If you were building a 10k analog system...

LMAO!

 

Acoustic Signature Double X (Makassar finish) with Linear Power Supply.

Arcam C49 pre, with Phono stage.

KEF LS50W.

Bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label with one Edinburgh Crystal whisky glass.

Sit back and enjoy...

(or get another glass, the lovely Mrs B_R and make it doubly enjoyable!).

 

That is a nice even distribution.

I hope you don’t mind me asking, in your analog front end, how does that break down?

 

To my ears speakers have considerably more influence on the sound then anything other then the album or cd quality, this is where I would put the most money. The amp I would choose would depend on the speakers that need to be driven, if it is a tube amp, the choice of tubes matters. Others here have more experience with tt and phono-stages, but I would buy gently used to maximize my scheduled budget. I think cartridges get into the laws of diminishing returns for dollar spent lower than many people. All wires would be basic quality copper comparable to Blue Jeans Cable.

 

I would certainly suggest allocating funds for a second glass for the Mrs.... Probably the wisest suggestion any of us have made.

 

Knowing what I know today, hindsight being 20/20 and putting all my key leanings into practice ------ I'd drop the $10K on the speakers and then immediately start saving up the next $15K for the amp / preamp / turntable and my first 25 LPs.... or just not kid myself and short circuit the upgrade path and increase my budget by 2x or 3x right from the get go....

Many of us ended up spending 2-3x or original budget anyways when we thought we had a budget number but a year later ended up spending twice as much.... come on, you know you did!!!

So my free advice if you think you want to spend $10K out of the chute, double it! You'll thank me later.

 

$2K on Turntable
$750 on cartridge
$4K an tube amp/phono tube preamp
$3K on speakers
$200 on RCA interconnects
$50 on #12 gauge speaker wires

 

I agree at least $4k on the speakers (used).

Then 2k tt and cart (new),
2k phono stage (used),
2k amp (used).

 

At retail prices...
turntable: Clearaudio Ovation: $5800
tonearm: Clearaudio Universal: $5500
cartridge: Dynavector DRT XV-1s: $5650
phonostage: Herron Audio VTPH-2a: $3650
I'm going to buy a high end phonostage IC in the next couple months that will push the phonostage up closer to $5K, so, distributed reasonably even.

Don't tell my wife.

 

Many of the recommendations spend the $10K on 3-5 main components, then leave nothing for LPs, cartridges, cables, tools, RCM's, accessories etc..... which could easily take another 50% of the original budget! Or more!!

 

I've been doing all that for 45 years. Now I'm doing major upgrades while I am on a sweet bonus schedule and before I retire (at which point upgrades likely stop).

 

Not too far behind you!

In 1977 at 15 years young, after painting outside all summer in the AZ sun to make a bunch of cash, I still remember buying a Technics receiver, Altec Lansing Speakers and a Technics TT from Bruce Fogel at Silo on 20th St and Camelback in Phoenix! Heck, Bruce might still be around sitting somewhere in a recliner and reading this thread........;-)

In fact, later that fall before my 16th B-Day I also bought a 69 Camaro.... stock gold, 350.....

If I could have all the cash I spent on audio equipment since then I would probably be retiring now... well maybe not, but I bet it would buy a really nice RV.

 

I'm not sure if I have more into my vinyl collection or into my system. Either way, it's a lot after nearly 50 years of collecting.

 

+1

Absolutely spend some bucks on cleaning supplies and machinery, your enjoyment will increase exponentially.

 

Here's a suggestion..... Save your $$ until October, go to Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, listen, compare, take notes and pictures. After you've enjoyed the show and all it has to offer, go home and research what you liked, do new and used price comparisons and make a decision. The only opinion you should follow is your own.
I went to my first show this last weekend (Tampa) and for as small as it was, it opened my eyes. I wanted to hear speakers and the Carver Tube Amps. I came away impressed and now I'm trying to figure out some creative financing. And my wife told me to "go for it"...… she has no problem with it.

And the only reason I said "RMAF" is because you're in Colorado....

 

ELAC Adante Towers $5K
ELAC - Adante AF-61 Tower Speakers (Pair)

ELAC Preamp/DAC $2,500
Elac - DDP-2 Alchemy Digital Decoding Preamplifier/DAC/Headphone Amplifier

ELAC Power Amp $1,500
Elac - DPA-2 Alchemy Power Amplifier

Project Debut Carbon $600
Pro-Ject - Debut Carbon Esprit SB Turntable | Shop Music Direct

Spend $400 on used cables and a 2x4 cube Kallax shelf to put the equipment on and store around 800 LPs.

