Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

[Joe Mac]

You...shhhhhhhhhhh

If It was the P3 in the same price bracket I’d probably go rega too, the 8 & 10 are in my someday when I’m rich list . Against the P2 I’d probably edge towards the pro-ject, there isn’t much in it but the speed change and acrylic platter wins the day for me.

 

[Bsdmr2]

If It was the P3 in the same price bracket I’d probably go rega too, the 8 & 10 are in my someday when I’m rich list . Against the P2 I’d probably edge towards the pro-ject, there isn’t much in it but the speed change and acrylic platter wins the day for me.

The speed change in fairness is a faff on the p2 and p3!

 

[Kyuuji]

@Bsdmr2 , @Joe Mac

This is such a wholesome start to the discussion - thank you both for your responses already. Honestly the fact that it's so close as an initial response gives me confidence that either could have been a correct choice. Just didn't want for that to be my impression and then find out it was a "you did what?" scenario lol. The Esprit is ordered from earlier currently but obviously can still change it should something conretely nudge me in another direction.

The ex-demo P3 being around that price is interesting but can't see anything available at the moment from a glance around, and buying second-hand or ex-demo gives me a little wobble just because not being experienced in any part of this I don't want to miss something glaring (or have an issue and be second guessing whether it was something to do with it not being new). Paranoia no doubt but with there being so much in general that will be new to me hardware and technical wise wondering if it's not best to go new? If that makes any sense lol.

As mentioned by Joe I've heard about the recommendation for the Esprit being to upgrade the cartridge so was eyeing the 2M Blue the next month anyway and glad that is confirmed as being a recommended point of upgrade. Honestly cartridge == inkjet printer for me still atm so there's a lot to learn here but that is exciting in and of itself.

Stand alone phono stage sounds interesting @Joe Mac - being honest though, they're just cool sounding words to me. I'm still on the "amp = amplifier" end of the literacy spectrum here! They look to be around £200-250 (ish?) so would be one for a couple of months down the line if it's not seen as critical to start with? Appreciate you giving me what would be in line with the rest, very useful to have noted. In general though what is the aim of this element? I'm sure some may cringe but I'll revel in my ignorance for the moment.

As with the speakers, @Bsdmr2 , ex-demo sounds good. From a cursory glance can spot one on ebay from Italy that's ex-display with warranty for £450. As with the above some of the concern is not picking up on any issue as a result of my ignorance and this all being new. At the same time I don't want to seem like an idiot for spending a load of money unnecessarily.

Very helpful so far, thank you so much. Really excited and has eased a lot of the anxiety even if the first responses were one vote for each lmao!

 

[Joe Mac]

@Bsdmr2 , @Joe Mac

This is such a wholesome start to the discussion - thank you both for your responses already. Honestly the fact that it's so close as an initial response gives me confidence that either could have been a correct choice. Just didn't want for that to be my impression and then find out it was a "you did what?" scenario lol. The Esprit is ordered from earlier currently but obviously can still change it should something conretely nudge me in another direction.

The ex-demo P3 being around that price is interesting but can't see anything available at the moment from a glance around, and buying second-hand or ex-demo gives me a little wobble just because not being experienced in any part of this I don't want to miss something glaring (or have an issue and be second guessing whether it was something to do with it not being new). Paranoia no doubt but with there being so much in general that will be new to me hardware and technical wise wondering if it's not best to go new? If that makes any sense lol.

As mentioned by Joe I've heard about the recommendation for the Esprit being to upgrade the cartridge so was eyeing the 2M Blue the next month anyway and glad that is confirmed as being a recommended point of upgrade. Honestly cartridge == inkjet printer for me still atm so there's a lot to learn here but that is exciting in and of itself.

Stand alone phono stage sounds interesting @Joe Mac - being honest though, they're just cool sounding words to me. I'm still on the "amp = amplifier" end of the literacy spectrum here! They look to be around £200-250 (ish?) so would be one for a couple of months down the line if it's not seen as critical to start with? Appreciate you giving me what would be in line with the rest, very useful to have noted. In general though what is the aim of this element? I'm sure some may cringe but I'll revel in my ignorance for the moment.

As with the speakers, @Bsdmr2 , ex-demo sounds good. From a cursory glance can spot one on ebay from Italy that's ex-display with warranty for £450. As with the above some of the concern is not picking up on any issue as a result of my ignorance and this all being new. At the same time I don't want to seem like an idiot for spending a load of money unnecessarily.

