I own a pair of Wharedale Opus2 M1 speakers with high gloss piano finish cabinets and stands. I never grow tired of looking at them. They came with a pair of soft, white gloves for safe handling. Aesthetics matter. Love your channel..
Absolutely TRUE about the speakers !!!!! I've never been able to afford really good speakers - always had to settle for lower tier or modify what I had. So when I sold my house & moved out of state. I took some of the extra cash & bought a pair of 85th anniversary Linton's w/ stands !!!! Holy crap - sound is AMAZING - all the gear is the same. The clarity is mind blowing.
I really appreciate you dumbing down everything. Even though I knew a lot of it, it would have been really helpful to know this before. I’m sure it will help a lot of people. I really appreciate your honesty and humility about it.
This is such an awesome channel with great advise and information. I'm very lucky, I built a wood timber barn and tuned the loft into my man cave/listening space. The nature of the wooden construction in the loft creates a very good acoustic environment. My first purchases were to get an atmos 7.1.1, surround sound theater for watching movies and streaming live concerts. I assembled Klipch speakers and powered with the cheapest Pioneer Elite atmos AV receiver I could find. I'm very happy with the results. This endeavor has lead me back into collecting vinyl. Growing up in the late 70's, I had about 4 peach crates filled with vinyl, a Pioneer SX-780 receiver, Advent One speakers and Luxman turntable. All of this was stolen from me while I was in college. Never looked back, just started buying CD's and new equipment. I'm at that point where I'm nostalgic and wanting to recreate my youth with a vintage system for vinyl. I started buying records about 8 months ago and have over 100 already. I picked up a vintage Technics turntable, put a new cartridge in and it sounds pretty good. I did not take Kevin's advise and I bought a set of boutique speakers ( Clarke Solutions made in Connecticut in the mid 70's) from one of the record shops that I frequent. I'm currently trying to decide if I pair all this with another Pioneer SX 780 or go with an integrated amplifier since I don't really listen to the radio anymore. This is such a fun hobby, vintage gear and vinyl collecting! Beware the rabbit hole.
I think I did pretty well with my system... the low wattage receiver is one that has been in the family since the 70's, the carousel CD play is one I purchased new in the mid 90's, the 70's era turntable is one I bought used when Covid hit, and the only brand new pieces are the book shelf speakers. It all sounds great to my ears, but I think I'll add a small powered sub woofer and do more to deaden the room after watching this video.
Well stated and comprehensive enough to at least keep folks away from some of the big mistakes starting out. I'm a big believer in owning a good pair of headphones $100 or less if $ matters. From there $ goes up exponentially for tiny improvements in musical quality. Headphones allow budget setups to still provide awesome sound with great separation at low noise levels. That's an Rx for enjoyment assuming someone is listening to real music and not bass wars.
My experience with headphones is plugging my 50 $ Kloss into a receiver since my return to HiFi things certainly have changed so I appreciate your comment as I weave my way thru some of the new tech. Take Care.
Excellent point. Not many people think about this when doing their first HiFi budget purchase. Headphones can be very important if you are in an apartment drunk at 3am, or if you have roommates. The receiver I had in college, the phono jack didn't disconnect the speakers like some units do. So I often found myself cranking music very loud with my headphones (Sennheiser's) on and my dorm roommate looking at me like WTF? Damn good times and good music! (40 yrs ago).
Whenever a newbie asks me what they should start off with, I point them towards a pair of Kanto YU6's or YU4's depending on their budget. If they know they can't ever afford a sub, I try to steer them towards the YU6's because they dig a little deeper. If they decide to go with Vinyl they have built-in photo preamps and later if they can afford a sub all the better. Bluetooth connectivity gets them started right away with nothing but a smartphone..Hard to beat a good 2.1 system that can also be connected via optical to their TV in place of a soundbar.
I really appreciate he mentioned how gear looks is an important factor. If your wife thinks it looks beautiful it is especially helpful. I found a Sansui G8000 last year that I spent some serious money on it with the purchase and getting it recapped. My wife was supportive, even though it is huge and takes up serious space on her buffet, because she thinks it is pretty. I know it sounds silly but getting your wife on your side does make a difference when you want to drop some serious coin.....
Great no b.s. video. The only 2, integrated amp and receiver, I did not like the sound of and used with the same sources and speakers were a Sansui 331 and a Luxman L-215, both bought on eBay. I did return the Sansui but I waited too long on the Luxman. The best way to describe its sound is "sterile", maybe it just doesn't pair well with the RP600M. Yes, I do like tone controls, balance and the loudness switch and looks are important too, nothing like those polished aluminum faces or combo glass aluminum with VU meters.
That's very interesting since I hear Sanusui and Luxman so often mentioned as some of the best. What did you end up to with to power your Klipsch? I went through a Yamaha AS2200 and a Decware Zen before I finally found the sound I wanted with a class A Hybrid Vincent for my Forte IVs.
