motorbike guy wrote:or just ditch the Yamaha receiver.El Protoolio wrote:I bought a brand new Onkyo TX 8020 receiver within the last six months and I love it. Inexpensive, simple, all analog circuitry, no digital effects. It s powerful and it sounds great.Happy to report that I went and bought that Onkyo (I think technically a more recent version of the same model, which has Bluetooth capability) and the output from the record player is still very distorted.I'll record this as a W, since this delivers higher wattage/cleaner output, and the Bluetooth is going to be a great help for casual listening. I guess I'm entertaining cartridge recommendations now, though.

Recommend me a pair of floor speakers to upgrade my microsystem, this Harman/Kardon MAS100 (2x65W):

Facundo wrote:I'd put a tower of wood or concrete blocks and that same 2x65w speakers. Position is everything and orientation -very thing.If you want a sub, Adam Sub7. Right? Care of your ears.Ok, Facundo. I've just bought two 80cm floor stands. We will see. If it doesn't work, I know where to find you.

my favorite cheap floor standers - Boston Acoustics VR30. sound good, efficient.

Facundo wrote:IPosition is everything and orientation -very thing.Great success, Facundo. Listening to "Everybody knows this is nowhere" right now. Awesome.

Current setup is this:Denon DRA-397 receiverRega RP1 turntableNAD C541 CD playerKEF LS50 bookshelf speakersHK Bluetooth thingOld Panasonic Blu-Ray playerI'm thinking of getting an Xbox this year to replace the BluRay player and Roku and possibly the CD player (which occasionally has trouble reading CDs). (And for gaming, which has never interested me but which my kids love.) Any thoughts on this? Do CDs sound okay going through a gaming system? My brother once mentioned that an older iteration of the PlayStation had an unexpectedly high-quality CD player, but I don't know if this holds true for all gaming consoles.Also, I'm thinking of investing in a decent pair of headphones--two pairs, actually. We'd primarily use them for movies, as our HVAC unit abuts the living room, and we often have to crank the volume when the heat or AC is running. What are people's thoughts re: splitting the headphone wires? Does it degrade the sound meaningfully? We'd probably also need some sort of extension cable. This could get real expensive, real quick, and it would suck to spend a lot of money only to find that it sounds like a 1985 Sony Walkman.

Part of me also wonders this: if I were to ditch the Denon but keep the turntable, speakers, and cd whatever, what would people recommend for building a new system? I have no complaints about the Denon, but when it comes to amps, pre-amps, etc., I m totally at sea. We use the tuner on the Denon exactly never ”as in never once since I bought it. I have no actual plans at this point; this is total

. . . idle thinking. If you had, say, a grand or two to spend, what would you put there?

I have an RP1 just like you and I run it through a Rega Brio-R. I love how it sounds and I would totally recommend it. It ´s a very simple, basic ampilfier. Doesn ´t even have a bass or treble knob. But it sounds just perfect. At least to me.

Answering your last question first. Disclaimer: never tried wireless headphones, there might be solid options on the market nowadays.Wood Goblin wrote:If you had, say, a grand or two to spend, what would you put there?1) An integrated amplifier that pairs well with your turntable, speakers and future headphones. So it needs a good phono card / MM input, enough power for the LS50s, and a good headphone jack. Cambridge Audio, Creek, NAD and Rotel are some brand names that come to mind.2) Two pairs of closed-back headphones, e.g. Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, Oppo PM3, Sennheiser HD 598 C.Most good audio stores will have a decent listening room(s) and/or allow you to take stuff home so you can audition it at leisure.Wood Goblin wrote:What are people's thoughts re: splitting the headphone wires? Does it degrade the sound meaningfully? We'd probably also need some sort of extension cable. This could get real expensive, real quick, and it would suck to spend a lot of money only to find that it sounds like a 1985 Sony Walkman.Splitting: never tried that. Extension cable and other accessories: I've never had any problems with Sennheiser stuff (extension cable, 1/4-1/8 adapters, etc.), and all their stuff is decently priced.