Very helpful so far, thank you so much. Really excited and has eased a lot of the anxiety even if the first responses were one vote for each lmao!

So basically a cartridge has a very low level output in comparison to other outputs (tuners/digital/etc) and so it needs to have an amplification curve added to it before your amplifier can use it. That’s what a phono stage is. There is one in your amplifier and it will work fine. It is compromised however as often within a budget amp its added as a convenience or as a bonus selling point and while it’ll work it won’t extract the maximum out of your system. An outboard phono stage as an upgrade will generally allow you to extract more of the detail that your cartridge is picking up and will widen the soundstage. They are, in my experience the most underrated upgrade, the right one can do wonders for your sound.

 

[Aelias]

Hello all, I hope everyone is managing to stay safe and well. New here - recommended by someone I know on another site - and wondering if people wouldn't mind giving me some advice or a thumbs up on the below.

Hi @Kyuuji , glad you decided to drop by! I'm Yoss

 

[Haimez40]

I got an album in 2 days from Amazon.

Got a AT VM540ml in like 4 days from Amazon but saying May 5 if ordered another one. They are pretty clear on what to expect shipping.

 

[Kyuuji]

So basically a cartridge has a very low level output in comparison to other outputs (tuners/digital/etc) and so it needs to have an amplification curve added to it before your amplifier can use it. That’s what a phono stage is. There is one in your amplifier and it will work fine. It is compromised however as often within a budget amp its added as a convenience or as a bonus selling point and while it’ll work it won’t extract the maximum out of your system. An outboard phono stage as an upgrade will generally allow you to extract more of the detail that your cartridge is picking up and will widen the soundstage. They are, in my experience the most underrated upgrade, the right one can do wonders for your sound.

Beautiful breakdown of that, thank you. Useful to know and understood - definitely one to focus on then in a couple of months when the wallet is topped back up and it'll be nice to have an upgrade I can apply and hear (as well as look forward to!).

On the topic from before, and @Bsdmr2 to note, I found a pair of the RP-600M's on ebay for ~£450 new from Germany, from a seller with solid and expansive feedback (5k - hifisound de - and some for these speakers, from people paying more a few months back) and denoted as an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch by ebay in the listing. Can't lie I'm a little nervous but the £150 saved will now allow me to pick up the 2M Blue sooner rather than later atop setting a little aside for one of the phono stages later on.

Honestly the full RRP was a little over what I'd have liked to pay right now but had heard great things about them, so this is a really nice outcome sans the minor anxiety of hoping they're ok!

Hi @Kyuuji , glad you decided to drop by! I'm Yoss

Hello! Thank you for the link, what a lovely place.

 

[Joe Mac]

Beautiful breakdown of that, thank you. Useful to know and understood - definitely one to focus on then in a couple of months when the wallet is topped back up and it'll be nice to have an upgrade I can apply and hear (as well as look forward to!).

On the topic from before, and @Bsdmr2 to note, I found a pair of the RP-600M's on ebay for ~£450 new from Germany, from a seller with solid and expansive feedback (5k - hifisound de - and some for these speakers, from people paying more a few months back) and denoted as an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch by ebay in the listing. Can't lie I'm a little nervous but the £150 saved will now allow me to pick up the 2M Blue sooner rather than later atop setting a little aside for one of the phono stages later on.



Hello! Thank you for the link, what a lovely place.

A little bit of googling tells me that they are an actual brick and mortar store using eBay as a sales tool. Ex Demo stuff can be a great way to save money. My power amps were £500 below list price (effectively 20% off) because they’d been a home demo for another customer for a month. They arrived packaged and looking like new and I’m delighted with the purchase. The key is to content yourself with the seller/dealer and read the notes about condition/use carefully.

 

[Haimez40]

I've said this numerous times across the site (maybe even in this thread) the raspberry pi DAC route is absolute steal. Listen to Joe Mac.
I use it for Spotify, my local Flac files, and some radio stations since I only have Marantz PM8006 for power.

Edit: the steel case matches Pho8 perfectly. Got it between the 2 pieces.

 

[Kyuuji]

A little bit of googling tells me that they are an actual brick and mortar store using eBay as a sales tool. Ex Demo stuff can be a great way to save money. My power amps were £500 below list price (effectively 20% off) because they’d been a home demo for another customer for a month. They arrived packaged and looking like new and I’m delighted with the purchase. The key is to content yourself with the seller/dealer and read the notes about condition/use carefully.