@@davidwald2938 A Pioneer SX780, also bought on eBay, great physical shape and finally got the "bugs" out of it. Sometimes an SX550 and an SA 6500 II do the job as well.
Your initial comments did not include speakers as the most expensive portion of the purchase. Its valuable info as you stated so much so I thought you may have buried the lead. Thanks. I’m forwarding this info to my daughter it’s easier heard coming from you than I.
You know Kevin. I’m watching your video in a room that we have our system in and it has hardwood floors, bare walls because we just painted, and leather furniture. When you talked about location I realized why I don’t get excited when I’m listening to my vinyl. I may have to try and add some buffers like pillows, rugs and curtains also. Thanks for all the good advice. Listen on.
Hey Bruce! Just adding a rug will make a HUGE difference. Thick curtains will do wonders as well. I'm excited to hear about the results. Thanks for sharing and your business over the years! Kevin
The only thing I might mention to a new stereo purchaser is that turntables and albums -while super cool now- are really expensive! They might want to add a bluetooth adapter to a vintage receiver or buying a streamer...or how to play tunes from a computer or ipad or phone...through their new stereo system.
I concur,there is nothing better to me than vinyl but there is nothing more convenient than choosing an awesome playlist from my phone and that is sometimes the best option. Truly something a newbie should be aware of so excellent comment.
So true, room is very critical. That's one of the reasons I have decided not to change anything until I can put some furniture and decorations in the room and little by little I have noticed improvements in the room and in the sound of the same system.
Back in the "Old Days" (late '70's, early '80's - not really, really old days) the rule of thumb was 50% of your budget for speakers, 25-30% receiver, rest for turntable and/or tape deck.
One of the factors that takes a while. Developing a specific taste for a type of sound. The majority of high enders seem to prefer a softer, more laid back or neutral presentation. Some hate bass and want etherial (as they call them "fast" ) speakers without low bass. Other prefer realistic presence or very revealing speakers. I'd say one mistake is buying soft sounding speakers when you like metal. Or maybe buying forward speakers if you prefer gentle acoustic material. In many ways, these tastes are opposites. Laid back and smooth don't do loud or slam, where dynamic and forward may not do subtle and articulate. (Some forward speakers may have too much/exaggerated upper midrange energy. ) People need to ask themselves what music they like to listen to and how? Loud? Soft? Realistic bass? Limited bass? FWIW: It took a while for me to conclude that I prefer properly set up speakers that have a big dynamic range and slam (with a sub). I also prefer detail vs rolled off. I do appreciate softer sounding speakers like PSB, Vandersteen, etc. But for every day listening, dynamic is exciting to me, soft is boring and unrealistic. YMMV.
I want a system for ambient, or background music for the most part, but also for podcasts and stories. I have been using a simple (old) Boom Box for that and as my living room stereo. It's great for what it is but I want a little more functionality and the ability to put my music into other rooms as well. I find myself tethered to the room my music or podcast is in, which can be unproductive. Since I'm usually by myself in the house sound is important to me. My main computer which is in my kitchen doesn't have Bluetooth, so I'd like to connect it with wires somehow, to a stereo system if that's possible.
Dude it’s 8 am on a Sunday morning and I’m sitting hear in my flat in Mumbai India listening to you ramble on and man I’ve got to say I like your rambling! No fussy wussy you kept it simple and that’s good. Now maybe you could do a few follow ups on each of the components as I think you’ve definitely been around the block and many could gain from your perspective! Keep rambling Simple man! 🍺🍺🍺
Thanks Kevin. Do have opinion regarding shapes of vintage turntable tone arms? If they have the same pivot point what is the difference? Would there be any advantage of a tone arm sliding on linear rod or track?
My son an I refer to the local store here, that has a audio/tv room called *Magnolia" the room is treaded for sound, we call it dead sound. Don't know if thats correct.
What would be the recommended speakers for 24m² room to watch home cinema primarily? I have Wharfdale sub and was thinking about pair of Klipsch speakers.
Thanks for the video, Kevin it was helpful. I have a question about a vintage amp I already own. When I was in college I bought a Kenwood KA 7100 integrated amp. I loved it but it got stolen. I found one on eBay a few years ago and bought it. After about a year ago the right channel started fading out and eventually stopped completely. Is it worth it or even possible to get this repaired? I would really like to use the amp in a second system for my home office. Thanks
Thanks Sam. Way too many variables there to give you any decent advice. We have had a couple of those in for repair and both times it was a selector switch issue. Known issue if I remember correctly. Obviously, it could be something completely different with your unit. Donno. Sorry
Thanks. I live in the Chicago area so I should be able to find a food vintage audio repair shop. The Kenwood amp is fairly basic but I’ve always loved the sound, especially with my vinyl.
Howzit broer...I have my Dads SP2000 Sansui speakers...he bought them new before I was born in 72....what Sansui product should work best...I will build the system around these speakers
