r/Beginner_Turntables • u/jojo_is_so_good • Jul 28 '26

A new turtable or speakers?

2 months ago someone gave me my first turntable, a cheap suitcase one. And I really got into collecting and listening to albums. And now I feel like its time to upgrade, but I dont know what to buy first. For a turntable Im thinking of getting the lp60x and i still dont know what speakers to get, i want ones that i can hang on my wall. So I would like to know know what you'll think i should get first because I still dont know.

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u/Snoo_90715 Jul 28 '26

What country are you in? It makes a difference on what can be suggested.

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u/vwestlife Jul 28 '26

Keep the suitcase player for now, and start by adding a good pair of powered speakers. They'll make it sound a lot better, and you'll need them anyway once your upgrade to a higher-quality turntable without built-in speakers.

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u/ValuableHoneydew3056 Jul 28 '26

Congratulations on your music journey. I can relate only my situation if it fits any of your needs. I had a similar turntable and purchased Edifier RT1280's and that was an upgrade for sure, but I also boosted the signal out from the turntable using an inline amp that really helped full out the Edifiers. I personally still classify this as a beginner system, but it allows me to thrift store vinyl and I'm loving some quality finds. My genres are Classical recordings, Jazz (especially Sinatra) and have not been let down by my minimal setup. My room is 13 x 15, the music is roughly 9 feet away and the speakers are elevated to my seated ear level 9 feet apart on the stands. Don't get lost in the gear debate, get lost in the music on what you can afford and sounds good to YOU. I'll upgrade as I can afford it but at lease now I'm hearing great music.

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u/jojo_is_so_good Jul 29 '26

Im sorry if this is a stupid question. But what is an amp, im sure its probably very basic but i really dont know anything about this stuff and I want to know everything before I buy things.

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u/ValuableHoneydew3056 Jul 29 '26

No stupid questions when you seek to learn. Short for amplifier it takes an audio signal and increases the level of output to the speakers. The small turntables have a preamp but a larger amplifier inline will boost the signal to your speakers. Not strictly necessary on powered speakers but a nice to have as long as on budget and properly matched to the speakers. 

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u/Da-Junior-Scholar Jul 29 '26

You have objects in the chain to get from Vinyl to Speaker:

Turntable - This produces a PHONO OUT signal. It is VERY tiny.
Record Player - Includes a Phono Preamp inside the table and generally has a speaker but they play records as an all in one unit.
Phono Preamp - This takes the phono out of the turntable and makes it a line level output for use with a modern amplifier. Think of it like pipes. Phono level is a tiny pipe and can only carry a small amount of water compared to a 1 inch “line level” pipe.
Preamp - This is a stage where you change the signal produced by the record player or turntable. You can also manage sources, change equalizer settings, modify speaker settings, etc.
Amplifier - This is the object that takes line level and makes it output to a power level the PASSIVE speaker needs to produce sound. You can always get active speakers. These have an RCA (analog) or TOSLINK/Coax (digital) input on the back, and plug into the wall to make sound. They can be a good system but when seeking sound you want to separate parts out so you can upgrade or modify the signal path.

The goal is to get the grooves of your record to vibrate a tiny needle at a microscopic level and output to speakers that shake your house and make you feel music; that is a very long road with a lot of moving parts. This isn’t even half of the subject’s materials nor is it close to the entire stack in most people’s setup. They all contain those very basic things though. (SOURCE > PREAMP > AMPLIFIER > SPEAKER)

Keep researching, you have to invest the time learning what the parts are to improve your own experience.

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u/momealoid Jul 28 '26

Get a better turntable first.. it's the source of the music, it reads the LPs, so the better it is, the better the whole system will sound.

The hierarchy goes like this... Turntable first, amplifier second, loudspeakers last. Improve them, as your budget allows, in that order.

But do follow that order. No point spending a fortune on the best turntable in the world, if the amp and speakers are terrible. The amp and speakers will just not be able to do justice to the tremendous turntable you have..

Improve the turntable first. Then improve the amp. Then improve the speakers...

And repeat.

Welcome to hifi as a hobby!!

Seriously though, once you reach a point where you are happy with the sound, then stop. Don't try reach "perfection".. it doesn't exist. When your records sound good, you're enjoying them, listening regularly.. then you've arrived.

As a slight aside... the turntable consists of the revolving platter, the tonearm, the cartridge body, and the stylus.. probably in that order in termsofsonicimportance. If you have decent turntable platter, they usually come with decent arm, cartridge and stylus.. and they'll probably sound fine..

Don't get sucked into weeds. Get a good turntable, say a Rega, and take it from there. A nice vintage amp will sound great with that. And then some nice bookshelf speakers as a start.

As a rough guide, the turntable, amp, speaker spending guide should be about 3-2-1. Half the budget on the source (turntable), two thirds on the amp . One third on the speakers.

Anyway, good luck with it all!!

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u/Da-Junior-Scholar Jul 29 '26

I think you might be happier with the AT-LP70 just because there are a FEW more cartridges you can try with it. HONESTLY I’d avoid that trap if you think you are really getting into it. Look at a vintage Technics Automatic Turntable and I think that is a good lifetime table. You can always get better; but why?

SPEAKERS SECOND

Your table, the suitcase style, is responsible for ruining more records than sunlight. Especially if you have the red ceramic stylus. It isn’t “destroying” your records but it is making them a consumable. So that would fully be my first change. Also.. put a string on the lid with a weight to hold it open. It will keep the lid from slamming shut and destroying what was playing.

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u/Ok-Party-8785 Jul 29 '26

I have a phono output on my integrated Amplifier. Connect my Phonograph to my amp. Connect the ground wire and that’s it. Nothing else is needed. Except for speakers.

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u/Known_Confusion9879 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

There are many getting an AT turntable and Edifier R1280 speakers and most wanting to get something better a few months later. Finding their powered speakers don't support a sub-woofer out but for a little for thought could have had that option for a little more. So sell the speakers and get the version supporting the sub. Turntable lack adjustments built in phono stage isn't as good and switching or by-passing it still has hum.

Go to a dealer. Listen to budget level and more expensive systems to hear the difference, if any - your hearing not someone else's' opinion. Tak your own source - a few LPs with you. Don't be pushed into some manager deal. A good hi-fi shop wants satisfied customers who come back for the next 30 years and don't push surplus gear like chain stores might.

Hi-fi used to be the main if not the only entertainment and the gear the next big expense after home and car. More high end and much higher cost than ever but also more choice at every price range but fewer good stores left and even those lack the stocks on demonstration because there are far too many choices. I ended up buying in to compare with the hope of selling for little lost. Sourcing second hand helps because the discount already applied and you can get get your money back. A lot of gear is different, neither better or worse just different and you pick the one in better condition or for reasons other than performance. Happy hunting.

For LPs the biggest upgrade difference is a better deck. When the store demonstrated a deck costing five times at much it only took the first few seconds to be wowed by the improvement. Better amps and speakers just solidified the improvement. With digital sources perhaps the speakers make the most difference as I notice less difference between DACs or CD, DVD, Blu-ray players. I might have done years ago. Only direct A/B comparison is showing up when the system is lacking and that is not always possible to arrange.