That combined with the large amount of positive feedback in general, good feedback around the RP-600M's sold earlier while priced higher and the verified tick for being an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch definitely helped to determine the click. Their primary website also has a very high (98.66% across thousands) positive review score from something akin to Trustpilot there to boot. As you say important to content yourself with these things and feel fortunate that that's there in combination with the great price. Thank you for looking out too.

If you'll indulge me a couple more basic questions I was wondering which of the phono stages you suggested would be your pick and how come? Also - and this is real rookie territory - I'm not sure if I need any more wires than will be supplied with everything and if so.. which! Any help there would be great before everything arrives and I'm left trying to figure out a five wire setup with three haha.

Thanks again for the patience and help, really has helped to alleviate some of the anxiety around starting out.

 

[kvetcha]

That combined with the large amount of positive feedback in general, good feedback around the RP-600M's sold earlier while priced higher and the verified tick for being an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch definitely helped to determine the click. Their primary website also has a very high (98.66% across thousands) positive review score from something akin to Trustpilot there to boot. As you say important to content yourself with these things and feel fortunate that that's there in combination with the great price. Thank you for looking out too.

If you'll indulge me a couple more basic questions I was wondering which of the phono stages you suggested would be your pick and how come? Also - and this is real rookie territory - I'm not sure if I need any more wires than will be supplied with everything and if so.. which! Any help there would be great before everything arrives and I'm left trying to figure out a five wire setup with three haha.

Thanks again for the patience and help, really has helped to alleviate some of the anxiety around starting out.

hello, welcome!

I’m one of the forum‘s resident Klipsch enthusiasts, so I will of course nudge you that direction over the more polite ELACs. But they are both excellent.

All the options @Joe Mac suggested are excellent, so it might really come down to which is the best deal in your area.

Most of the necessary cables should be supplied aside from speaker wire, which you’ll need to run from your amplifier to the speaker terminals.

 

[Joe Mac]

That combined with the large amount of feedback, good feedback around the RP-600M's sold earlier while priced higher and the verified tick for being an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch definitely helped to determine the click. Their primary website also has a very high (98.66% across thousands) positive review score from something akin to Trustpilot there to boot. As you say important to content yourself with these things and feel fortunate that that's there in combination with the great price. Thank you for looking out too.

If you'll indulge me a couple more basic questions I was wondering which of the phono stages you suggested would be your pick and how come? Also - and this is real rookie territory - I'm not sure if I need any more wires than will be supplied and if so.. which! Any help there would be great before everything arrives and I'm left trying to figure out a five wire setup with three haha.

Thanks again for the patience and help, really has helped to alleviate some of the anxiety around starting out.

So I have the musical fidelity Mx-vynl and I adore it. The lx2-lps I mentioned above is it’s little brother built with the same principles just with less options and so on that reason alone I’d say it. A fair few people here got the previous lx too before it was discontinued and they all have good things to say.

I have no first hand experience of the pho 8 or mofi but there are too many people, whose opinions I trust, on here with one or the other who like them for me to not mention them as options. As for cables, the ones that come with systems are trash. The best value for money option is



Seriously. 2 pairs of their LC1 interconnects (3 if you want to be prepared for a future phono stage)

Stereo Cables at Blue Jeans Cable

A pair of their BJC 10 speaker cables with bananas on either end (these are sold individually so make sure to pick a quantity of 2).

Speaker Cable at Blue Jeans Cable

bluejeancables.co.uk

And a cheap grounding wire to go between the ground lug on the tt and the ground lug on the amp

1M TURNTABLE EARTH/GROUND WIRE RECORD DECK GROUNDED CABLE LEAD STOP HUMMING HUM | eBay

Dedicated universal grounding lead that work on any record deck, turntable. Eliminates the mains hum common on Record Decks that are used without the correct cable. High Quality earth wires made using high grade 24 strand OFC copper cable with professionally soldered spade connectors.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[kvetcha]

I wish my stereo arrangement didn’t mean I require three separate sets of speaker cables.

 

[apholden]

For the earlier question about what phono preamps do and why you might want one, they basically do two things:

1. Increase the voltage from the millivolts (or less) from the stylus to a couple volts to match the rest of the system.
2. "Decompress" (not a good description, but the best word I can think of) the music from how it was recorded. Basically, records are stamped with the bass turned down and the treble turned up to get as much information to the groove as possible. The phono preamp undoes this to make it sound natural.

