loops Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Really looking to get back into listening now that I'm home alot. Use to travel all the time and after renting/moving my gear is all gone. Sure I was listening to music streaming/digitally but I think I would like to sit back and listen again at home properly. My CDs are probably boxed up somewhere, i dont even want to contemplate that I threw them out without completing my digital transfer. So now I see vinyl records is back. I'm not going to say I was ever with records. Since I'm starting fresh I figure okay ..lets see what the fuss is about. Sure one day I'll be able to go out in Melbourne again but for now i'm going to have to stick to theory. From what I read reviewers/bloggers write about getting a semi decent turntable. So theres Audio Technica LP60X, Rega P1, Project Debut, those are the ones I'm tossing around in my head, i figure i'll shift my budget around as I see fit. The amplifier is what is confusing me. Theres some reviewers who are happy to use the supplied phono preamp thats built in then theres other who say pair it with an external one even though it has one. One of those amps I'm looking at is CA AXA35, I read people saying good things about it ..then theres a few(commenters?) who love it but say you might want an external preamp too. Just wondering if anyone has experienced the CA AXA35? Is the phono no good or lacking or ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Anderson Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Well this comes down to how much you want to spend, that amp is around the $700 mark. I wouldn't expect the phono stage to be anything special t that price point but as I said how much do you want to spend. I use a CA CXA81 and no phono stage is built into that amp at all, CA thinks that someone wanting to spend that much will most probably use an external phono. I agree with that thinking. If I was looking for a phono built in around that price point I'd look at a Rega. The Rega io is around the $850 mark or you may find a Rehabilitations Brio around that price S/H, new the Brio is around $1300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwurb Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Have you had a read of ? One person's experience of AXA35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Anderson Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 6 minutes ago, gwurb said: Have you had a read of ? One person's experience of AXA35. One persons experience straight from the box, my CXA81 was a little harsh straight from the box but it sounds so much nicer now. CA themselves recommend a burn in time and my experience agrees with that. But like I said I'd check out the Rega as well around that price point if a internal phono is needed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlov Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 7 hours ago, loops said: Really looking to get back into listening now that I'm home alot. Use to travel all the time and after renting/moving my gear is all gone. Sure I was listening to music streaming/digitally but I think I would like to sit back and listen again at home properly. My CDs are probably boxed up somewhere, i dont even want to contemplate that I threw them out without completing my digital transfer. So now I see vinyl records is back. I'm not going to say I was ever with records. Since I'm starting fresh I figure okay ..lets see what the fuss is about. Sure one day I'll be able to go out in Melbourne again but for now i'm going to have to stick to theory. From what I read reviewers/bloggers write about getting a semi decent turntable. So theres Audio Technica LP60X, Rega P1, Project Debut, those are the ones I'm tossing around in my head, i figure i'll shift my budget around as I see fit. The amplifier is what is confusing me. Theres some reviewers who are happy to use the supplied phono preamp thats built in then theres other who say pair it with an external one even though it has one. One of those amps I'm looking at is CA AXA35, I read people saying good things about it ..then theres a few(commenters?) who love it but say you might want an external preamp too. Just wondering if anyone has experienced the CA AXA35? Is the phono no good or lacking or ? Hi there, I did have that Amp but ended up returning it, I'll recommend you the Marantz PM 5005 in that price range, I got the PM6006 because the shop made me an offer I couldn't refuse and it's great but the 5005 should perform similar but doesn't have a DAC but my advise is to go to a shop and try by yourself you didn't mention what speakers you have they need to match the Amp. Good luck and keep us posted H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loops Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 13 hours ago, keitha said: Well this comes down to how much you want to spend, that amp is around the $700 mark. I wouldn't expect the phono stage to be anything special t that price point but as I said how much do you want to spend. I use a CA CXA81 and no phono stage is built into that amp at all, CA thinks that someone wanting to spend that much will most probably use an external phono. I agree with that thinking. If I was looking for a phono built in around that price point I'd look at a Rega. The Rega io is around the $850 mark or you may find a Rehabilitations Brio around that price S/H, new the Brio is around $1300. Since I was dipping my toes into the record territory first, that was an amp that appeared to be all analogue. It didn't have any digital inputs so I was trying to reconcile and get comments on how good the phono provided was. My thinking was okay surely since it's all analogue that phono stage should be okay ...for a record beginner. I wanted to spend an 'adequate' amount to experience records before I invested more. So do appreciate your recommendations. It's what I was looking for. i.e. Spend an extra $200 and you get 10%, spend extra $500 and you get 12% better experience. Definitely going to watch/read up on the Rega Brio/io. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loops Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 13 hours ago, gwurb said: Have you had a read of ? One person's experience of AXA35. I can't see the link, I'm guessing I haven't made enough posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwurb Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 9 minutes ago, loops said: I can't see the link, I'm guessing I haven't made enough posts. @hlov provided a good summary above. I think PM6006 phono stage is reasonable but it's the area I pay the least attention to so take my comment with a grain of salt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loops Posted September 4, 2020 Author Share Posted September 4, 2020 12 hours ago, hlov said: Hi there, I did have that Amp but ended up returning it, I'll recommend you the Marantz PM 5005 in that price range, I got the PM6006 because the shop made me an offer I couldn't refuse and it's great but the 5005 should perform similar but doesn't have a DAC but my advise is to go to a shop and try by yourself you didn't mention what speakers you have they need to match the Amp. Good luck and keep us posted H Hi, Did you return it because the phono stage included did not meet your expectation or you thought the Marantz PM 5005 was better? As for my speakers well I did start out going to the shops in April/May, so I did end up liking the Q Acoustics 3020i. Only because I wanted to try something different in my second phase. Plus it passed the Wife test haha. It's on order I only pulled the trigger a week or two ago. I really was hoping to go out some more to listen with different amplifiers but things didin't pan out. Definitely add Marantz to my list. I trying to figure out if theres an integrated amplifier that's decent to start with to listen for records or I wil lhave to get a 'decent' amplifier without it and buy the pre amp separately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlov Posted September 4, 2020 Share Posted September 4, 2020 4 hours ago, loops said: Hi, Did you return it because the phono stage included did not meet your expectation or you thought the Marantz PM 5005 was better? As for my speakers well I did start out going to the shops in April/May, so I did end up liking the Q Acoustics 3020i. Only because I wanted to try something different in my second phase. Plus it passed the Wife test haha. It's on order I only pulled the trigger a week or two ago. I really was hoping to go out some more to listen with different amplifiers but things didin't pan out. Definitely add Marantz to my list. I trying to figure out if theres an integrated amplifier that's decent to start with to listen for records or I wil lhave to get a 'decent' amplifier without it and buy the pre amp separately Hi mate, Didn’t like the amp at all, not enough punch and too bright. I do have a good phono stage so didn’t use the built in one. I believe the Marantz one is ok but I have a MC cartridge so it doesn’t work for me You might need to get a separate pre amp if you want to get the most of your vinyls otherwise you will be looking for over 1K for having a decent one, I read that the Yamaha A-S1000 phono stage is great but again it’s better for you to check by yourself as every one of your components will impact on the sound quality, I.e. your speakers might work well on a another amp. I did test the Marantz with the same speakers that I use and I loved it. cheers H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuergenBerger Posted September 11, 2020 Share Posted September 11, 2020 I was in a similar situation recently. I ended up with a Rotel A10, Rega P1 and Monitor Audio Bronze 2. This system sounds great. There are a lot of options at budget price points. The new Rega looks like a fantastoc amp. Don't forget the classifieds here. I nabbed a newish NAD C368 for $700 which I use for digital listening. It's a class above the A10 for very little extra money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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