Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

wmeugene said:
For $300-500, if you wanted to be at the top end of that budget, I’d think a uTurn or Fluance with the 2m blue would be a huge upgrade.
Click to expand...

If you listen to anything at 45 rpm, keep in mind the u-turn is manually switched, that's the only reason i didn't pull the trigger. Not sure about the Fluance though.
 
Samworsley said:
Hello everyone,

I love this forum and especially this thread. I enjoy people sharing their equipment and getting a ton of great upgrade advice, and that is exactly what I am in need of! Currently I have a very budget setup that I started in high school and through college but am starting my career in August and want to start budgeting out upgrades for my system. My current setup is as follows:

TT: LP120
AV Receiver: Denon DRA-295 (just got this at Goodwill for $15, replacing a cheap Lepai amp)
Speakers: Klipsch R-14M 4-Inch Reference (just got these off Facebook Marketplace for $30, replacing Micca MB42X)

My budget for upgrades will be in the $300-$500 range for each piece of equipment, besides for the cart. I know my first upgrade will be the Ortofon Red. My question for all of you fine people is: what should I upgrade first to get the most bang for my buck? I know the preamp on the LP120 isn't ideal, but does it make sense to get an external preamp and run it to the receiver, or should I save up to replace my receiver with a preamp/amp or an integrated amp? Also, I have been enjoying my Klipsch speakers so far but I don't have much to compare them to, I just know they are better than the Micca's, so I am willing to upgrade them as well. If these questions don't even make sense please let me know as I am trying to learn all that goes into this crazy obsession.

Thank you in advance for the advice!!
Click to expand...
I would second the Grado Gold v2 suggestion from @Joe Mac , but since your looking to upgrade everything including the cart on the LP120, I would definitely consider replacing your TT as well, as @wmeugene mentioned. Not that there is anything wrong with the LP120, but for what you'll be spending on the cart you would be half way to purchasing a Fluance with an Ortofon BLUE, and even more so if you opt to stay with the red (I would go Blue). So you could basically be building your "New" system while continuing to use your current one.

If you're going to stay with the LP120, I would research removing the built in pre as mentioned by @Ethos99 and see if you can get rid of it and go with an external unit, there are some really nice options in the $300-500 range. Also, if you go this route I would start with the speakers, the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6's are exceptional for their price point and can free up some cash for other components.

Kind of just depends on how you want to go about it ;)
 
Thanks for all the replies! For some reason I hadn't been thinking too much about upgrading the TT, but upgrading the TT with an upgraded cartridge seems to make a lot of sense. If I went with RT85 what would be a good integrated amp to pair with it within that $300-$500 range?
 
Samworsley said:
Thanks for all the replies! For some reason I hadn't been thinking too much about upgrading the TT, but upgrading the TT with an upgraded cartridge seems to make a lot of sense. If I went with RT85 what would be a good integrated amp to pair with it within that $300-$500 range?
Click to expand...

If you're willing to stretch a little bit you can get a scratch-and-dent Marantz PM-6006 from Crutchfield for under $600 shipped.

There's also the Onkyo A-9150, which I've heard good things about, and rather like the look of.

@HiFi Guy would likely recommend something from NAD, such as the NAD D 3020 NAD C316BEE V2.
 
Last edited:
kvetcha said:
If you're willing to stretch a little bit you can get a scratch-and-dent Marantz PM-6006 from Crutchfield for under $600 shipped.

There's also the Onkyo A-9150, which I've heard good things about, and rather like the look of.

@HiFi Guy would likely recommend something from NAD, such as the NAD D 3020.
Click to expand...

Actually, I'm not fond of the NAD D 3020. I would recommend the NAD C316BEE.
 
Anyone here running a Peachtree Nova300? The one unit for everything approach is so damn appealing to me. My primary focus with buying a new amp is Music first, listening to 80% vinyl, 20% streaming/digital, then running TV and movies through the same system. Thoughts on Peachtree vs Primaluna?

I purchased a damaged shipping box pair of Tannoy Revolution XT 8Fs from Upscale this week, saved $600. Was sure at the time I was pairing with an upper end Primaluna integrated, but am pausing for a minute just to be 100% certain. I need to seek out a Peachtree to listen to, figured I would survey the forum too.

Btw, Upscale Audio and Kevin, the owner were fantastic to work with, thanks @AnthonyI for directing me there. I felt kind of dumb when I realized I already knew Kevin from the 4,000 YouTube videos I’ve watched of him reviewing audio gear...🤣
 
Cheesefry said:
Anyone here running a Peachtree Nova300? The one unit for everything approach is so damn appealing to me. My primary focus with buying a new amp is Music first, listening to 80% vinyl, 20% streaming/digital, then running TV and movies through the same system. Thoughts on Peachtree vs Primaluna?

