Hi all
I remember a few stints in my early childhood when my dad hooked up his old turntable, but he was never really in to it so it got placed back in to the cupboard after something broke and forgotten there.
Later on I got more and more in to audio up to the point where I?m currently working in the entertainment industry as a sound professional.
As I got more and more in to audio, I also got more and more in to good audio and appreciating good sounding music, so I always had this thing for wanting to start with vinyl.
For the last few years I always said ?one day when I?m big?, but the last week or so I decided that it?s simply never going to happen with that atatude and that I might as well jump in and start earlier rather than later, it's not as if I'm suddenly gonna get a big chunk of money for it some time in future.
I already have my speakers, as well as a couple of old records from my parents, but apart from that I basically have to start from scratch, I?ll need the turntable, phono pre amp, cleaning things etc. I believe in doing proper research before buying something and I?ll rather save up to get the things I really want rather than skimping on money just for the sake of buying.
On the turntable side I read up on the Rega RP1 and Pro-ject Essential, these seam to be decent entry level machines. As I go along I do however see more preference for the Rega as a no thrills solid machine with potential for future upgrades. Since looking at Rega I also looked at the Rega Fono Mini D2A, this seams to be a decent enough pre amp for the money.
I don't see myself buying a fancy RCM machine at this stage as I simply don't have the budget for it, so I'll just get some brushes, cloths and cleaning fluid.
As said I already have speakers, I have KRK VXT8 powered studio monitors. They are my working speakers but for now they'll have to do vinyl playback as well, at some point I'll probably get something smaller and more suited to casual listening.
I'm not very keen to go for second hand and especially not gear which has been modified. The reason for this is because I'm practically blind, so I won't be able to work on and fix things myself even though I have the knowledge. For this reason I'll also probably look for a trusted person or dealer in my area who can work on my gear should it be needed in future.
The budget for all this will be around R7000 - R8000, basically the TT, phono stage, cleaning things and maybe even a brand new record or 2 just to get me in to things.
Any advice, pointers, do's and don'ts will be highly appreciated. Am I on the right track or must I rather look at other brands as well?
I remember a few stints in my early childhood when my dad hooked up his old turntable, but he was never really in to it so it got placed back in to the cupboard after something broke and forgotten there.
Later on I got more and more in to audio up to the point where I?m currently working in the entertainment industry as a sound professional.
As I got more and more in to audio, I also got more and more in to good audio and appreciating good sounding music, so I always had this thing for wanting to start with vinyl.
For the last few years I always said ?one day when I?m big?, but the last week or so I decided that it?s simply never going to happen with that atatude and that I might as well jump in and start earlier rather than later, it's not as if I'm suddenly gonna get a big chunk of money for it some time in future.
I already have my speakers, as well as a couple of old records from my parents, but apart from that I basically have to start from scratch, I?ll need the turntable, phono pre amp, cleaning things etc. I believe in doing proper research before buying something and I?ll rather save up to get the things I really want rather than skimping on money just for the sake of buying.
On the turntable side I read up on the Rega RP1 and Pro-ject Essential, these seam to be decent entry level machines. As I go along I do however see more preference for the Rega as a no thrills solid machine with potential for future upgrades. Since looking at Rega I also looked at the Rega Fono Mini D2A, this seams to be a decent enough pre amp for the money.
I don't see myself buying a fancy RCM machine at this stage as I simply don't have the budget for it, so I'll just get some brushes, cloths and cleaning fluid.
As said I already have speakers, I have KRK VXT8 powered studio monitors. They are my working speakers but for now they'll have to do vinyl playback as well, at some point I'll probably get something smaller and more suited to casual listening.
I'm not very keen to go for second hand and especially not gear which has been modified. The reason for this is because I'm practically blind, so I won't be able to work on and fix things myself even though I have the knowledge. For this reason I'll also probably look for a trusted person or dealer in my area who can work on my gear should it be needed in future.
The budget for all this will be around R7000 - R8000, basically the TT, phono stage, cleaning things and maybe even a brand new record or 2 just to get me in to things.
Any advice, pointers, do's and don'ts will be highly appreciated. Am I on the right track or must I rather look at other brands as well?
