First Vintage System Recommendations

Greetings everyone, glad to be here. I'm looking to build a system in order to listen to all the vinyl my parents have passed down to me. Very excited to get going on this. Everything from classical, jazz, to rock. And for the last couple of days, I've been trying narrow down the type of receiver, turntable, etc. This has proven to be quite a daunting task! Too many choices and options.

Here are my main questions:

1) Vintage stuff or new stuff? I'm leaning towards vintage because of the nostalgia aspect and the warm classic sounds. I need to buy everything "refreshed". I don't have the desire to tinker around with these things as I have no electronic experience with boards, circuitry etc BUT I do enjoy the cleaning/polishing side. So, the vintage stuff I'll be getting is going to be on the higher side of the price spectrum as it will be restored. Totally fine with this. I'm the type of guy who drops the receiver off to the professional who knows what they're doing if there's something wrong.

2) After reading #1, what are some good receivers and turntables to look out for? I don't need to the top of the line monster receivers but I do want quality without breaking the bank. Nothing super fancy either. I would rather buy something that's nice the first time. Some of the receivers ($250-$400) I've been looking at are the Sansui 6060, Sansui 881, Harmon Kardon 730, Kenwood 7700. Turntables ($250-$400): Technics SL-D1, D2, 1200, etc. Haven't even started on speakers yet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much guys.

What speakers? They have a lot to do with the receiver you choose. Some are quite efficient and don't need much power. Others are real hogs (apologies to Mr. Pig) and suck up all the power you can give them.

Ideally you buy speakers that you have actually heard and liked. You then buy a receiver/integrated that has the power needed to drive them.

BTW: You can pretty much ignore speaker wattage ratings. They are pretty much worthless and useless.

did your parents take great care of the collection? Did you hear "zeego don't touch those records" alot when you were a kid? do you know any details about the turntable they used? Have you cleaned any of the records and played them on a good system?

if you have a nice collection of records in great shape and if they also have sentimental value, I recommend putting most of your budget into a nice turntable to preserve your collection. you can always upgrade amps and speakers but you wont be able to replace the records.

Because you dont like to tinker I recommend new equipment or used that is less than 10 years old. stuff from the 70s and 80s has been a PITA for me.

if you dont listen to FM radio you might want to consider an integrated amp instead of a receiver. Marantz and Yamaha have nice new integrated amps with a phono input at reasonable prices. many other options areout there

If you don't like to tinker there is no way you can be guaranteed of trouble free vintage gear, so I would look for plug and play. New gear can be had for low cost that will be surprisingly nice sounding. Check our review section for reviews, check out sites such as Parts Express for low cost amplification and speaker units. If you find a nice unit that does not have a phono input, you can buy decent ones for less than 50 dollars. Have fun!

Reynolds531 said:

if you dont listen to FM radio you might want to consider an integrated amp instead of a receiver. Marantz and Yamaha have nice new integrated amps with a phono input at reasonable prices. many other options areout there

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Another vote for a modern integrated. Between all the streaming services, and apps such as iHeart Radio, I see no need for fussing around with a tuner. I wouldn't worry too much about having an onboard phono stage, or DAC, as there's no shortage of affordable external products to fill those needs. Besides the aforementioned Marantz and Yamaha there's also companies such as Onkyo, Rega, and NAD, to name but a few.

JoeESP9 said:

What speakers? They have a lot to do with the receiver you choose. Some are quite efficient and don't need much power. Others are real hogs (apologies to Mr. Pig) and suck up all the power you can give them.

Ideally you buy speakers that you have actually heard and liked. You then buy a receiver/integrated that has the power needed to drive them.

BTW: You can pretty much ignore speaker wattage ratings. They are pretty much worthless and useless.

Click to expand...

100% Correct :thmbsp:

How can you know which receiver or amp you need without knowing the specific speakers you want to drive? You can't. For instance, your electronics needs would likely be entirely different for Klipsches versus Magnepans. Choose speakers first.

What happened to your parent's stereo system? If it is around, you may want to start there.

musichal said:

100% Correct :thmbsp:

How can you know which receiver or amp you need without knowing the specific speakers you want to drive? You can't. For instance, your electronics needs would likely be entirely different for Klipsches versus Magnepans. Choose speakers first.

