$1000 budget. NYC Apartment Setup

[David A.]

Hi all. So, I recently came into some fantasy football championship winnings. Really wanted to ask the audiophile crew here: if I had $1000 bucks ear marked to get a system for an apartment, what's the set up to go with?

I have an At-120 and a Schure M-97xe cartridge. Should I keep my Audio Technical (direct drive), sauter out the built in pre-amp, get a good external pre-amp and powered speakers? Should I get a dedicated receiver? I want a set up that's good on floor space.

I've been toying with getting a U-Turn Orbit special or a Pro-Ject Carbon evo TT.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[scotthilk]

@HiFi Guy

 

[Russ I]

@MikeH (for the apartment experience)

 

[David A.]

Thanks, guys. Really appreciate you steering me in the right direction.

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

My suggestions would be NAD 316BEE Intrgrated B Stock $375 (N&G approved), Uturn Orbit Plus $329-399, $550 Wharfedale Denton's, a little over but great, warm, musical, system.

 

[David A.]

Would the Orbit Special be worth splurging for?

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

Would the Orbit Special be worth splurging for?

Not really IMO unless you have to have the hard wood plinth look

 

[David A.]

Not really IMO unless you have to have the hard wood plinth look

Hmm, was curious about if the wood changes any of the audio dynamics or if it’s just ornamental.

 

[JohnnyCashFan]

Hmm, was curious about if the wood changes any of the audio dynamics or if it’s just ornamental.

I don't think so, I would just do black seeing you are on a budget. You can add the cue lever by ordering a Custom or later ($40). I would suggest the Grado Black Cart pre installed (Custom) if you can swing it.

You will get some solid advice from @HiFi Guy as well.

 

[epyon415]

If you end up going the Uturn route I have a used one that needs a new home. I’d see what hifi guy recommends first.

 

[MikeH]

My suggestions would be NAD 316BEE Intrgrated B Stock $375 (N&G approved), Uturn Orbit Plus $329-399, $550 Wharfedale Denton's, a little over but great, warm, musical, system.

I'd second these suggestions. Think it would be a great upgrade for ya. Don't be afraid to buy open box from places like Music Direct. I had these speakers in my apartment when I lived in NYC (still have them and use them in my secondary setup now) and they are great:

Wharfedale - Denton 80th Anniversary Bookshelf Speakers (Pair)

The world's largest online retailer of high-end audio, audiophile music, and accessories. We specialize in vinyl records and turntables.

www.musicdirect.com

They are a nice looking speaker and sound great. I have the mahogany but I know that the walnut is a favorite around here. Purely a looks preference though. You may be able to get them cheaper if an open box deal pops up through MD (I think I paid $350 awhile ago for mine open box through MD). But might not have too many open box deals anymore since they are an older model.

And pretty sure with the NAD you could always get an external preamp later if you wanted to upgrade/try tubes/etc.

 

[HiFi Guy]

Hi all. So, I recently came into some fantasy football championship winnings. Really wanted to ask the audiophile crew here: if I had $1000 bucks ear marked to get a system for an apartment, what's the set up to go with?

I have an At-120 and a Schure M-97xe cartridge. Should I keep my Audio Technical (direct drive), sauter out the built in pre-amp, get a good external pre-amp and powered speakers? Should I get a dedicated receiver? I want a set up that's good on floor space.

I've been toying with getting a U-Turn Orbit special or a Pro-Ject Carbon evo TT.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I’d go for the system that @JohnnyCashFan recommended. If you don’t want to go over budget (and you may not with a preowned UTurn from @epyon415 ) then keep the turntable you have and use the phono stage in the NAD. One thing I will point out- your stylus is old and likely needs replacement. The OG Shure styli from the Mexican plant didn’t have the best QC. You can get a replacement from Jico in Japan, LP Gear, LP Tunes or Turntable Needles. This is the odd case where the replacement beats the OG factory stylus.

If you go UTurn, get a Grado or Ortofon OM (not 2m) cartridge. The base A/T isn’t great. That Shure won’t align on the U Turn arm. Sell the Shure on eBay- you’ll make a large profit from the $99 they originally sold for. People are wanting those in a big way since Shure ceased production. Lord knows why. Almost any new $100 cartridge is better- even the Ortofon 2m Red.

 

[David A.]

Now to see if I kept the packaging for the Shure cartridge. @MikeH , @HiFi Guy , I’ve got my marching orders.

Thank you so much.

My max budget is $1500, $1000 just happens to be my target price.

Im going to save so much by not just splurging on the TT.

Let’s say I did wanna splurge though, Is that Carbon Debut EVO worth the price tag?

 

[David A.]

If you end up going the Uturn route I have a used one that needs a new home. I’d see what hifi guy recommends first.

let’s talk via DM!

 

[HiFi Guy]

Now to see if I kept the packaging for the Shure cartridge. @MikeH , @HiFi Guy , I’ve got my marching orders.

Thank you so much.

My max budget is $1500, $1000 just happens to be my target price.

Im going to save so much by not just splurging on the TT.

Let’s say I did wanna splurge though, Is that Carbon Debut EVO worth the price tag?

I’m not a big fan. I don’t like the arm, and the cartridge wiring is super fragile.

If you want to splurge, the Pioneer PLX-1000 is the move. Can be had for around $600 with coupons from Musician’s Friend. The only caveat is that the dust cover isn’t hinged.

If you’d like, I can loan you my trusty MoFi Geodisc to align whatever cartridge you decide upon.

 

[David A.]

So, I take it tubed phono pre-amps are the way to go later on down the line? Is the difference that noticeable?

 

[MikeH]

So, I take it tubed phono pre-amps are the way to go later on down the line? Is the difference that noticeable?

you'll get many varying opinions on what kind of preamps are best and it depends on what kind of sound you like as well. i think you'd be pretty set for the meantime with the built in preamp on the NAD. i have the musical fidelity lx-lps which is in my secondary setup now and really liked it for the value. i think people like the Darlington MM-6 too for something on the cheaper side. Theres a whole thread on here about that one.

 

[David A.]

If you want to splurge, the Pioneer PLX-1000 is the move. Can be had for around $600 with coupons from Musician’s Friend. The only caveat is that the dust cover isn’t hinged.

I’ll take you up on that Geodisk offer. Was just curious: that PLX is a direct motor driven drive. I was always under the impression that direct drives typically are too noisy and create interference with signals?

 

[HiFi Guy]

So, I take it tubed phono pre-amps are the way to go later on down the line? Is the difference that noticeable?

Here’s the thing about tubes:

Inexpensive
Quiet
High Quality Sound

You can’t have all 3. You can only have 2.

Others here will disagree, but although my amp is tubes, my phono stage isn’t. Tubes can become noisy as they age. You are dealing with millivolts (tiny signals) and under most circumstances I think you are better off without tubes for your phono stage. The ones I would recommend are $2800 and up. The one I lust after is $9k give or take. You don’t have to spend anywhere that to get a great phono stage- check out the Darlington Labs MM-6 (starts at $329 and sounds way more expensive). The phono stage built in to the NAD C316 BEE is no slouch though.

 

[HiFi Guy]

I’ll take you up on that Geodisk offer. Was just curious: that PLX is a direct motor driven drive. I was always under the impression that direct drives typically are too noisy and create interference with signals?

There are good and bad examples of both belt and direct drive tables. The PLX-1000 is very quiet as far as hum/noise.