Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Ethos99 said:
So, I broke the needle in my 2m Blue. Long story involving my son helping me by playing a record for me...

Anyway, so I'm running my 2m red and looking for a new cart. I like the sound of the 2m blue and that is about my budget ($250-300) for a new one. I may go higher as I can be persuaded by promises of audiophile bliss.

I like the balance of detail and warmth with the blue and the clarity and low end in general with Ortofon. Seems to me people either love them or hate them.

Does anyone have recommendations in this range that would be an upgrade or should I stick with the blue?

I listen to mostly rock from indie to classic, singer songwriters, some country, and lastly jazz and standards.

Thanks in advance for your insights.
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The 2m red and blue share a cartridge body so you don’t need to buy whole new cartridge to get another blue, just a stylus, it’s a really easy clip on and off job. It should come in way below that price. Take a look at

www.analogueseduction.net

I know it’s in Europe but our 2m blue stylus prices are low and they charge very low postage prices. Also the price you’ll pay is 20% off the £110 list as they’ll take off the VAT as you are an international customer.

If you want to move away from the Ortofon range I recently switched from a blue to a Grado Prestige gold2. I much prefer it, a little less detailed but a whole lot nicer, and warmer, sounding!
 
Ethos99 said:
So, I broke the needle in my 2m Blue. Long story involving my son helping me by playing a record for me...

Anyway, so I'm running my 2m red and looking for a new cart. I like the sound of the 2m blue and that is about my budget ($250-300) for a new one. I may go higher as I can be persuaded by promises of audiophile bliss.

I like the balance of detail and warmth with the blue and the clarity and low end in general with Ortofon. Seems to me people either love them or hate them.

Does anyone have recommendations in this range that would be an upgrade or should I stick with the blue?

I listen to mostly rock from indie to classic, singer songwriters, some country, and lastly jazz and standards.

Thanks in advance for your insights.
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You don't need to replace the whole cart, you can just replace the stylus. A 2M Blue stylus is about $170 USD or less. So no matter what route you go that should be the cheapest way to get it up and running again.
 
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Joe Mac said:
The 2m red and blue share a cartridge body so you don’t need to buy whole new cartridge to get another blue, just a stylus, it’s a really easy clip on and off job. It should come in way below that price. Take a look at

www.analogueseduction.net

I know it’s in Europe but our 2m blue stylus prices are low and they charge very low postage prices. Also the price you’ll pay is 20% off the £110 list as they’ll take off the VAT as you are an international customer.

If you want to move away from the Ortofon range I recently switched from a blue to a Grado Prestige gold2. I much prefer it, a little less detailed but a whole lot nicer, and warmer, sounding!
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I may just go that route, as usual if I'm spending money and there is something better to move to I'll look at it.

I did know about the needle upgrade but figured if I was switching to something else $300 is my comfort zone.

The Grado Prestige gold 2 is one I looked at last time you mentioned it. So warmer is good, by less detailed you must not mean muddy so would you say it's more natural, flat?

I think the ortofon's can be cold on some albums but the detail is really good.
 
Mather said:
You don't need to replace the whole cart, you can just replace the stylus. A 2M Blue stylus is about $170 USD or less. So no matter what route you go that sold be the cheapest way to get it up and running again.
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I'm using my older Red and while similar I can tell it's a step back. Did you upgrade yet?
 
Ethos99 said:
I may just go that route, as usual if I'm spending money and there is something better to move to I'll look at it.

I did know about the needle upgrade but figured if I was switching to something else $300 is my comfort zone.

The Grado Prestige gold 2 is one I looked at last time you mentioned it. So warmer is good, by less detailed you must not mean muddy so would you say it's more natural, flat?

I think the ortofon's can be cold on some albums but the detail is really good.
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The detail is excellent on the 2m blue. I found when I improved my amplifier that it was bright and could get shrill on high piano or vocal notes.

The Grado is much more natural but I’d say trending towards warm rather than neutral, it most definitely isn’t muddy though.
 
Has anyone had any experience with the Vincent PHO-500? I’ve been offered a deal on one but I’m holding back until someone a bit more experienced could offer an opinion. Had any experience with this @HiFi Guy @Ed Selley ?
 
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Question: is it worth it to sell my Onkyo 8020 for a NAD integrated amp or should I try to go for a vintage Marantz receiver for a decent price? I was just curious for future reference.
 
brownsugah said:
Question: is it worth it to sell my Onkyo 8020 for a NAD integrated amp or should I try to go for a vintage Marantz receiver for a decent price? I was just curious for future reference.
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Which NAD vs which Marantz? Also, what shape would the Marantz be in?

Personally, as a generalization, I think I'd go with the NAD. The vintage Marantz stuff is good, and generally beautiful, but I feel like they come with an unnecessary brand name premium a lot of the time.
 
displayname said:
Which NAD vs which Marantz? Also, what shape would the Marantz be in?

