the component in your system that is most important regarding how the system sounds. I have both vintage and modern speakers and like them for different reasons. For a newbie in this hobby I lean in the direction of going with newer speakers for the reason that they will most likely be in a lot better shape. Also one can get just incredible deals on speakers that are 10 years old or less that are truly great units. When you get a better handle on the sound you like then you can always go for the classic speakers at a later date.

As for turntables, the advice you are getting above is pretty good. I am not a big vinyl guy but I do have a Marantz 6100 that I like but gets little use and Marantz TTs are on the high side of prices and brands like Technics and Pioneer are most likely better buys. Used DVD players make awesome CD players and are dirt cheap everywhere for even top of the line units and I would go for one of those.

Good luck!
 
There is a Technics SL-DD22 turntable for sale locally. Seller says it has a brand new Audio Technica AT3482P cartridge. He wants $60 for it. What do you think?

Regarding Mr. Pig's question, I am in the Milwaukee, WI area, so we have a pretty picked over Craigslist market and a handful of vintage equipment/album stores. Because it is a metro area, there are plenty of aging and young hipsters driving up the interest and price while reducing the inventory.
 
MikeFrank said:
There is a Technics SL-DD22 turntable for sale locally. Seller says it has a brand new Audio Technica AT3482P cartridge. He wants $60 for it. What do you think?

Regarding Mr. Pig's question, I am in the Milwaukee, WI area, so we have a pretty picked over Craigslist market and a handful of vintage equipment/album stores. Because it is a metro area, there are plenty of aging and young hipsters driving up the interest and price while reducing the inventory.
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A solid and reliable TT. A good starter unit. If it is in good condition with the dustcover it sounds fine.
 
Thanks Bodyblue. The cover and hinges work fine. The seller has said there is a hairline crack in the dustcover. I saw the picture of the crack and it doesn't bother me.
 
I would put half the money into speakers and don't be afraid of used. Quality speakers are important.

A vibtage turntable and cartridge will provide more bang for buck than new for the same money. USB ripping can be covered other ways and later.

Receiver/Amp is tricky. With whatever is left get the best you can and upgrade it later. The vintage 2230 is nice, I know from experience that if it is not properly recapped and restored it will not sound like it really can. A good restoration is not cheap and should be performed by someone who understands electronics and can test for spec performance.

Best value are the non vintage early version surround receivers (Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon). They have most of the digital processing stuff, some have decent internal dacs, sub woofer outputs and control, remotes, and they tend to cost the least relative to vintage or new modern.

Good luck.
 
My suggestion would be that you get that Technics (offer 50 because of the crack) and get the JVC that arts recommended. You would be paying 250 bucks more for the Marantz simply because of the rabid collector desirability that these seem to have. (My second choice would be the HK). CD players can be found all day long for 10 bucks at the thrifts. This way you have about 800 left in your budget for some fantastic speakers. Plus if you already have your amplification you can hopefully try it out on any prospective pair that you locate. Best of luck, it's a lot of fun hunting and assembling a system!
 
For the speakers, go on CL and find a nice used pair of Cerwin Vega. These speakers are seen as "party" speakers, but I've head them and they rock. You want the music to get your toes tapping and you mention bass-heavy music. If you get these here, unless you have a huge room, you will be happy and you will have $600 left over for your amp and source.

https://www.amazon.com/Cerwin-Vega-...rd_wg=5UXo1&psc=1&refRID=R70AKEYG823MMGZM6ZX0


Power can be this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019DX2S7W?psc=1

It has all the modern amenities and a separate sub output if you need even more bass. Because once you get hooked on bass, it's hard to stop. :)
It's a little pricey but you still have $200 left for a turntable or digital source. Free shipping if you have Prime and no hassle returns.


I think you might want to go all-new as much as possible to make sure you get the music and not the hassle. Later, after you're all set and have good tunes you can start spending time searching for good used stuff.
 