Many turntables and amplifiers have phono preamps built in. These usually have just enough quality that the manufacturer can say they have one (with a few exceptions—Slimwhit33 found his Luxman's built-in preamp was as good as a $1400 Sutherland). Dedicated units can do a better job of both of these tasks.

 

[Kyuuji]

hello, welcome!

I’m one of the forum‘s resident Klipsch enthusiasts, so I will of course nudge you that direction over the more polite ELACs. But they are both excellent.

All the options @Joe Mac suggested are excellent, so it might really come down to which is the best deal in your area.

Most of the necessary cables should be supplied aside from speaker wire, which you’ll need to run from your amplifier to the speaker terminals.

Hey kvetcha, good to see you and thank you!

No nudging necessary as they should soon be en route but I appreciate the other brand to note for general awareness. Thankfully speaker wire is perhaps the only part of the setup that makes some sense to me lol, being that when I was a kid I was small enough for my dad to send me behind all of his music stuff to connect them to his Technics. Thank you for the heads up, I'll order some.

So I have the musical fidelity Mx-vynl and I adore it. The lx2-lps I mentioned above is it’s little brother built with the same principles just with less options and so on that reason alone I’d say it. A fair few people here got the previous lx too before it was discontinued and they all have good things to say.

I have no first hand experience of the pho 8 or mofi but there are too many people, whose opinions I trust, on here with one or the other who like them for me to not mention them as options. As for cables, the ones that come with systems are trash. The best value for money option is



Seriously. 2 pairs of their LC1 interconnects (3 if you want to be prepared for a future phono stage)

Stereo Cables at Blue Jeans Cable

A pair of their BJC 10 speaker cables with bananas on either end (these are sold individually so make sure to pick a quantity of 2).

Speaker Cable at Blue Jeans Cable

bluejeancables.co.uk

And a cheap grounding wire to go between the ground lug on the tt and the ground lug on the amp

1M TURNTABLE EARTH/GROUND WIRE RECORD DECK GROUNDED CABLE LEAD STOP HUMMING HUM | eBay

Dedicated universal grounding lead that work on any record deck, turntable. Eliminates the mains hum common on Record Decks that are used without the correct cable. High Quality earth wires made using high grade 24 strand OFC copper cable with professionally soldered spade connectors.

www.ebay.co.uk

This is really useful thank you, not least for providing the links alongside some musical accompaniment! Seems it would be wise to connect everything up and make it as I want it and then order the necessary length cables from Blue Jeans to suit, plus the additional for the future phono stage. Definitely priced to a point where it would be possible to do from the get-go and just noticed the meters option isn't integer based so no major excess necessary.

Nice to see the firm recommendation for the lx2-lps and thanks for the reiteration of others, will look into all of them as would be good to get a beat on what I'm aiming for. Also thanks for the mention of the mx-vynl. Definitely something much further down the road but helps paint a picture of the landscape.

Can't even think of anything else to ask about, so thank you - and @kvetcha , @Bsdmr2 - for the time and help. Really is appreciated and can come out of this my excitement reignited for when everything eventually arrives and can assemble. Until then, glad to have found this place - thanks again to @Aelias for the connect and you all for such a warm welcome.

Look forward to poking into the other areas of the forum!

For the earlier question about what phono preamps do and why you might want one, they basically do two things:

1. Increase the voltage from the millivolts (or less) from the stylus to a couple volts to match the rest of the system.
2. "Decompress" (not a good description, but the best word I can think of) the music from how it was recorded. Basically, records are stamped with the bass turned down and the treble turned up to get as much information to the groove as possible. The phono preamp undoes this to make it sound natural.

Many turntables and amplifiers have phono preamps built in. These usually have just enough quality that the manufacturer can say they have one (with a few exceptions). Dedicated units can do a better job of both of these tasks.

Appreciate the additional info, it's all really interesting - especially the second point. Slowly filling the rudimentary knowledge gaps. Now that I've got my head around the setup and have beyond exhausted the initial records budget I can enjoy the pause between now and getting to put everything together by reading up on literally everything and disassembling the limiters on my hype propellers.

 

[Joe Mac]

Hey kvetcha, good to see you and thank you!

No nudging necessary as they should soon be en route but I appreciate the other brand to note for general awareness. Thankfully speaker wire is perhaps the only part of the setup that makes some sense to me lol, being that when I was a kid I was small enough for my dad to send me behind all of his music stuff to connect them to his Technics. Thank you for the heads up, I'll order some.


