Ron,
Helping your friend with such an interesting goal prompted me to join the community; so with links to reviews, here are some suggestions worth considering:
Music Hall Stealth Record Player comes with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, detachable headshell, and RCA cables: $1,649.00
Marantz Model 30 Integrated Amp 100w @ 8?, 200w @ 4?, MM/MC phono preamp with adjustable MC impedance, discrete preamp and amp power supplies, headphone amp, all analog I/O with plenty of provisions, and remote: $2,999.00
Silversmith Fidelium Speaker Cables 6 ft. stereo pair: $1,195.00
Eminent Technology LFT-8b hybrid speakers: $3,200.00/pr. (incl. shipping) I had these on Sound Anchor stands, and they were notably better than the Martin Logan Sequel I's I had then. Though I don't frequent the Audiophiliac, he mirrors many of my observations of the LFT-8b, in my experience they really are that good.
Record clamp – various
Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II Interconnects. The stock Music Hall Stealth RCA’s will get him by, but these along with a better turntable cartridge should get him further into aural bliss. Starting at 1.6 ft.: $1,487.50
Better cartridges: depending on the budget, the Sumiko Amethyst ($600.00) and Audio Quest AT-OC9XSL ($750.00) are good places to start.
Note: a cartridge stylus will wear over time as will vinyl media, and some cartridges pick-up relatively more record noise. Perhaps you can persuade him to look more into disc and/or streaming media. To that end, maybe there's a shop near him where he can compare a few favorite tunes on different formats i.e. vinyl, disc, streaming; to get a better idea of how his money could be spent.
Helping your friend with such an interesting goal prompted me to join the community; so with links to reviews, here are some suggestions worth considering:
Music Hall Stealth Record Player comes with Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge, detachable headshell, and RCA cables: $1,649.00
Marantz Model 30 Integrated Amp 100w @ 8?, 200w @ 4?, MM/MC phono preamp with adjustable MC impedance, discrete preamp and amp power supplies, headphone amp, all analog I/O with plenty of provisions, and remote: $2,999.00
Silversmith Fidelium Speaker Cables 6 ft. stereo pair: $1,195.00
Eminent Technology LFT-8b hybrid speakers: $3,200.00/pr. (incl. shipping) I had these on Sound Anchor stands, and they were notably better than the Martin Logan Sequel I's I had then. Though I don't frequent the Audiophiliac, he mirrors many of my observations of the LFT-8b, in my experience they really are that good.
System price including tax $9,585.58
- Options -
Record cleaner – various- Options -
Record clamp – various
Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II Interconnects. The stock Music Hall Stealth RCA’s will get him by, but these along with a better turntable cartridge should get him further into aural bliss. Starting at 1.6 ft.: $1,487.50
Better cartridges: depending on the budget, the Sumiko Amethyst ($600.00) and Audio Quest AT-OC9XSL ($750.00) are good places to start.
Note: a cartridge stylus will wear over time as will vinyl media, and some cartridges pick-up relatively more record noise. Perhaps you can persuade him to look more into disc and/or streaming media. To that end, maybe there's a shop near him where he can compare a few favorite tunes on different formats i.e. vinyl, disc, streaming; to get a better idea of how his money could be spent.
Last edited:
