Who knows about turntable setups!

What does this mean? That he can't compulsively upgrade his amp on a weekly basis?

 

All thanks for all the comments really appreciate the support.

I will be testing two amps The audiolab 8300A and the Rega elex-R. This will both blow my budget as they are both priced at around GBP800 (I can get a good deal on a demo Audiolab so can get it for less). Speakers I will try the amp with some KEF Q350, LS50 and Dynaudio EMIT 20.

Again the LS50 will blow my budget but I still want to listen tho different speakers. At the end you get a lot of recommendations but you need to make a short list to be able to decide and also find a dealer that has most of this in stock to listen to. I would like to do it in the same room as this would eliminate any distortion due to room size positioning, etc. I will be spending around GBP 1,200, way above my initial budget but will make final decision after listening.

Thanks,

Alex

 

Thanks for the comments! I will be listening to an Audiolab 8300A amp and a rega elex-r lets see how it goes!

 

Harrow Audio stocks all of that except the Emit. I got all my hi-fi from there and have nothing but praise for them.

 

Robertzombie - thanks I was thinking of getting some time with them as they are one of view that have rega amps in stock.

 

I've just got the change to buy Audiolab 8300A amp at GBP599, that is an excellent price compar to full retail (GBP899) Haven't had the time to go and listen to the amp yet but I'm really thinking of buying it, as this would help to stay within my budget. Would pair it up probably with KEF lS50, but will go and listen to those before buying.

 

The Audiolab 8300A and the KEF LS50 are, in my opinion, a superb match. The 8300A easily drives the LS50 speakers and brings out the best in the speakers. Extremely well worth a serious audition.

 

As I understand it Audiolab has a new model called 8300An and the 8300A is the older designation. This may explain the discount. Works in your favor as you may be able to push the dealer a bit on the price of a discontinued model. Never hurts to ask. If you were to buy both speakers and amp from the same place it could be a deal in the making. Perhaps a better cart for the new TT? Or a pair of higher quality speaker cables or interconnects. Salespeople want to make sales and a small negotiation is never out of place (my opinion). Sounds like you are on a good path to an upgrade. Might even have some cash for new record or two.

 

THAT. Much better and more flexible in the long run.

 

I'm the proud owner of a Audiolab 8300A amp and a Pro-ject classic turntable.....I just need some speakers and cables to finish my setup. My short list of speakers is between KEf (ls50 and Q350) and Dynaudio Emit 20. I will be going to listen to them to make up my mind, but will have to wait to recover from my budget overspend before buying!!!!

 

thanks I have since then bought an Audiolab 8300a amp and still need to decide on speakers.

 

Congratulations, good call! I remember when I owned the original 8000 way back. Whatt a great amp!

 

Take a look in the for sale section of our forum. There is a pair of KEF LS50 Anniversary speakers listed. If you have available you might give a listen to the Focal 906.

 

The Kef LS50 and Dynaudio Emit 20 are certainly both very nice speakers. Along those same lines, don't know if Focal is on your radar, but they are (I think) discontinuing the current Aria line, and so there are some really nice deals around on the bookshelf models, specifically the small 905, but also the slightly bigger 906. In fact there's a new Aria 906 set on ebay right now for GPB 550 ... FOCAL ARIA 906 WALNUT SPEAKERS (BNIB, FACTORY SEALED, COST £800) | eBay

 

doing my speaker testing tomorrow and I'm putting together a track list. The first reaction of the shop was that they really like the Dynaudio Emit 20 and even recommend these above a lot of other speakers that are above this price (GBP599). lets see what happens tomorrow!

 

I have tested some speakers today.
The three speakers I have listened to are monitor audio silver 100, dynaudio emit 20 and kef ls50.

All three are excellent speakers in my opinion in this price class (ls50 a bit more expensive) and it will depend on your own taste. But this is my feedback.

Emit 20: very clear and well balanced speakers when I put some tracks with a big bass (soul/ rnb) personally I thought they were a bit rough. We listen to some Andrea Bocelli and Paco de Lucia and the speakers really came to life.

Silver 100: this was a suggestion from the shop based on my comments on the Emit 20. While it has a better refined bass at least for me I thiught it was a bit to bright on some of the tracks (tracy chapman, phil collins and alicia keys). The case is quit large and therefore the bass is really excellent.

Kef LS50: overall I think this was the better speaker for me. Well balanced speaker that did well on my andrea bocelli tracks but also had a nice bass not to strong on my marvin gaye, stevie wonder, otis redding and even royals lorde song.

So I have just bought myself the Kef ls50 and will have to wait a week to get them delivered home. Really looking forward to that.

Thanks for all the support great forum

 

I can confirm my new setup pro-ject classic TT + Audiolab 8300A + Kef ls50

 

Congratulations on choosing a great combination. It's an excellent system.

 

Excellent!

 

Do your best to find the Audio Note AX Two standmount speaker. $850. Put the bulk of your money here. I like them better than my LS-50. But tougher to find and many dealers are always sold out. They can't make them fast enough. They have veen selling these speakers now for 17 years...if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Best of all they are easy to drive 7 watts is plenty.

Then for the amp...as you don't need a lot of connections look up tje Trends Audio 10.2 amplifier. For sound quality i luke it more than tje Brio and most other sub $2k SS amplifiers. This amp and others from Trends are $200. Yes you might be skeptical but remember they are low priced becauae they are not nearly as complex and don't have costly remote controls or a bunch of inputs. You can always use this for a while until you can afford something better but for soun quality they'll hang with sub $2k Solid State amplifiers...bettering many of them. But you need a quality easy to drive speaker like the AX Two to get the best from the Trends as they are low power.

 

Thanks!!! Just bought my setup audiolab 8300A and kef ls50.

 

You made a very good choice. Now take some time to find the best sounding location in your room for those speakers. Small adjustments can provide very significant changes.

 

Just curious, what type of stands will you use?

 

Thanks waiting for the speakers to come in next week!!! Really looking forward to that

 

Not yet decided at the moment I will use no stands. Need to recover from my heavy overspend on budget!!! But will let you know as soon as that is in the table.

I know need to get some speaker cables!