Hifi system for playing vinyl

[Bill Walker]

Is there any real difference between a Bluetooth speaker and wired speaker in terms of performance? Somebody mentioned the Bose Bluetooth above and I also heard that the Sonos 5 was good but not sure if it's Bluetooth or not.

Laws of Hifi. No324B (section F)

Bluetooth is always inferior to qood quality cables.

 

[oldius]

I have been into hifi for four decades and I am a moderator on one of the UKs leading hifi forums - music and City have been the consistent loves of my life as others have come and gone.

Honestly, if I was getting into hifi now, I wouldn't go down the vinyl route. It is expensive and the quality of new vinyl is variable in the extreme and is often generated from digital recordings anyway. If you have a large vinyl collection and want to play them in a simple way then do a little research. Personally, I would be looking at a nice deck with an integrated amplifier that has an internal phono stage. Wireless speakers can complete the job and there are some that will directly take an input from the deck, avoiding the need for a separate amplifier at all. Good luck and if I can help, I will.

 

[Bill Walker]

Audio Hardware

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[Johnny Mars Bar]

I have been into hifi for four decades and I am a moderator on one of the UKs leading hifi forums - music and City have been the consistent loves of my life as others have come and gone.

Honestly, if I was getting into hifi now, I wouldn't go down the vinyl route. It is expensive and the quality of new vinyl is variable in the extreme and is often generated from digital recordings anyway. If you have a large vinyl collection and want to play them in a simple way then do a little research. Personally, I would be looking at a nice deck with an integrated amplifier that has an internal phono stage. Wireless speakers can complete the job and there are some that will directly take an input from the deck, avoiding the need for a separate amplifier at all. Good luck and if I can help, I will.

I’m not knocking your knowledge as you’re obvs the expert on this, but people buy vinyl for different reasons. I work I live music and am always bantering with our sound engineer about vinyl vs download / cd.

There’s something really nice about collecting records. Artwork is always better on a physically larger object, and it’s fun to buy special edition stuff with extra booklets, coloured vinyl etc.

I listen to tons of audiobooks too but if there’s something I like I’ll always buy a printed copy of it.

Also the deliberate act of putting a record on is more intentional than clicking a button. I always find I listen more intently to records rather than just having Spotify on in the background.

Maybe it’s just me.

 

[Meatbag]

I use a project deck with built on n pre-amp into a pair of q-acoustics speakers that have a built in amp. (BT-5)

 

[Saddleworth2]

I’m not knocking your knowledge as you’re obvs the expert on this, but people buy vinyl for different reasons. I work I live music and am always bantering with our sound engineer about vinyl vs download / cd.

There’s something really nice about collecting records. Artwork is always better on a physically larger object, and it’s fun to buy special edition stuff with extra booklets, coloured vinyl etc.

I listen to tons of audiobooks too but if there’s something I like I’ll always buy a printed copy of it.

Also the deliberate act of putting a record on is more intentional than clicking a button. I always find I listen more intently to records rather than just having Spotify on in the background.

Maybe it’s just me.

Its not just you. I know exactly what you mean.
I was brought up listening to quality hifi and listened to vinyl for decades. Something really special about the purchase, learning the lyrics (party piece I can still belt out every word of Suppers Ready by heart) carefully handling the disc and placing it on the turntable. Artwork was often amazing and just not the same when replicated on a CD cover.

Sadly, my collection of albums went about 20 years ago and I am now 100% streaming. Once in a while I still hanker about re -starting an album collection. I have a Linn DSM which has very capable turntable capability but up to now I have resisted as I cant justify the cost or the storage space of a couple of hundred albums.

 

[oldius]

I’m not knocking your knowledge as you’re obvs the expert on this, but people buy vinyl for different reasons. I work I live music and am always bantering with our sound engineer about vinyl vs download / cd.

There’s something really nice about collecting records. Artwork is always better on a physically larger object, and it’s fun to buy special edition stuff with extra booklets, coloured vinyl etc.

I listen to tons of audiobooks too but if there’s something I like I’ll always buy a printed copy of it.

Also the deliberate act of putting a record on is more intentional than clicking a button. I always find I listen more intently to records rather than just having Spotify on in the background.

Maybe it’s just me.

You are spot on. I was talking from a hifi perspective really and I never factor in the collecting side of things. Thanks for putting me right.

 

[BlindEyeSeesAll]

Can't beat Rega . British made and reasonably priced.

Agree. I have a RP3 deck and a Rega Brio-R amp .. love em'

 

[denislawsbackheel]

I’ll just add another vote for Rega turntables.
At their price point they are far better than any others.

 

[journolud]

Thanks for that.

Is there any real difference between a Bluetooth speaker and wired speaker in terms of performance? Somebody mentioned the Bose Bluetooth above and I also heard that the Sonos 5 was good but not sure if it's Bluetooth or not.

I play my vinyl through my Sonos system which requires a wired connection to the 5 and then wireless through the rest of the system. In a way I know it’s not what the vinyl purists would do and if I wanted to I could simply stream the music I play through Spotify.

For me though the sound is good and I like the ritual, for want of a better word of putting a record on the player and sitting admiring the sleeves, etc. It’s an indulgence.