Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

[Hollywood]

Looking at the full awards list I’d love to hear this Vertere Acoustics Phono-1 MkII phono stage!

Vertere Acoustics Phono-1 MkII review

What Hi-Fi? Awards 2021 winner. One of the finest phono stages we’ve heard at the price

www.whathifi.com

Before coming across the Jolida this was on the short list to look into a bit more, at the end of the day I was trying to avoid spending this much on the second system. But, I'm with you, would love to hear how this sounds. Never say never, lol

Not familiar with the brand

 

[Joe Mac]

Not familiar with the brand

They’re a really highly regarded high end turntable manufacturer, their cheapest turntable is £2k ish (and looks like it should Batman’s turntable). I think @Ed Selley may have had one for review at one stage, I certainly remember a picture of it on the forum, it has a mad flat tonearm. Most of their turntables are in the £8k+ arena.

 

[AnthonyI]

Not familiar with the brand

Me neither, but it kept popping up while I was looking around at phono's. There's a retailer in CO. but I never got to that point, again, with system 2 I have "kind of" a budget in mind when looking at gear.

 

[AnthonyI]

They’re a really highly regarded high end turntable manufacturer, their cheapest turntable is £2k ish (and looks like it should Batman’s turntable). I think @Ed Selley may have had one for review at one stage, I certainly remember a picture of it on the forum, it has a mad flat tonearm. Most of their turntables are in the £8k+ arena.

 

[Hollywood]

Me neither, but it kept popping up while I was looking around at phono's. There's a retailer in CO. but I never got to that point, again, with system 2 I have "kind of" a budget in mind when looking at gear.

Reviews are positive across the board but I would be hard pressed to find a unit in my neck of the woods.

 

[Joe Mac]

View attachment 69138

That’s the fella, complete with LED strips inside the clear acrylic platter....

 

[HiFi Guy]

This is not the right thread for it I know but at what point do you call bias on online publication reviews and awards?

That’s a British publication. It makes sense to pick Rega as they are very fairly priced there. Given what they cost in their home country, they are definitely at the top of the hill value wise.

In the States considering the cost here, one can do better.

 

[Hollywood]

That’s a British publication. It makes sense to pick Rega as they are very fairly priced there. Given what they cost in their home country, they are definitely at the top of the hill value wise.

Here in the States considering the cost here, one can do better.

Same here north of the border

 

[kvetcha]

In my search for new speakers, I ran into a pair of Boston Acoustics VR-M60 bookshelf speakers.

They seem to be from the early 2000s and seem to get a good amount of love online, but was wondering if anyone here has had any experience.

Maybe @HiFi Guy ?

Either way, they’re charging around $200 for them, and I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger.

Any help would be appreciated!

I remember having and enjoying a cheaper pair of Boston Acoustics bookshelves (edit: HD5s!) when I was in middle/high school. But that's the only pair I've really heard.

Wonder what happened to those...?

edit: my dad apparently still has them on his desk at work. So I guess they’ve held up!

 

[Hollywood]

Nice to see my speaker cables at the top of the list!
Best accessories 2020

 

[HiFi Guy]

In my search for new speakers, I ran into a pair of Boston Acoustics VR-M60 bookshelf speakers.

They seem to be from the early 2000s and seem to get a good amount of love online, but was wondering if anyone here has had any experience.

Maybe @HiFi Guy ?

Either way, they’re charging around $200 for them, and I’m wondering if I should pull the trigger.

Any help would be appreciated!

I’d pass, as Boston Acoustics has gone out of business.

If you want some small reasonably priced speakers, check these:

Amazon.com: NHT SuperZero 2.1 Premium Home Theater Bookshelf Speaker - Clean, Hi-Res Audio | Sealed Box | Mini-Monitor | Single Unit, Gloss Black (Renewed) : Electronics

Amazon.com: NHT SuperZero 2.1 Premium Home Theater Bookshelf Speaker - Clean, Hi-Res Audio | Sealed Box | Mini-Monitor | Single Unit, Gloss Black (Renewed) : Electronics

www.amazon.com

Or

Amazon.com: NHT SuperOne 2.1 Premium Home Theater Bookshelf Speaker - Clean, Hi-Res Audio | Sealed Box | Mini-Monitor | Single Unit, Gloss Black: Home Audio & Theater

Buy NHT SuperOne 2.1 Premium Home Theater Bookshelf Speaker - Clean, Hi-Res Audio | Sealed Box | Mini-Monitor | Single Unit, Gloss Black: Bookshelf Speakers - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[displayname]

This is not the right thread for it I know but at what point do you call bias on online publication reviews and awards?

