Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Joe Mac said:
Just know that neither the NAD 326 nor the pioneer has a phono stage so if you don’t already have a standalone phono stage everything is going to be very quiet coming from your turntable!

Good news is that both have a pretty healthy following on this forum and are really liked!
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Yea the NAD will be sitting in a box while I save up for the Insight and the Pioneer will just be hooked up to the Onkyo while I wait and attempt to exert self control and not just throw the entire Insight purchase onto a credit card.
 
wenis said:
Putting in the order for the PLX today as well as a reasonably affordable NAD C326BEE (if anyone has any thoughts on that please divulge, only issue I see coming up is that its a bit bottom heavy and not neutral, but I play a lot of house/techno records so that doesnt seem too bad). Then I'll start the process of saving up for a Sutherland Insight and start looking at a new cart. Just going to live with the Onkyo and Ort in the meantime because they've served me well and probably will for a long time.

​

Thanks again @AnthonyI @Joe Mac @MikeH and anyone else who shared their two cents.
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I have the 326BEE. I think it’s great. I don’t notice it being bass heavy. I had more bass with the Vincent Pho-8 than the Musical Fidelity LX-LPS but it was not overpowering with either. I have a DAC and CD player too and the bass is balanced in my opinion.
 
Missed out on the C326BEE this afternoon, so I'm back on the lookout for that. Snagged the "Used" PLX for $500 on Guitar Center though and in my conversation with my brother about the new turntable he hit me with an amazon gift card and I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of those Ortofon Concorde MK2 Club cartridges.
 
wenis said:
Missed out on the C326BEE this afternoon, so I'm back on the lookout for that. Snagged the "Used" PLX for $500 on Guitar Center though and in my conversation with my brother about the new turntable he hit me with an amazon gift card and I'm kinda tempted to pick up one of those Ortofon Concorde MK2 Club cartridges.
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No don’t do that. Those are designed for Technics tables. There is a 2mm difference in overhang (how forward the cartridge sits in the head shell) between the Pioneer and the Technics. Your alignment will be incorrect with no way to fix it.
 
Any general views on the Senny 599s? I'd been putting cash aside for (eventually) a pair of Grado 325s but I'm still waaaaaay off that target and the Sennys are £100 at the minute.
 
I'm looking for some guidance/recommendations for a new receiver. There's nothing particularly special about the Insignia I've been using for the past 15 years (I simply went to BestBuy and bought it without doing any research), and it lacks two features I'd like to have: (1) phono preamp and (2) Bluetooth compatibility.

My speakers are ELAC 5s, and my TT is an AT-LP5. The TT has its own preamp, but supposedly it is possible to switch that off and out of the circuit (so I may be able to actually benefit from an external preamp). As for Bluetooth, I'd like to have the ability to listen to streamed music through my speakers.

Can anyone confirm whether the Onkyo TX-8220 would fit my needs? If so, is that my best "economy" option? Or are there other models/devices I should consider?

$300-$350 is probably the upper end of my budget.

Thanks in advance for the input!
 
bettim84 said:
I'm looking for some guidance/recommendations for a new receiver. There's nothing particularly special about the Insignia I've been using for the past 15 years (I simply went to BestBuy and bought it without doing any research), and it lacks two features I'd like to have: (1) phono preamp and (2) Bluetooth compatibility.

My speakers are ELAC 5s, and my TT is an AT-LP5. The TT has its own preamp, but supposedly it is possible to switch that off and out of the circuit (so I may be able to actually benefit from an external preamp). As for Bluetooth, I'd like to have the ability to listen to streamed music through my speakers.

Can anyone confirm whether the Onkyo TX-8220 would fit my needs? If so, is that my best "economy" option? Or are there other models/devices I should consider?

$300-$350 is probably the upper end of my budget.

Thanks in advance for the input!
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The R-N303 streams through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, includes phono and digital inputs, and sounds very good. Not to mention fits your budget.
 
bettim84 said:
I'm looking for some guidance/recommendations for a new receiver. There's nothing particularly special about the Insignia I've been using for the past 15 years (I simply went to BestBuy and bought it without doing any research), and it lacks two features I'd like to have: (1) phono preamp and (2) Bluetooth compatibility.