 

I was there. Great show!

 

Probably something like this :

Table: $2k
Phonostage: $2k
Cart: $200 (can be upgraded later)
Integrated: $3k
Speakers $3k
Cables: $500

Of course, in reality great deals pop up and you may get something for less, or spend more than budget if something great is available for a bit more than you expected (like if a $5k amp was available for $3,500).

And as ppl have said, it's better to not focus only on price but rather on the components themselves and how they work together.

I think these reasons are why this topic is nice in theory and is probably necessary in some sort of planning stage before one goes shopping, but it doesn't usually translate very cleanly into practice.

 

$4000 speakers
$3500 turntable + cartridge
$2000 amp + preamp
$500 peripherals

 

Runout or demo rp8/apheta ive seen posts here getting them for around 2.5k

Used aria phono and used elicit r 2.5/3k

5k new or used on speakers... dynaudio x44 fit the budget new i believe.

High transparency detailed amp and source equipment, fast tight weighty bass with no overhang. Speakers are -3 @ 27hz, so youve got a super detailed system with great prat, fairly neutral accurate sound, enough power and great high quality bass extension.

 

I think a great sounding system could be built with that criteria.

 

$945 turntable
$440 cartridge
$39 fancy washer
$395 phono preamp
$1,695 integrated amp
$10 speaker wire
$6,476 speakers

 

I've never been to an audio show in my life. I could never go to RMAF. I would drive there, and when I got there I would keep going until I got to Frisco/Breck/Copper where I would ride my bicycle in the mountains until the show was over. I love CO.

 

Technics SP-10R

Purchase it. Stare at it.

 

I have to express a contrarian view to the many "source first" folks, who often sing out a song on the order of "if the source can't reproduce it then the speakers don't matter" or words to that effect. However, this is a fundamental huge misunderstanding of accuracy throughout the reproduction chain.
- Let's start with the turntable and especially the cartridge. This hopefully synergistic transducer system turns the physical grooves into electric signal, which is difficult, and hence less accurate than the electronics. Higher levels of more types of distortion, more ringing in the time domain,* certainly more timing errors (i.e. wow and flutter), usually poorer frequency response.
- Then come electronic components and cables. These generally have good time response (more important than frequency response) and low distortion. That's not to say they're all the same, but the differences while perhaps quite noticeable are not glaringly different.
-Finally, the speakers. Ah, I love speakers so much I became a loudspeaker engineer, so it pains me to say ALL SPEAKERS SUCK, at least compared to an ideal transducer. Much higher distortion of various flavors than the rest of the chain, far poorer time response and ringing, frequency response quite curtailed especially in the bass compared to even a good turntable/cartridge combo. And the frequency response varies all over the place in different directions. This first means the reflections in the room differ at all different frequencies and positions, and also that the frequency response is not really flat at all, not even close.

To make a visual analogy, if the electronics are like different panes of glass, the vinyl part is then like cheap sunglasses, and the speakers are like fun house mirrors. And yes, I am dead serious about the relative differences. How do you get the best image? Replace the fun house mirrors with better (flatter) ones. Because no matter how good the glass is, or your sunglasses, everything will look funny.
--> Blow most of the money on the speakers!!
and NOT on the front end and electronics. It just makes no sense to spend most of the money on things that do not make nearly as much difference to the overall sound. Many many people will argue about the differences between electronics, but nobody says that any two speakers sound they same. And you DO tend to get what you pay for, and they will last you a LONG time.
By the way, it appears from years of post-reading on various forums that people often get "stuck" on their speakers, and far sooner upgrade electronics and hardware and cables. Maybe because that is somehow sexier? I don't know. But another reason not to skimp on the speakers. Also if you're starting out, just get decent cables from Blue Jeans or whatever, then later you can try other cables on demo/easily returnable to see if YOU hear a difference because many people don't.

P.S. You did mention the elephant, which is the room. I didn't get into that because due to decor/aesthetics most people just will never do treatment. It does make sense to spend a chunk of money here though I could not formulate a percentage.
P.P.S. Electronics and speakers last a long time. Stuff that is several years old can be big bargains, but I'm not a fan of buying decade(s) old stuff due to age related problems.
P.P.P.S. For anyone whose budget is not $10k, then sometimes you might have to fork out more to get certain hardware. That's called "tough choices"

*(so I believe due to the nature of the transduction, though come to think of it I don't recall ever seeing a time response plot off a test record, which in itself would be technically difficult).