Can a cheap turntable damage records (MY 1ST POST!)

Well, the good news is that your room sounds perfect for those PSB speakers. You will get MUCH better performance out of them if you place them on quality speaker stands at the proper height (use blu-tak to isolate them from the stands themselves). Check out Target or Sanus brand stands. You can probably find the stands at the same website. Remember you want the tweeters at ear level.

 

Wow, I never even thought about these considerations. Crap, my room is so cramped, I don't even think I have floor space for stands. I have guitars, amps, effects pedals, records, books. A life's collection of "stuff" all competing for limited floorspace.

 

This is a concern with a small, cramped room. You may need to seek out speakers designed to be placed against the wall. I did this in my smaller listening room, first using Tannoy Mercury M1, later switching to Linn Index speakers, which Linn designed to be placed no more than 2 to 4" out from the wall. Most modern speakers are at their best on stands at least a couple of feet out from the back wall and corners.

Also, check out the PSB speakers I found on Craigslist. It is an older, early 90s era speaker, but you could probably walk away with them for a bit more than the price of a tank of gas, or a evening out on the town. PSB is a well respected speaker manufacturer, and if you don't like them, you could probably sell them for what you paid.

 

Yea, I can't wait to check them out. Especially if I can save some $. Damn this institutional internet censorship!

 

You could always go with quality headphones and a headphone amp. Grado, Beyerdynamic, AKG, Sennheiser, even Koss and Sony make good headphones. Anyway, it takes the room out of the equation.

 

Not a bad idea. Wouldn't I be able to just use the headphone jack on the reciever?

 

I don't think Dennis has the room for speakers on stands at the moment, and as such, he ought to avoid speakers with a rear port, which the Alpha P1s have. Of course if you can swing stands and three feet of space, Dennis...

 

I'm already plotting on how to re-arrange. Perhaps if I moved my guitars.....

 

At audioadvisor.com, and also at crutchfield.com, you can try things out for 30 days, and return them for a full refund (not including shipping) for any reason. I think it's the best way to try something out.

 

True, but this guy is just getting started. He's coming from a different place than you or I would be in selecting a new set of speakers. Whatever he gets is going to be better than what he's got (tiny Sony whatevers)--just different flavors of better. I'm sure he'll be blissfully happy whatever his choice. By living for awhile with any reasonable quality speaker (the PSB is certainly one), he can establish some baseline of knowledge/experience for auditioning potential upgrades later on when he's no longer a starving grad student and has some disposable income.

 

Oh, if you can make the room, excellent. That opens up so many possibilities.

 

It may block my TV but I never watch television. Just the occasional concert DVD......and now that I have a new turntable, I rarely even do that.

 

True, though the 90s era PSB speakers currently on sale on Craigslist for for $70, assuming the drivers are in good condition, might be an even better deal. The only risk is if they are defective, but a 10 or 15 minute audition should be sufficient to check if the drivers are blown.

 

You can mark the floor with tape or something when you find the ideal spot for your speakers/stands from a audio quality standpoint. And then you can move them back near the wall when you are not listening to music. Then pull them out to the ideal position before sitting down for some serious listening.

Smaller speakers with stands are very easy to move. I have floorstanders that are a little harder to move, but I do the same thing. I tend to leave them in listening positon under normal circumstances, but move them out of the way when I have company or need the room for something else.

Remember, the boundaries of your room will work with your speakers as a unit, in determining the sound. The sound will change if the speaker position changes. So some time spent with careful positioning will pay dividends, and is free.

 

Philly craigslist might not be a bad idea, I got a pair of old AR 4x's for $50 on CL, nice soild wood cabs, amazing bass for a speaker the size of a big shoebox, I just put them in some bookselves with the tweeters facing inwards in my computer room, they do like some power though (I like loud )!! I also agree a nice pair of headphones would be a great investment. The only cavet, they spoil you when you look for speakers, the cost/quality factor isn't close....

 

I know I'm going to be in the minority here. I haven't heard the little Sony speakers you have, but I wouldn't expect that they sound too bad at all. In my experience lower priced Sony speakers like this sound surprisingly good. I've got a pair of Sony floorstanders in my bedroom that sound good, and my brother Andrew has a pair of small inexpensive Sony bookshelves much like yours which frankly surprised the heck out of me when I first heard them. I think for the price you are doing well with those. I wouldn't be in a big hurry to upgrade, but definitely, keep that in mind as the next thing. Keep an eye out for bargains at places like thrift stores and craigslist and such - you might get lucky. I got my Mirage 290iS speakers for I think $100 used just because they were old and used - they were originally something like $500 / pair and they sound 10000% terrific!

IMO those Sony speakers you have should be operated as if they were "near field monitors" for best results, meaning put them not too far from your head if possible.

 

This sounds like some good advice!

 

Actually, the Sony's don't sound bad at all. I just wish they were bigger. Perhaps the advice regarding speaker stands and positioning them throughout the room is applicable to the Sonys.

 

Here's a better description of how to set up Near Field Monitors

 

Best Buy has started carrying the Project Debut III.

I looked at one in-store, and the whole 'table nearly tipped over when I opened the dustcover!

It felt really light and plastic-ky. For $380 I expect a lot more.

 

Yes, a rigid stand and some isolation (with blue tak or similar) will improve any bookshelf speaker. It will especially clean up the bass.

 

I agree that the build quality does not immediately impress. But once you have a cartridge of reasonable quality properly set up, this table sounds surprisingly good. My brother has a Music Hall 2.2, which I think uses the same arm and is essentially the same table, with a Shure M97XE installed, and it sounds quite nice despite my concerns before installing the cartridge for him.

 

This is why you get the Xpression III much better built table

 

Plastic? Other than the lift for the tonearm, I don't recall any plastic.

Anyhow, it isn't super heavy, but sounds pretty decent if set up correctly.

 

Wow, these look great. Looks like Craigs List is the way to go.