This is really useful thank you, not least for providing the links alongside some musical accompaniment! Seems it would be wise to connect everything up and make it as I want it and then order the necessary length cables from Blue Jeans to suit, plus the additional for the future phono stage. Definitely priced to a point where it would be possible to do from the get-go and just noticed the meters option isn't integer based so no major excess necessary.

Nice to see the firm recommendation for the lx2-lps and thanks for the reiteration of others, will look into all of them as would be good to get a beat on what I'm aiming for. Also thanks for the mention of the mx-vynl. Definitely something much further down the road but helps paint a picture of the landscape.

Can't even think of anything else to ask about, so thank you - and @kvetcha , @Bsdmr2 - for the time and help. Really is appreciated and can come out of this my excitement reignited for when everything eventually arrives and can assemble. Until then, glad to have found this place - thanks again to @Aelias for the connect and you all for such a warm welcome.

Look forward to poking into the other areas of the forum!


Appreciate the additional info, it's all really interesting - especially the second point. Slowly filling the rudimentary knowledge gaps. Now that I've got my head around the setup and have beyond exhausted the initial records budget I can enjoy the pause between now and getting to put everything together by reading up on literally everything and disassembling the limiters on my hype propellers.

I think I forgot how to count. You need 1 interconnect now now and 1 for the future phono . unless you have a steamer/cd player/tuner you want to attach as well!

you will need to have at least the speaker cable bought because no speaker cable will come supplied and so you’ll be stuck without it. If you’re ordering from the same store you might as well order both at the same time. For the speaker cable if you think the height of the amp/table stand + the height of the speaker stands + distance between them + 50cm slack you should be ok. For the interconnects, if the table is on top of the amp you could get away with 50cm likely but 1m is usually a good length to order for flexibility.

 

[HiFi Guy]

That combined with the large amount of positive feedback in general, good feedback around the RP-600M's sold earlier while priced higher and the verified tick for being an Authorised Reseller of Klipsch definitely helped to determine the click. Their primary website also has a very high (98.66% across thousands) positive review score from something akin to Trustpilot there to boot. As you say important to content yourself with these things and feel fortunate that that's there in combination with the great price. Thank you for looking out too.

If you'll indulge me a couple more basic questions I was wondering which of the phono stages you suggested would be your pick and how come? Also - and this is real rookie territory - I'm not sure if I need any more wires than will be supplied with everything and if so.. which! Any help there would be great before everything arrives and I'm left trying to figure out a five wire setup with three haha.

Thanks again for the patience and help, really has helped to alleviate some of the anxiety around starting out.

Hi and welcome.

Between the Project and the Rega, I’m going to second @Joe Mac ‘s recommendation for the Project. I’m a former multiple Rega owner. I tried to love them- but I just didn’t. I’d especially not buy anything below a P3, but again, just my opinion.

But before you decide 100% on the Project, take a look at the Pioneer PLX-1000. It’s really a fantastic table for the money. It does not come with a cartridge however. The only thing people don’t seem to like about it is that the dustcover isn’t hinged.

That’s a great amplifier choice.

 

[apholden]

@HiFi Guy has spoken! You'll quickly discover this guy has forgotten more than the rest of us, combined, can remember.

 

[Bsdmr2]

Hey kvetcha, good to see you and thank you!

No nudging necessary as they should soon be en route but I appreciate the other brand to note for general awareness. Thankfully speaker wire is perhaps the only part of the setup that makes some sense to me lol, being that when I was a kid I was small enough for my dad to send me behind all of his music stuff to connect them to his Technics. Thank you for the heads up, I'll order some.


This is really useful thank you, not least for providing the links alongside some musical accompaniment! Seems it would be wise to connect everything up and make it as I want it and then order the necessary length cables from Blue Jeans to suit, plus the additional for the future phono stage. Definitely priced to a point where it would be possible to do from the get-go and just noticed the meters option isn't integer based so no major excess necessary.

Nice to see the firm recommendation for the lx2-lps and thanks for the reiteration of others, will look into all of them as would be good to get a beat on what I'm aiming for. Also thanks for the mention of the mx-vynl. Definitely something much further down the road but helps paint a picture of the landscape.

Can't even think of anything else to ask about, so thank you - and @kvetcha , @Bsdmr2 - for the time and help. Really is appreciated and can come out of this my excitement reignited for when everything eventually arrives and can assemble. Until then, glad to have found this place - thanks again to @Aelias for the connect and you all for such a warm welcome.

