Five hundred quid vinyl set up

Friend of mine has been pestering me about a starter set up to play records. He started looking at some new cheap and nasty USB TT’s he’d seen on Amazon but I’ve tried to steer him away from the barely above Crossley things and convince him to set his sights a little higher.

He says that his budget is £500 but I reckon there’s a bit of flexibility, maybe to £750 at a push.

He’s okay with second hand after a bit or persuasion. I think we’re looking at TT and cart, integrated amp with phono, and a pair of stand mount speakers.

Any ideas and potential stuff in your loft for consideration please.

AT-LP3

1 Like

I’ve got one of these sitting in the loft - I’ve only used it a couple of times.

2 Likes

@freefallrob had a lovely Rega P1 at very reasonable money. It is like new, worth dropping him a PM.
There is a Arcam A85 on the Wam.
Find some Royd Eden’s, Sintra’s or Sapphire’s coupled with Atacama SE24 stands.
I reckon you’ll be very close to £500 and it would a really great starter system.
Hope that helps

4 Likes

The P1 has found a new home now I’m afraid.

1 Like

If you can push him to the upper figure:

And my integrated from this ad:

Leaves £150 for some speeks which I’m sure could get something decent?

5 Likes

The AT LP5 (or X) looks like a good buy, and I’d prefer it over a lower priced Rega personally, simply due to its speed stability.

4 Likes

Maybe just buy the deck and add a Rega RB250 or similar for £100.

I quite like the look of this for c £275

Sony PS 4750 Turntable | eBay

4 Likes

As suggested above. There’s also another pair of small unidentified Royd speakers on there for £120. Either would be an excellent move at this kind of budget. Actually I think there were some Abbots on there for 120 yesterday as well.

1 Like
4 Likes

I have a nice thorns td145 arm and shire v15 cart that looks really smart and ready to go for £200 if that’s of interest?

4 Likes

Would he be happy with a fully manual t/t, or a semi-auto (i.e. lift at end of side)?

They are Royd Coniston R.
Rare in that finish most were black ash. I had a pair and they were really good. Lower in the range than Eden or Sintra but still very good.

3 Likes

Probably auto or semi auto.

Something like a Sony es for £100 which should have a phono stage although it does have a built in one and some jpw or similar

3 Likes

My SL-10 would be a good bet, as it comes with a very good MC cart and the TT itself has a respectable MM / MC phonostage built in.

2 Likes

I’ve got a Linn Axis in very good condition with a Denon DL110 cart on it which I would sell for £400. If I got £400 I would include a Graham Slee Gram Amp 2 phono amp. That is a very good vinyl front end for not a lot of money.

4 Likes

£100 off!