For the cost of the vintage CL offerings you listed, with unknown condition, I'd go new with warranty. Get all the vintage "styling" you like, with a new piece, free shipping, great customer service and the option to return if you don't like it. I've had really great results with Crutchfield (no affilation):

https://www.crutchfield.com/g_344650/Integrated-Amplifiers.html#&nvpair=FFBrand|Yamaha

The cheapest option at $349.99, 60 Watts is more than enough power to blow your nips off, it has 6 inputs and a built-in phono preamp.
 
Emotiva TA-100 with Elac B6 Debut speakers about $650. Add a vintage TT - for me, that would be a Thorens TD-165 or 160, but prices may have risen for those, not sure. I like a mix of vintage and new, myself.
 
I'm a fan of the AS series from Yamaha. My only complaint is that the AS-301 only comes with a Black face.
 
I wouldn't buy any of that stuff. Instead I would get a modern networked HDMI receiver from Yamaha, Denon, or Onkyo. There are some with phono inputs if that's what you want.

That way you can use it to stream and add surround one day if you choose too.
 
A poster suggested "patience"... this is recommended when surfing the tides for good vintage equipment.

CL was mentioned but EBAY often has a great many variety of brands.. all sellers competing money wise for your purchase. You can also research the sales record of a seller, often avoiding the "hype".

Another poster mentioned speakers as the key investment in assembling a good sound.. I tend to agree but the amp, reciever or "power" is a close if not equal factor in getting there.

All in all, do your homework, it will be the greater pay off!
 
This is another interesting thread, with a bit of 'modern vs vintage' flavour to it.

I'll give you a bit of insight from my own personal experience over the last 12 months since really starting to look at building a decent system.

I started out by discovering, after reading many threads on AK, that audio gear can be found in many different places. I found my first pieces in a local charity shop - I picked up a Pioneer SX-880 receiver and Technics SL-10 turntable. All was well for a little while, until a channel started dropping out on the Pioneer. It got worse, until one day it wouldn't come out of protection on power up. At that time, I didn't know anything about electronic repairs so I decided to sell it on 'as is' for someone else to deal with. I then picked up another vintage receiver, an Akai AS-960, which lasted about a week until....death.

After this early experience, I then spotted a receiver in a pawn shop - a Yamaha R-S700. It was pristine, crazy cheap, covered with a six month shop warranty, and it had the remote plus manuals etc. I checked the spec online and found it was far superior to the vintage pieces I had owned so I grabbed it. It has been the core of my system ever since and it's a great bit of kit.

It seems to me, and this holds true with other things like cassette decks, CD players etc, that 'modern' gear cannot be given away. There's such a craze for 'vintage' that heaps of great gear is getting overlooked and people like me are happy to take advantage of that :-) My current systems is all black, no silver, but no crap either. The Yamaha amp, a Technics 3 head direct drive quartz tape deck (that cost $5 !!!), Arcam Alpha 5 CD ($10), Akai 1721L reel to reel ($15) and a pair of awesome Infinity RS 6001 speakers ($20 !!!).

I have, along the way, learned heaps about repairing gear and I do so often - it's a fun part of the audio hobby for me. For my main system though, I tend towards modern reliability. If you want to learn about repairs (assuming you don't have the skills already) then vintage is great and a fully working / restored piece can sound fantastic.

Hopefully you enjoy your audio your audio journey and please keep us posted on your progress. Why not start up a thread in the 'Members Systems' area, and consider becoming a subscriber so you can access the fantastic Bartertown :-)
 
Personally I would leaned towards the Sansui 2000x or a nice Sherwood from the 70's. Go for a under valued unit, that doesn't cost much. For a TT, most old Technics are a solid choice and buy a new cartridge (AT95E?). Otherwise a Orbit is a good new option. Speakers....I would lean towards vintage. The value is tremendous for what you get. Klipsch KG4, Dynaco A25, Realistic Nova 8b, Epicure M10.....all great. Don't blow your budget to start. Save the money for unforseen repair or for upgrading. A budget of $500 is all you need, if you buy used.
 
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