I purchased a damaged shipping box pair of Tannoy Revolution XT 8Fs from Upscale this week, saved $600. Was sure at the time I was pairing with an upper end Primaluna integrated, but am pausing for a minute just to be 100% certain. I need to seek out a Peachtree to listen to, figured I would survey the forum too.

Btw, Upscale Audio and Kevin, the owner were fantastic to work with, thanks @AnthonyI for directing me there. I felt kind of dumb when I realized I already knew Kevin from the 4,000 YouTube videos I’ve watched of him reviewing audio gear...🤣
Click to expand...

I've auditioned an older Peachtree amp. While full featured, I thought it was pretty weak sounding overall. Hopefully they've fixed that in the new ones.

I'd not recommend anyone buy a component with a built in DAC. The technology is changing quickly and you'll soon find the DAC outdated. Also, quality DACs can be had quite reasonably. Your best bet is an outboard unit.

You should be pleased with the PrimaLuna and it looks to be an excellent match for your new speakers. Be aware that the break in period is painfully long. It doesn't sound that good fresh from the box. Ten hours later, it's much better. Around 100 hours, it's extremely nice. The shocker is what happens around 8 months- performance takes a giant leap. I'm thinking it takes that long for the iron in the output transformers to break in. It sounds much more "tubey" once it hits the 8 month mark.
 
HiFi Guy said:
I'd look at the Vincent PHO-8- $299 from Audio Advisor. That should be a big jump from where you are now.
Click to expand...

Ok so I got my PHO-8 and there is noticable separation and brightness.

So much brightness that I thought something was wrong until I disabled an audyssey setting. Made sure the Denon wasn't processing anymore and it sounds amazing! The receiver was trying to fix it's own built in preamp.

Thanks for the recommendation guys!

Since I was changing things I went and adjusted my cart to match the original one (the needle wasn't aligned) and that made a noticable improvement in background hiss. Not enough to fix a VMP Feist album but much improved with several other records.

Very happy today!
 
I finally decided to get a record clamp for my Technics 1200. I must say I do notice a bit of a difference. The bass sounds a little more focused I would say. It depends on the record. My Fiona/Tidal is slightly dished (at the time I didn’t know enough about records to spot it. Embarrassing). But the clamp makes it perfect.

I’m not putting much pressure. Just enough to hold the record against the platter.
 
6417329D-DA76-4801-A8F8-AEF5B269E5F4.jpeg
So close to completing the new setup, just a couple of questions for my experts here.

Pro-ject Debut Carbon - current TT
Ortofon Red (considering the Grado Gold v2)
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers
Primaluna EVO 200 integrated amp
Bluesound Node 2i

Questions:
1. Do I keep my Denon receiver and run it through the Home Theater Bypass input of the Primaluna, or run the Roku and Blu-Ray player through the Bluesound?? This by far, has been the most confusing part to me.

2. I currently run an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp, which I’ve been pretty happy with. But with upgrades to my speakers and amp, should I be thinking about stepping up on the phono stage? Would try to stay under $500 if so, unless convinced otherwise 😏
 
Cheesefry said:
View attachment 8497
So close to completing the new setup, just a couple of questions for my experts here.

Pro-ject Debut Carbon - current TT
Ortofon Red (considering the Grado Gold v2)
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers
Primaluna EVO 200 integrated amp
Bluesound Node 2i

Questions:
1. Do I keep my Denon receiver and run it through the Home Theater Bypass input of the Primaluna, or run the Roku and Blu-Ray player through the Bluesound?? This by far, has been the most confusing part to me.

2. I currently run an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp, which I’ve been pretty happy with. But with upgrades to my speakers and amp, should I be thinking about stepping up on the phono stage? Would try to stay under $500 if so, unless convinced otherwise 😏
Click to expand...
You'll need to wait for others on the connection, I run strictly a TT setup so I haven't had to worry about any of that. As for your phono stage question, I haven't heard the Emotiva, but there are some nice options under $500 and one that comes to mind that is a little higher. The Vincent Pho8 is wonderful at about $300, the iPhono2 is great as well, but has recently come across a lot of issues, so I would stay away from that one. My slightly above $500 would be the Sutherland KC Vibe ($800). I've had all of these except the Emotiva and the KC Vibe is a really nice unit and outshines both the Pho8 and iPhono.

Maybe someone can kick in a comparison of the Emotive to the Pho8 or iPhono to put everything into better perspective.
 
