Need help with audio equipment

[jp]

I know there are some people here that have a lot of knowledge when it comes to auido equipment so I'm looking for some advice. I have never been able to put together a stereo system of my own because I have always been in and out of apartmens or other people's houses and have never had the room to do it, but I recently got married and soon enough we will be buying a house and it is time to put it all together. I am going to be starting from scratch and will need everything but I don't really know where to start. Can anyone help recomend any equipment that I should look into getting? I already have a bunch of vinyl because I would always have a frieds turntable to play them pon, but I now need my own. I'm not looking to spend a huge amount but at the same time I don't want crap...I will most likely not be upgrading anytime soon. I also would like to be able to convert my vinyl to mp3 format and would want to be able to play my ipod and itunes on my computer through this system. I am not experienced at all when it comes to electronics, just a massive reggae fan and I can't wait to have my own set up. Any help would be much appreciated on where I should start or what equipment to buy. Thanks

bless
jp

[Dubmart]

If you let us know which country you are in and what your budget is it will help us give you advice, prices and what's available can vary quite a lot, even in Europe.

[jp]

I am in the US and honestly I couldn't give you a budget.
I'm looking to spend enough $ to make sure that I have a halfway decent sound but I'm not wealthy by any means so I can't blow everything that I have. I really just want a setup that lets me play my records and cd's with a good sound that makes me happy. Blessings Dubmart for reaching out to help.

bless
jp

[Musitronics]

Other's might recomend something different but my suggestion would be

http://www.muzik-innovason.com/Pictures ... 00_MK2.jpg

http://www.americanmusical.com/ProductI ... /48779.jpg

http://www.idjnow.com/ProductImagesLarge/PS626USB.jpg


That's all you need really, a second hand technics turntable off of ebay (cheep) either a single or a pair. It's important that you do buy a good (new ish) mixer as the newer mixers connect via usb to your PC or laptop and are good sound quality. If you don't have speakers get some self powered monitors (they have amps built in) you just plug them in to the back of your mixer and go.

you'll find all of these on e-bay for next to nothing, but be sure to check the make of mixer has drivers that support your pc/laptop operating system.

btw what kind of PC or laptop do you have?

[Musitronics]

forgot this:

http://www.nu-urbanmusic.co.uk/drum_and ... ipmat2.jpg

slipmat (very important)

[Dubmart]

As you are in the States, the selection of equipment, both new and used, will be different from what we have in the UK or the rest of Europe. Turntable wise the Technics SL1200/10 is fine and many people are very happy with them, I believe Walmart had them for $299 last year, other record decks you might consider are Music Hall, ( I have no experience of these, but they are popular in the US), Rega and Project, all offer good value starter decks that are simple to set up and use. If you get an amp without a phonostage the Cambridge Audio 640P is readily available in the US and is excellent value for money.

I'm afraid I'm not so familiar with non high end US amps and speakers, or what's available so can't really advise, but an essential piece of advice is to listen before you buy, if you can find a good store that will let you listed to some of your own music and compare different products it will really pay off, even if they are a little bit more expensive than the net.

If you have any specific questions I'm pretty familiar with most record decks, old and new and have a decent knowledge of UK and some Japanese amps and some UK speakers.

[Musitronics]

One thing I noticed about US ebay is the amount of vintage speakers they auction, there's a better selection than over here in the UK and some of them are absolutely huge lol. it's a shame you can't listen to them before you buy on the bay, but I bet most of them sound beautiful.

If you do go for a traditional amp and speakers you may also need to buy a sound card, if you're PC already has line in/out then you're all good. but check that the amp also has CD/line in/out to go back to your PC so you can record your vinyl.

I think it really boils down to personal taste, if you like the style of a traditional turntable, amp and speakers they're really nice, if you're in to mixing then buy a mixer (obviously) and perhaps think about some spm's, you can take out to party's etc if need be, and they save you the bother of having to wire up an amp.

[jp]

Many thanks to the both of you for providing me with this info. I guess it's time for the search to begin to figure out exactly what I want and how much I can spend. Might just have to start out with 1 turntable...as long as i can hear my music. I also think I will probably go with the selp powered speakers since they seem to be more convenient. I'm assuming most of them will also have subwoofer built in? But I don't need anything to powerful since it is just for my house. Again...thanks for the help.

[Geoffrey]

Might want to check out this thread on R-A users' setups to get an idea of what people use for this music:

http://www.roots-archives.com/forum/rea ... 778,page=1