Is it necessary (preferred) to have an amp and speakers, or are speakers with built in amps appropriate?
Either will work. You can use powered speakers that will plug into the turntable (since it has a preamp installed) or if you want to use passive speakers then you’ll need an amp/receiver. My first setup I used powered bookshelf speakers that worked fine but have since upgraded to receiver/tower speakers.
Finally joining the club. However, all of the Audio Technica turntables were out of stock, so it won’t ship until late January.
Speakers are coming Saturday — went with Edifer R1280DB speakers which are powered to avoid the amp. They’re also Bluetooth so I hope to multi-use them with the TV. Also on Christmas my dad and I pulled out his bin of old records; all are 30-40+ years old. A lot of Led Zepplin, AC/DC, Genesis, etc. Took 10 to clean them up and see how they still play. There are still 50+ and hope to run those soon to see how they stack up. It’s exciting to both step my toes in and see the joy in my dad flipping through his collection.
That's how I got started, that's awesome. I would recommend getting them all cleaned. It makes a HUGE difference and helps keep your needle clean too. The cleaning machine will remove all the oil, mold, dust etc from the grooves and all you'll hear are small pops on any scratches. Buy some new sleeves to put them in after they're cleaned so they don't just get dirty again when you store them.
Don’t have a vinyl shop near you? That’s where I bought my receiver from and just about any I’ve ever walked into has a tower of them.
The new beck album is pretty cool. Looking forward to watching it on Tidal with the nasa collab visuals. Pop Smoke isn't my genre but gotta keep up with the kids
Still wear them just about every day I’m not at work. Others on the rotation, an original pressing of Nashville Skyline by Bob Dylan, an early pressing of Operation Ivy’s lone release, and a Mumford record store only live show release Sam Cooke’s Portrait of a Legend is probably on my top 3 also.
That has been a fun thing going through my dad's old stuff and looking the pressings up to see how they stack up to others over the years
Finally arrived. Sounds so much better than my $60 briefcase player. Can’t get a picture showing how green it is.
Got a copy of Cover album from the lead singer of Lumineers. If you're into his voice, it's one of the best cover lists I've seen on one album. Really great recording too.
I just went down a new hifi rabbit hole with headphones. Man, if you're looking for a new way to listen to vinyl or digital and headphones make more sense than setting up speakers and treating a room, there are some amazing cans out there. Hifi headphone clarity and soundstage are amazing and a DAC/AMP/headphone combo costs about half of a full room setup. I can give you some brands to check out if anyone's interested.
Hadn't bought any vinyl in years, but The Mars Volta just came out with a box set of their discog, remastered from the original tapes, that I swooped on because I'm a psychopath. Also includes some supposedly original version of their debut album, again remastered. Ran me $470, but honestly it's the best opportunity I'll likely have to hear my favorite band with this kind of quality, so fuck it, we're 2021'n now (if I wanted to get an original print of their second album alone it'd cost me around $400)
Anyone keep a turntable in a different room from where their speakers are? Have a Sonos surround system in the living room but the room/furniture isn’t conducive to keeping a turntable out in the open while also appeasing the wife. Haven’t hooked my turntable up in several years as a result, but I’ve kept collecting vinyl the entire time. Setting up the turntable to work with Sonos is fairly straightforward, but using a turntable in a different room from the one you are listening in seems antithetical to the vinyl experience so I haven’t pulled the trigger
Takes away from the experience a little, but fuck it, it seems the collection part is more motivating to you than the sound quality anyway since you’re still buying Edit: maybe you could set up a small “now playing” display in the room where you listen to add to the atmosphere a bit
Yeah, you all are right. Will probably use this as an excuse to get a new turntable as well. The one I have now is from college and has seen better days.
Project makes this but theres other ones out there made from different materials too. Just throwing it out there in case it would fit in your listening room. Room treatments and speaker placement is my biggest problem. Wish I had a listening/sitting room I could dedicate to audio.
it sounds great. I Need Audio, Video, Disco and Woman. Hopefully they don't call it quits like Daft Punk and make everything sell out.