Cheesefry said:
View attachment 8497
So close to completing the new setup, just a couple of questions for my experts here.

Pro-ject Debut Carbon - current TT
Ortofon Red (considering the Grado Gold v2)
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers
Primaluna EVO 200 integrated amp
Bluesound Node 2i

Questions:
1. Do I keep my Denon receiver and run it through the Home Theater Bypass input of the Primaluna, or run the Roku and Blu-Ray player through the Bluesound?? This by far, has been the most confusing part to me.

2. I currently run an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp, which I’ve been pretty happy with. But with upgrades to my speakers and amp, should I be thinking about stepping up on the phono stage? Would try to stay under $500 if so, unless convinced otherwise 😏
Click to expand...

The Home Theater bypass allows you to integrate your Denon so you can still have surround sound but with the front mains driven with the PrimaLuna. Also allows for integration of video sources and video switching.

The Emotiva is really decent with MM/MI cartridges. It's pretty noisy with MC cartridges. You are good there.

But

I'd highly recommend moving to an Ortofon 2m Blue stylus or the Grado.
 
Cheesefry said:
View attachment 8497
So close to completing the new setup, just a couple of questions for my experts here.

Pro-ject Debut Carbon - current TT
Ortofon Red (considering the Grado Gold v2)
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers
Primaluna EVO 200 integrated amp
Bluesound Node 2i

Questions:
1. Do I keep my Denon receiver and run it through the Home Theater Bypass input of the Primaluna, or run the Roku and Blu-Ray player through the Bluesound?? This by far, has been the most confusing part to me.

2. I currently run an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp, which I’ve been pretty happy with. But with upgrades to my speakers and amp, should I be thinking about stepping up on the phono stage? Would try to stay under $500 if so, unless convinced otherwise 😏
Click to expand...
One of the reviews I remember reading when @HiFi Guy suggested the KC Vibe
www.cnet.com

This simple preamp unlocks unheard magic in your LPs

The Sutherland KC Vibe phono preamp sounds sweet. Real sweet.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
 
Cheesefry said:
View attachment 8497
So close to completing the new setup, just a couple of questions for my experts here.

Pro-ject Debut Carbon - current TT
Ortofon Red (considering the Grado Gold v2)
Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers
Primaluna EVO 200 integrated amp
Bluesound Node 2i

Questions:
1. Do I keep my Denon receiver and run it through the Home Theater Bypass input of the Primaluna, or run the Roku and Blu-Ray player through the Bluesound?? This by far, has been the most confusing part to me.

2. I currently run an Emotiva XPS-1 phono preamp, which I’ve been pretty happy with. But with upgrades to my speakers and amp, should I be thinking about stepping up on the phono stage? Would try to stay under $500 if so, unless convinced otherwise 😏
Click to expand...

With the connections do you have rear speakers and want to keep 5.1 ect for movies?does the av have a pre out for the front speakers? If the answer to these is yes I’d connect the av to the HT bypass.

If not. What output does your tele have? If it has rca connect them to any input on the prima Luna. If not I’d get a dac (or use the optical In on the bluesound) and connect the optical out from the tele to the dac (blusound) and the dac to any of the Luna’s inputs.
 
N
Joe Mac said:
With the connections do you have rear speakers and want to keep 5.1 ect for movies?does the av have a pre out for the front speakers? If the answer to these is yes I’d connect the av to the HT bypass.

If not. What output does your tele have? If it has rca connect them to any input on the prima Luna. If not I’d get a dac (or use the optical In on the bluesound) and connect the optical out from the tele to the dac (blusound) and the dac to any of the Luna’s inputs.
Click to expand...
No on the 5.1, just moving to the two fronts, and maybe a sub. Yes, I can run RCAs from the projector’s output that would send audio from both the Roku or Blu-ray player. I may have the optical out option as well, will check when I get back home at the end of the week.

Good info, thanks so much!
 
Update time! Received my Grado Prestige Gold cartridge from Galen Audio today ($40 cheaper than anywhere else and with a nutty caramel looking fancy choc thrown in).
I decided to dive right in and replace the Ortofon red. After much fiddling with those teeny little nuts which I kept dropping I have set up and spinning. First thing I noticed right off the bat was noticeable bass difference. I always turned up the bass and the treble down with the red since it always sounded so bright.
Now i’m running in tone defeat.
Many thanks to @HiFi Guy and. @Joe Mac and anybody else who chimes in for giving me the knowledge and confidence to tackle this. It really wasn’t difficult just annoying ha!
One last question, do cartridges have a break in period and how long? Can I expect more sonic goodness coming my way?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top