Look forward to poking into the other areas of the forum!


Appreciate the additional info, it's all really interesting - especially the second point. Slowly filling the rudimentary knowledge gaps. Now that I've got my head around the setup and have beyond exhausted the initial records budget I can enjoy the pause between now and getting to put everything together by reading up on literally everything and disassembling the limiters on my hype propellers.

Brilliant stuff - glad you are all sorted and the helpful N&G gurus have got you up to speed! I’m sure you’ll love your new kit, and make sure you drop some pictures into the ‘let’s see what makes your vinyl spin’ thread when it’s up and running!

 

[Kyuuji]

I think I forgot how to count. You need 1 interconnect now now and 1 for the future phono . unless you have a steamer/cd player/tuner you want to attach as well!

you will need to have at least the speaker cable bought because no speaker cable will come supplied and so you’ll be stuck without it. If you’re ordering from the same store you might as well order both at the same time. For the speaker cable if you think the height of the amp/table stand + the height of the speaker stands + distance between them + 50cm slack you should be ok. For the interconnects, if the table is on top of the amp you could get away with 50cm likely but 1m is usually a good length to order for flexibility.

Lmao it was late, I'll give you that wallet thanks you for any minor grace at this stage too! Solid point on the speaker cable. No part of the setup is here yet so it's all flying in the dark a bit with regard to where everything might sit but as you say, it seems as though a meter length in general would allow for flexibility moving forward as opposed to trying to tailor it to the cm.

Hi and welcome.

Between the Project and the Rega, I’m going to second @Joe Mac ‘s recommendation for the Project. I’m a former multiple Rega owner. I tried to love them- but I just didn’t. I’d especially not buy anything below a P3, but again, just my opinion.

But before you decide 100% on the Project, take a look at the Pioneer PLX-1000. It’s really a fantastic table for the money. It does not come with a cartridge however. The only thing people don’t seem to like about it is that the dustcover isn’t hinged.

That’s a great amplifier choice.

Thank you very much, lovely to be here.

Appreciate the recommendation and further reassurance of the one ordered. I looked at the Pioneer PLX-1000 but think it's a little far above the current price range for starting out. Saying this as I had initially (actually before that is even more of a laugh but more on that later) landed on the AT LP120X for £200 and managed to cheekily expand the budget to double for the Project Debut Carbon Esprit with a mixture of "oh but how nice does this look" and "but if we wanted the acrylic platter eventually we'd be paying more".

So I should quit while ahead in that regard. My in-mind upgrade for this down the line was a refurbished Technics 1200 Mk2 for around £650-800 - again, ignorant to most of this in these early days so going by the reputation. Interested to hear your thoughts around that but for now I have to be happy I'm starting with a well regarded TT in the Esprit.

@HiFi Guy has spoken! You'll quickly discover this guy has forgotten more than the rest of us, combined, can remember.

I am most fortunate to be in their presence then. These are hallowed grounds in this initial time of uncertainty and anxiety and you all have been most accomodating.

Brilliant stuff - glad you are all sorted and the helpful N&G gurus have got you up to speed! I’m sure you’ll love your new kit, and make sure you drop some pictures into the ‘let’s see what makes your vinyl spin’ thread when it’s up and running!

They truly have, yourself included! Thank you and I will definitely be sure to. Can't wait.... .... ...but will have to for a bit as rather amusingly everything will be sat in boxes until the stand is decided on and bought/made. My partner is more involved in the home aesthetic department and considering this was originally put forward as a "it would be cool to be able to play records, let's get some £80 player - it would be fun!" I think it might be rather wise to exercise some patience on that front lol

Looking to go for a solid wood little stand with three vertical layers - record player atop, amp underneath, records underneath that - and some speaker stands either side for the RP-600M's. Had originally thought of one of the long open rectangle ones with the items atop and vinyls in the center but wanted to avoid concerns around a) having speakers atop the same surface as the record player and b) having them in the center with dividers but then being closed into the unit rather than open on stands. Hopefully that makes some sense in both the concerns and planned solution.

So once the stand(s) are decided upon and here, and I've no doubt had a number more posts around what cable goes where and toning my forearms (or was that adjusting the tonearm? ) I would be overjoyed to share my initial foray. Also going to love exploring this place and seeing more of what spins in the world of playing records!