Click to expand...

yea. I was assuming that within the OP's budget the speakers would be conventional design, nominal 8 ohm, and efficiency 85 dB or better. And, as a first system I do recommend this type of speaker.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think after reading the responses, I'm going to get a new system instead of going the vintage route. The last thing I want to do is spend more time working on and fixing stuff rather than listening to music. :thmbsp:

With that being said, I guess I need to start off with some nice speakers. Seems to be the component to but first. Not looking to blow the roof of the house. Most of my listening is going to be in a 12 x 12 office of maybe the family room later on. Thinking about some desktop size speakers. I used to have some Polk Audio ones back in the day that were really nice.

Then off to the receiver and turntable.

And so the research begins for some new toys.

Consider a $25 investment to join as a subscriber to gain access to Barter Town. A properly refoamed/recapped pair of speakers can last another 25 years.

Here's a list of sites to get you started-

http://www.dailyaudiophile.com/

As the owner of the Pioneer BS-SP21LR's ($59/pair@Newegg) I can highly recommend the BS-SP22LR version which sounds even better. They are available at Best Buy so you can listen to them first. IMO they are more than adequate for a 12' x 12' office.

If you want more bass add a subwoofer. The matching Pioneer subwoofer is IMO overpriced. I paired mine with an 8" Monoprice powered subwoofer for ~$60.

Some others have suggested new rather than vintage. I agree with them and suggest an integrated amp over a receiver. For an Integrated amp the Yamaha AS501SL is a very nice piece of gear. It also comes in Silver (my preference) or Black. The AS801SL even includes a USB DAC.

Zeego said:

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think after reading the responses, I'm going to get a new system instead of going the vintage route. The last thing I want to do is spend more time working on and fixing stuff rather than listening to music. :thmbsp:

With that being said, I guess I need to start off with some nice speakers. Seems to be the component to but first. Not looking to blow the roof of the house. Most of my listening is going to be in a 12 x 12 office of maybe the family room later on. Thinking about some desktop size speakers. I used to have some Polk Audio ones back in the day that were really nice.

Then off to the receiver and turntable.

And so the research begins for some new toys.

Click to expand...

And there goes the fun!

The Pioneer bs-22 bookshelf speakers are highly rated. The tweaked Pioneer's from Dennis Murphy of Philharmonic Audio are even better. http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html

crn3371 said:

The Pioneer bs-22 bookshelf speakers are highly rated. The tweaked Pioneer's from Dennis Murphy of Philharmonic Audio are even better. http://philharmonicaudio.com/aa.html

Click to expand...

Ooooh. Glad I waited. When I finally get a pair of these, I will order from these guys!

I can also endorse smaller speakers from KEF, PSB, Polk Audio (older monitor series). My favorite vintage speakers are my ADS L510s that I purchased for $75 from CL. They are remarkable. Any of the older ADS speakers really blast in a smaller room such as you are describing, and I think they sound good at lower volume levels too.

Re the amp/pream,p, a modern integrated yes would be trouble free, but a well-restored Yamaha CA or CR unit would also be lovely. I have a lot of equipment, but I'm finding more and more pull to my vintage Yamahas. They just work and sound great.

You have a lot of TT choices, but the basic U-Turn orbit with a upgraded cartridge would be fine for starters...

Happy hunting!

As long as you understand that you will have to pay for an occasional repair, I would go vintage.

Mid-line Marantz, Luxman, Pioneer, Sansui, Yamaha, etc. receiver or integrated.

Maybe ADS L-710 speakers.

Turntable? I might go new on the table. Seems like many folks here at AK really like the U-Turn Orbit.

YMMV.....

Occasional repair!? By the time you've had a good technician rebuild (yes rebuild) that vintage piece there's still no guarantee it will work for long. You could have bought something new with a warranty for the same or less money.

I'm going to have to third or fourth or whatever going modern over vintage.
Vintage is a fun journey of it's own but if you want to get to the listening part ASAP modern is the way to go. You can always buy something vintage later and tinker with it while listening to your modern unit in the background. Beside that, the cost on a great sounding piece of equipment (like the mentioned Yamaha stuff) is very reasonable.
Once you've done some reading and listening watch Craigslist for deals to pop up. The other day a near perfect Yamaha AS301 listed for $75 which I pointed a friend at.

Sansui

Vintage is good but it is a crapshoot.I have found some vintage that has had no problems for years but others that develope problems.Personally even though I have new and vintage I feel the vintage is more engaging.