My speakers are ELAC 5s, and my TT is an AT-LP5. The TT has its own preamp, but supposedly it is possible to switch that off and out of the circuit (so I may be able to actually benefit from an external preamp). As for Bluetooth, I'd like to have the ability to listen to streamed music through my speakers.

Can anyone confirm whether the Onkyo TX-8220 would fit my needs? If so, is that my best "economy" option? Or are there other models/devices I should consider?

$300-$350 is probably the upper end of my budget.

Thanks in advance for the input!
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Just for variety I’ll throw in the NAD 316. Can get a good refurb for $360. There’s a few people in here with it and the 326 and it seems to be well liked.

www.safeandsoundhq.com

NAD Electronics C 316BEE V2 Stereo Integrated Amplifier Open Box

NAD Electronics C 316BEE V2 Stereo Integrated Amplifier Open Box NAD has a distinct reputation for creating some of the best performing budget amplifiers of all time. The lineage is impressive, all the way from the 3020 of 1978 to the current C 328, with many Best Amp awards and five-star...
www.safeandsoundhq.com www.safeandsoundhq.com

Doesn’t include streaming but you could add a chromecast audio or an airport express (depending if android or iOS) cheap enough to add that to it.

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HayesWeighsIn said:
Yes, that’s what I was curious about. To Google!
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From my brief googling, I don’t know that you can play master quality over WiFi. I don’t know that Yamaha has MQA decoding abilities.

a lot of people tend not to like MQA due to it essentially being a form of DRM. Hardware needs a license to play MQA files so even if Yamaha did have it, my understanding is that theoretically MQA can pick and choose what companies can use MQA. I switched over to Qobuz instead of Tidal after my trial expired for that reason.
 
MikeH said:
From my brief googling, I don’t know that you can play master quality over WiFi. I don’t know that Yamaha has MQA decoding abilities.

a lot of people tend not to like MQA due to it essentially being a form of DRM. Hardware needs a license to play MQA files so even if Yamaha did have it, my understanding is that theoretically MQA can pick and choose what companies can use MQA. I switched over to Qobuz instead of Tidal after my trial expired for that reason.
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i can’t see any reason why you couldn’t play it over WiFi, provided that your signal is strong/fast enough. I’m currently sending DSD/Qobuz Hi Res/Higher Res FLAC over WiFi from my NUC to my endpoints. I don’t think you can go beyond CD quality over BT
 
Joe Mac said:
i can’t see any reason why you couldn’t play it over WiFi, provided that your signal is strong/fast enough. I’m currently sending DSD/Qobuz Hi Res/Higher Res FLAC over WiFi from my NUC to my endpoints. I don’t think you can go beyond CD quality over BT
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I meant for Wi-Fi on the specific receiver @HayesWeighsIn was talking about. Because, from what I saw, Yahama receivers require you to use their MusicCast app to play music via WiFi on this receiver and it doesn't support MQA. If you were to add an additional component like a roon endpoint, then sure you could likely play Tidal MQA over WiFi and in general you can.
 
Alright...longtime lurker who occasionally asks for help:)

I'm going to be doing a basement renovation in the next month. I'm at the point where I'm ready to start upgrading to something a lil nicer for my new room. I have currently two turntables: one for upstairs playing that plugs into a portable Marshall bluetooth speaker (AT 120) and one for old basement setup (Grado) I'd prefer having a table where I could switch speeds easily, unlike the Uturn, in my new basement.

I'm looking at upgrading some things with a $1000 budget, possibly more with the sale of a few things:)

Currently I have:
Turntables: Uturn Orbit with Acrylic Platter AT120-> Grado Black/Nagaoka MP 110
Pre-Amp: Vincent Pho-8
Receiver: Onkyo TX 8020
Speakers: ELAC B6 Debut

Any suggestions? I'm thinking Receiver and turntable but who knows
 
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