Technics 1200mk2 - Rig Recommendations

[ben009]

Right so I'm new to vinyl and new to hi fi's in general,I have no audio equipment atm except for a pair of Sennnheiser hd 202's. I'm pretty sure I'l be getting a 1200 but as for amps, equalizers, speakers, cables etc, I have absolutely no clue what I need and what will work together. I've tried searching the internet for what I need and I think that I need an amp and a set of speakers, which ones though I don't know.

I know this place is probably the best to find people who have already built tried and tested systems incorporating the 1200 so please share some suggestions for building a decent hi fi. Looking to spend between £200 and £400 on kit, not including the turntable.

Thanks.

[bubba45]

Do you know what kind of music you're gonna play on your system? Recommendations can be kind of catered towards the range of music you like as speakers / amps / phono stages will have a huge influence on how your music sounds?
Also do you know what cartridge will be on your SL1210?
(By the way you may get a few members following on from em who will tell you the SL1210 is only a DJ deck and not very good. IME & IMHO it's a great sounding TT. It can do DJ and home audio very very well.)

[cafe latte]

What do you want to spend this 200-400 on? I have a sl1210 along with a far more expensive turntable and the technics is on a par if not better in some areas with my other TT.
Are you looking at speakers or are you headphone listening?
Will you needs an amp or just a TT pre amp?
Will your budget include a cart?
Dont worry too much about cables.
Regards
CL

[ben009]

Do you know what kind of music you're gonna play on your system? Recommendations can be kind of catered towards the range of music you like as speakers / amps / phono stages will have a huge influence on how your music sounds?
Also do you know what cartridge will be on your SL1210?
(By the way you may get a few members following on from em who will tell you the SL1210 is only a DJ deck and not very good. IME & IMHO it's a great sounding TT. It can do DJ and home audio very very well.)

I'l assume it's frowned upon over here, but UK Bass music, i.e. Dubstep, D&B and maybe a bit of Garage/Jungle.
Not entirely sure what cartridge although it will probably be a Stanton 505 V3. Does it have a big affect on the rest of the equipment?

What do you want to spend this 200-400 on? I have a sl1210 along with a far more expensive turntable and the technics is on a par if not better in some areas with my other TT.
Are you looking at speakers or are you headphone listening?
Will you needs an amp or just a TT pre amp?
Will your budget include a cart?
Dont worry too much about cables.
Regards
CL

Speaker set up I would say, although if it's much more expensive then I'l make do with headphones.
I'm not really sure what amp I need, that's why I'm asking.
Will most likely buy a cartridge and turntable together so I'm not including that in the budget so the budget will include an amp and speakers/headphones. Also is a graphic equalizer needed?

Thanks.

[cafe latte]

With your budget I would be looking used, you will need a phono preamp at the very least to connect your turntable to unless you find an amp with a phono pre built in. If you go just the preamp way then get one with a headphone socket, others should be able to advise on budget preamps. For your music you are going to want good bass reproduction, how much space have you got for speakers?
Regards
CL

[AudioSoul]

I owned a 1200 and for me a brighter cart. worked best with that TT. I used A CA Virtuoso with great effect.....

[Keso77]

I'l assume it's frowned upon over here, but UK Bass music, i.e. Dubstep, D&B and maybe a bit of Garage/Jungle.

Nah, thats excellent music to listen to on the black gold.
Come to think of it.. Everything is.

[ben009]

With your budget I would be looking used, you will need a phono preamp at the very least to connect your turntable to unless you find an amp with a phono pre built in. If you go just the preamp way then get one with a headphone socket, others should be able to advise on budget preamps. For your music you are going to want good bass reproduction, how much space have you got for speakers?
Regards
CL

Will definitely be buying used if needs be, off ebay. I've got a space of about 5ft by 3ft with a height limit of a bit under 3ft. I've pretty much decided I'l be going the speaker route unless that amount of space isn't adequate ? This will be in the attic btw.

So then I'l need a set of 2 speakers and a phono pre amp or an amp with a phono built in ?

I owned a 1200 and for me a brighter cart. worked best with that TT. I used A CA Virtuoso with great effect.....

Bit out of my budget that. I think I'l be getting a Stanton 505 V3. If not, then the best I'l probably get would be the Audio Technics AT440MLA.

Nah, thats excellent music to listen to on the black gold.
Come to think of it.. Everything is.

Just got Chestplate 020 through the post. Nothing to play it on yet but I'm hoping that won't be the case for much longer.

Thanks

[youngdand]

Audio Technics AT440MLA is the cart to get. is a superb cart for the money and will work very well on the technics. the old nad amps. 3130 3020 etc are good amps with good phono stages built in. and can be picked up for about 60 - 100 and will suit your music well. speakers, i would look for a pair of b&w dm4's as i can vouch for these. they go low and have great highs.

[ben009]

Audio Technics AT440MLA is the cart to get. is a superb cart for the money and will work very well on the technics. the old nad amps. 3130 3020 etc are good amps with good phono stages built in. and can be picked up for about 60 - 100 and will suit your music well. speakers, i would look for a pair of b&w dm4's as i can vouch for these. they go low and have great highs.

Right that's the amp sorted then, cheers. As for the speakers I can't seem to find any on ebay so I'm guessing they're pretty rare. Anything else ? What about DM600's ?

Thanks

[bubba45]

If you don't get a NAD look for one of the older Rotel amps, especially the RA***BX range - RA930BX, RA960BX etc - they have excellent phono stages that cater for both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil cartridges.
They also go for £50 - £100 and sound excellent. May suit your musical taste too.

[cafe latte]

That is not a big space you have so it wont need big speakers to fill it and there are LOTS of very good standmounters cheap. Wharfedale diamonds are for sure worth a look, get the most recent you can as the mk10s are apparently very good, I have the 9.2's for a back up system and I found if you can find them that the 9.2s havd far better bass than the 9.1s so I imagine this will be true for the complete line up.
Regards
CL

[ben009]

If you don't get a NAD look for one of the older Rotel amps, especially the RA***BX range - RA930BX, RA960BX etc - they have excellent phono stages that cater for both Moving Magnet and Moving Coil cartridges.
They also go for £50 - £100 and sound excellent. May suit your musical taste too.

Will consider it, very nice price.

That is not a big space you have so it wont need big speakers to fill it and there are LOTS of very good standmounters cheap. Wharfedale diamonds are for sure worth a look, get the most recent you can as the mk10s are apparently very good, I have the 9.2's for a back up system and I found if you can find them that the 9.2s havd far better bass than the 9.1s so I imagine this will be true for the complete line up.
Regards
CL

They also seem to be rare, can't find any on ebay. 9.1's seem to be fairly common though as do 10.1's. I've looked around on ebay and the B&W DM601's seem to come up pretty regularly, are they any good?

So then preliminary setup is:

Sl-1200mk2 - At440mla - NAD Amp/Rotex amp - Wharfdale Diamond 10.1

Thanks.

[Alec124c41]

B&Ws are good.

Cheers,
Alec