I challenge you to find any major audio publication that awards gear (or even regularly reviews gear) that doesn't have some type of other business connection with the company. That might be direct (running ads for the manufacturer) or indirect (ads for dealer, distributors, other brands within a parent company, trade show partnership agreements, etc).

Don't get me wrong, gear still has to be solid to win awards. Now some companies will review gear that they have no direct affiliation with. And some will do it as a favor to someone they know personally. But in general, all the major publications' reviews start with a bias of an existing or pending business relationship. You often times need to run a minimum ad contract to even have your gear considered for review. Also another reason why you don't see so many bad reviews. Usually a pending bad review becomes a discussion leading to no review or a review of another product.
Now I'm not saying any of those Rega tables don't deserve an award, but I bet if you look at the books Rega is probably a better "partner" than some other brands. But What HiFi does tend to favor hometown/British brands as well. Nothing wrong with that, I know over here we all love to tout "American Made" so I get it.

 

[apholden]

I’d pass, as Boston Acoustics has gone out of business.

That's a shame. I have their speakers from my old home theater setup. I love how they had their house sound and ensured their whole lineup conformed to it. They were so consistent that I had to rest my hand on top of the speakers before I believed the store was actually switching between them.

 

[Rowan]

That’s a British publication. It makes sense to pick Rega as they are very fairly priced there. Given what they cost in their home country, they are definitely at the top of the hill value wise.

In the States considering the cost here, one can do better.

I'm not having it that the P6 is better than the 1200/10 GR. It's proper flag waving bollocks

 

[HiFi Guy]

I'm not having it that the P6 is better than the 1200/10 GR. It's proper flag waving bollocks.

I’d buy the Technics too. Rega has plug and play down though. What’s easier to set up than a P6/Exact?

 

[Rowan]

I’d buy the Technics too. Rega has plug and play down though. What’s easier to set up than a P6/Exact?

If its already set up but if you're a relative novice changing a cart and someone says 'just totally detach the tone arm, add this shim, attach it again and try not to snap the headshell off getting under there' then you'd be traumatised. And the cart won't last forever.

And the whole ethos of Rega now seems to be aimed at modding. So you buy your table, then a new sub platter, then new bearing, then a new belt, then you swap the platter... and one day you look at the tone arm and wonder where the rest of your table went. I was of the opinion my RP3 was amazing. Loved it for 6 years. Then I foolishly started listening to other tables. It's cool that British manufacturing is being recognized but, as I said, to pick all three is proper flag waving bollocks from What Hifi.

 

[HiFi Guy]

If its already set up but if you're a relative novice changing a cart and someone says 'just totally detach the tone arm, add this shim, attach it again and try not to snap the headshell off getting under there' then you'd be traumatised. And the cart won't last forever.

And the whole ethos of Rega now seems to be aimed at modding. So you buy your table, then a new sub platter, then new bearing, then a new belt, then you swap the platter... and one day you look at the tone arm and wonder where the rest of your table went. I was of the opinion my RP3 was amazing. Loved it for 6 years. Then I foolishly started listening to other tables. It's cool that British manufacturing is being recognized but, as I said, to pick all three is proper flag waving bollocks from What Hifi.

Yeah, I get it, but as far as modding, really the only thing Rega offer is the white belt. Everything else comes from the aftermarket.

For the right person, they are fine. They aren’t for me.

 

[duke86fan]

That’s a British publication. It makes sense to pick Rega as they are very fairly priced there. Given what they cost in their home country, they are definitely at the top of the hill value wise.

In the States considering the cost here, one can do better.

but is there a US audiophile site that is more popular and gives reviews for whats best at that price

i mean there is steve guttenberg but he also recommends the rega P3 despite its price

 

[duke86fan]

I challenge you to find any major audio publication that awards gear (or even regularly reviews gear) that doesn't have some type of other business connection with the company. That might be direct (running ads for the manufacturer) or indirect (ads for dealer, distributors, other brands within a parent company, trade show partnership agreements, etc).

see every company praise the audioquest dragonfly for being decent despite the only perk being its small form factor (and even then the black has competition with the zorloo ztella)

 

[HiFi Guy]

see every company praise the audioquest dragonfly for being decent despite the only perk being its small form factor (and even then the black has competition with the zorloo ztella)

@displayname has a point. Everyone praises the AQ Dragonfly because:

A. They are a dealer

B They are a review publication or website.

So, the praise means nothing.

Reviews and dealer auditions are really only good for assembling a short list of what one may want to actually buy and bring home for audition.