UKC

We want to buy a good quality hifi with decent speakers for our house, and it needs to incorporate a record player. My fiancee has a number of 78s as well as standard record sizes so we need a 3 speed turntable if poss. We also want a cd player and digi radio. Separates would be fine. An ipod dock or usb input also a bonus, or 3.5mm input.

What I see in the shops these all seems to be tiny ipod doks with crap speakers. Can someone point me in the right direction or recommend anything? Thanks

In reply to Si dH: I just stuck "record player" in an Amazon search and this was the first hit,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steepletone-Stereo-Turntable-Record-Player/dp/B000L...
it does 33,45 and 78rpm. An online search should get you what you're after.

In reply to Si dH:

first thing that comes to mind has to be the LP12
http://www.linn.co.uk/systems/products/lp12/sondek-lp12

But there's also stuff like Pink Triangle (PT Too) and more.

Or if your budget is more like mine

http://www.hyperfi.co.uk/bhifi-separatesb-turntables-c-1_2401.html

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/separates/turn...

The project has a good name.

In reply to another_mark: Seriously, Richer Sounds have branches all over and will generally give you a good deal on last years model of everything.

In reply to Si dH: I just plug my ipod into a NAD amp. You can get the cable in electrics shops. If I were buying a record player I'd look on ebay, they must be pretty cheap? Think all the bits came from Richer Sounds but they're my wife's.

In reply to Si dH: the answer is a resounding yes, and as you might expect there are lots of hi fi geeks on ukc (me included). there is still a huge choice of turntables available to go with your separates. i think if you decide on a budget for the whole lot and then how much you want ot spend on turntable and post that , it will help people give you their thougths. new you can start at about 200 quid (project) and go up to about 15000.a good nick rega planar 3 from ebay is about 150, brillant for that money . a good conditon linn lp12 from ebay can be had for about 400, thats a very good starting point and lots of people really rate them. i dont, but for the money you can get a good one for they are amazing value. note of caution , like so many things be carefull with flea bay , there is a lot of rubbish on there but also some well priced stuff. i really rate these guys :
http://www.thefunkfirm.co.uk/
because i really liked thier old firm called pink triangle .

In reply to mike123: just had a quick look see, think i might be a bit behind the times on the price of 2nd hand LP12 s. wish i d bought 3 or 4 when i thought about it a couple of years ago.

In reply to mike123:
Thanks all. I guess budget-wise we are definitely looking at what seems to be the budget end of the market - I want to keep the cost of the whole system well under £1000, to include record player, cd, amp and speakers. Even at that price we would probably not buy it all at once!
Cheers
Si

In reply to Si dH:
so lets say 200 each ? if you are prepared to get it all of ebay slowly you ll get a very good system . turntable wise a rega planar 3 from ebay, not the one thats top of thepage at the moment, looks like a bag o . or new one of these :

http://store.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/products/productdetail/part_numb...

amp and cd player , ebay - probably arcam. new- not sure will have a think.

speakers, lots of good ones in your price range. do you want bookshelf (small) or floor standing (big) ? hard to get good floor standers in your price range.

In reply to Si dH: I bought using the What Hifi mag best buys as a guide and ended up with Rotel amp, Project turntable and Tannoy speakers, all new cost about £600 all in, use a 3.5mm jack straight into the amp for the iPod, not the best but suffices.

In reply to Si dH:

To get what you want you're probably best off buying separates. Richer Sounds is not a bad place to start as others have said.

Neil

In reply to Si dH: I discovered that Stockport has a Richer Sounds. Not seen that shop around for a long time, but I guess they are still going. Why not pop down to your local one, or independent HiFi shop of which there are still a few.

I also would not discount these tiny speakers either. Technology in the speaker department has advanced significantly over the last 10 - 15 years and you can get tiny speakers that emit excellent sound quality far superior to that of the older larger speakers.

In reply to Si dH: I have a Project deck, an Expression II if I remember rightly. Carbon fibre arm and okay, not as good as a Planer 3 mind.
I gave my recent Marantz amp to the daughter and bought an old Pioneer A400 for 90 notes on ebay and it's been amazing. A really open and engaging soundstage. There's a GTE model of it, an old modded thing and I wish I'd waited for that to come up but otherwise I'm happy.