drewski
100+ Head-Fier
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After reading several other threads, I've been thinking about this more and more lately. If you had $500 and were looking in the used market for a decent source, what would you get?
In the past, I would have definitely said analog all the way. But I really feel now that manufacturers are learning how to get that "analog" sound even with sub $1000 players. For instance, I have an Exposure 2010 CD player that retails new for $1000, and I purchased used for $500. If I were to try and put something together in the $500 range to compete with it, I couldn't even buy the cartridge and phono stage. Also, at the last bay area meet, I had my VPI Scout with another member's Philips 963SA going head to head, I didn't feel that the Scout smoked the Philips.
When I say $500, I'm talking about the average price of a used peice of gear- I'm not talking about the exception where someone finds an old Linn LP12/Ittok combo at a garage sale for $100.
My Exposure cd player may not be a good point of reference because probably not many have heard it... But other players that are not bad that can be found in the used market for around or under $500 are the Arcam CD 72 (maybe not the best comparison because this is the least analog sounding of the bunch, but does many things well), Music Hall CD25, Rega Planet 2000, Marantz 6000OSE, as well as others.
In my opinion, I would say would be the minimum system I would use to compare to the likes of those players:
Rega P3- $450 used
Grado Gold- $100 (new or used)
Lehman Black Cube w/ pwx power supply- $400 used
Power cable for the Black Cube so that bass isn't all over the place- $200 used
So that is over $1000 to get an entry level analog rig. It may even be more because there are often hum issues with the Grado/Rega combo, so you may be looking at a more expensive cartridge.
What analog system would you put together as an entry level analog rig to compete with a similar priced CD player?
In the past, I would have definitely said analog all the way. But I really feel now that manufacturers are learning how to get that "analog" sound even with sub $1000 players. For instance, I have an Exposure 2010 CD player that retails new for $1000, and I purchased used for $500. If I were to try and put something together in the $500 range to compete with it, I couldn't even buy the cartridge and phono stage. Also, at the last bay area meet, I had my VPI Scout with another member's Philips 963SA going head to head, I didn't feel that the Scout smoked the Philips.
When I say $500, I'm talking about the average price of a used peice of gear- I'm not talking about the exception where someone finds an old Linn LP12/Ittok combo at a garage sale for $100.
My Exposure cd player may not be a good point of reference because probably not many have heard it... But other players that are not bad that can be found in the used market for around or under $500 are the Arcam CD 72 (maybe not the best comparison because this is the least analog sounding of the bunch, but does many things well), Music Hall CD25, Rega Planet 2000, Marantz 6000OSE, as well as others.
In my opinion, I would say would be the minimum system I would use to compare to the likes of those players:
Rega P3- $450 used
Grado Gold- $100 (new or used)
Lehman Black Cube w/ pwx power supply- $400 used
Power cable for the Black Cube so that bass isn't all over the place- $200 used
So that is over $1000 to get an entry level analog rig. It may even be more because there are often hum issues with the Grado/Rega combo, so you may be looking at a more expensive cartridge.
What analog system would you put together as an entry level analog rig to compete with a similar priced CD player?