Personally, as a generalization, I think I'd go with the NAD. The vintage Marantz stuff is good, and generally beautiful, but I feel like they come with an unnecessary brand name premium a lot of the time.
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Maybe a NAD216BEE v2..since it has a built in pre-amp. And I’m open to any Marantz Reciever as long as it’s in decent shape and doesn’t cost too much. I was hoping to come across one at a Goodwill, but no luck so far.

I bought my Onkyo 8020 some months ago, so I don’t think I’ll be upgrading too soon. But maybe within a year or 2 years time.. unless the difference is really noticeable. Lol
 
brownsugah said:
Maybe a NAD216BEE v2..since it has a built in pre-amp. And I’m open to any Marantz Reciever as long as it’s in decent shape and doesn’t cost too much. I was hoping to come across one at a Goodwill, but no luck so far.

I bought my Onkyo 8020 some months ago, so I don’t think I’ll be upgrading too soon. But maybe within a year or 2 years time.. unless the difference is really noticeable. Lol
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If your happy with your Onkyo at the moment I would take my time and research what it is that I really want, budget, features, etc... Especially if you're looking for a more "end game" piece of equipment. That being said, I'm a big fan of NAD, I still have my NAD C375BEE and I would maybe see if you can find a used one at a good price, they're out of production, but it's an amazing amp. That's my plug, lol. But really, don't be in a hurry to get a new amp if you don't need to be, do a little research, ask questions, you know we love putting in our 2 cents ;)

My only argument with vintage is to really do your homework, vintage is nice, but can open up a can of worms that will cost you more money.
 
brownsugah said:
Question: is it worth it to sell my Onkyo 8020 for a NAD integrated amp or should I try to go for a vintage Marantz receiver for a decent price? I was just curious for future reference.
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I can't opine as to the Onkyo 8020 or a vintage Marantz, but I recently switched from a NAD 316bee v2 to a vintage Concept 6.5 receiver. Concept receivers were made in Japan in the late 70s, like Marantz, and some folks on the interwebs say the two brands are comparable in sound and build quality. My own opinion is the Concept has been a considerable upgrade from the NAD, with a much richer, fuller sound.

To sum up, a vintage Marantz would be a bigger upgrade than the 316bee, but it will likely cost more to get a quality unit. Unless you're lucky enough to find one at a thrift shop, but then you would probably need to take it to a tech for cleanup, testing, and repair.
 
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brownsugah said:
Maybe a NAD216BEE v2..since it has a built in pre-amp. And I’m open to any Marantz Reciever as long as it’s in decent shape and doesn’t cost too much. I was hoping to come across one at a Goodwill, but no luck so far.

I bought my Onkyo 8020 some months ago, so I don’t think I’ll be upgrading too soon. But maybe within a year or 2 years time.. unless the difference is really noticeable. Lol
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If it was me I wouldn’t be in a rush to run out and swap the onkyo for a 216. The limiting factor in both is the built in preamp. I’d consider, if it was me, working in stages. First saving $250-$300 towards an external pre such as the pho-8 or StudioPhono. That would give your onkyo a new lease of life and you’d notice the difference. This would give you a boost to your sound and some breathing space to save for a new amp and you could look at something like the NAD 326 which doesn’t have a phono but that’s ok because you have one. Unless, of course, you are really unhappy with your onkyo, that might make it more urgent to just get something.

As for vintage. You’re paying over the odds for the retro look and the name with little or no knowledge of how it’s been used/abused or loved and cared for or not over its lifetime. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, and an expensive one at that...
 
brownsugah said:
Maybe a NAD216BEE v2..since it has a built in pre-amp. And I’m open to any Marantz Reciever as long as it’s in decent shape and doesn’t cost too much. I was hoping to come across one at a Goodwill, but no luck so far.

I bought my Onkyo 8020 some months ago, so I don’t think I’ll be upgrading too soon. But maybe within a year or 2 years time.. unless the difference is really noticeable. Lol
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Try to meet some people locally and get your ears on the gear. Plus keep a pulse on new stuff. New gear now will probably be excellent used buys on your time frame. Plus who knows what else will come out between now and then.
 
Joe Mac said:
As for vintage. You’re paying over the odds for the retro look and the name with little or no knowledge of how it’s been used/abused or loved and cared for or not over its lifetime. It’s a bit of a crapshoot, and an expensive one at that...
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This is true. Full disclosure, my Concept has had one prior owner, my dad, who took very good care of it.
 
YoHabloEspanol said:
My neighbor 2 blocks away is moving and decided to sell his Kenwood system for $200. This is my haul.

View attachment 12513
Amp and equalizer

View attachment 12514
CD, cassette and radio

View attachment 12515

And the speakers too
View attachment 12516

Now I'm going out to get some speaker wires and see if this thing is working properly.

So, was this a good investment?
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Nice! Are/were kenwood and pioneer owned by the same people?

That looks very similar to a pioneer system my dad bought in 1991. It was £500 back then which is a lot more than that now haha!

If it’s working and it’s anything like my dads old pioneer it should be a great little All in one for you!
 
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