For many people their first time buying a turntable will also be their first time buying a proper stereo setup. Because the vast vast majority of modern records are mastered in stereo (meaning a separate audio signal for each “channel” of audio left and right) the best way to listen to them is with a proper stereo setup with two distinct speaker cabinets that can be positioned to generate a stereo sound stage. For more info on positioning your stereo speakers see tip 2 in the blog post Here.
There are many ways you can achieve a proper stereo setup because the four core components of a stereo turntable setup; turntable, phono preamp, amplifier and speakers can often consist of less than 4 physical pieces, to understand how that all works see our blog post about How Turntable Setups Work.
Today we will be covering how to split up your budget across these components, the most important thing to remember though is that any audio setup is only as good as its weakest link so prioritizing a large amount of your budget on any single component will mean that it’s quality is pulled down by the other weaker components, thus spreading your budget is the best bet.
The easiest way to make sure you’re spending your budget correctly is with our package deals, with these we have already made the choice of how to spread your money, they also come with everything you need to get going so if speaker cable is needed its already included and we have already made sure that all the components will sound good together, plus we reduce the price on these package deals even further than club price so you can save more money! Check out our package deals here.
If none of our package deals appeal to you then keep reading, we will split up the rest of this post into budget range (please note prices change over time so check product pages for the most up to date info, prices in this blog post are accurate at the time of writing).
Budget Range: $900 to $1500
At this price point keeping your setup simple is the best route as the less components you have the less the cost of each one, this typically means going for a turntable with a built in phono preamp and using powered bookshelf speakers.
At this price point a 60:40 split turntable to speakers is normally the best, for instance:
Project Primary E Phono $539 + Presonus Eris 3.5bt $399
Project E1 Phono $729 + Presonus Eris 4.5bt $499
An important note is that Presonus speakers do not come with phono preamps built in so we need to opt for the Phono version of the turntables.
Budget Range: $1500 to $2400
Here we can move to more premium turntables and speakers, however we are still going to focus on powered bookshelf speakers since at this price point it still makes sense. One benefit of the higher end powered speakers we can get is that they often include phono preamps so we aren’t as limited on our choice of turntable.
We also move closer to a 50:50 turntable to speaker budget split, for instance:
Project T1 Phono SB $749 Elac Debut Connex $999 (Total $1668 With Club Card)
Project Debut Carbon Evo $1099 Elac Debut Connex $999 (Total $1898 With Club Card)
Rega Planar 2 $1395 Kanto Yu6 Bookshelf Speakers $1299 (Total $2434 With Club Card)
Budget Range: $2400 to $3500
At this price point getting a separate amplifier and passive speakers is the best option, passive speakers generally have a more full sound due to their increased internal cabinet space as well as being able to fill a larger area. Separate integrated amplifiers often include higher quality phono preamps as well as being able to provide more dynamic playback due to their increased size which offers better cooling and the space for higher quality components.
The rough split is 35:35:30 turntable to amplifier to speaker, though this split can vary a lot depending on your needs, the most important thing as above is to not overly prioritize any one component. With these setups you will also need to purchase some speaker cable, if you purchase your setup from us in store or over the phone / email though mention this blog post and we’ll throw in speaker cable for you with stripped ends and pre cut to length.
Example Setups:
Project Debut Carbon Evo $1099 Encel Brains Amp $934 Encel Gelati Speakers $569 (Total $2422 With Club Card)
Rega Planar 2 $1395 Yamaha AS301 $1099 Q Acoustic 3030i $999 (Total $3117 With Club Card)
Rega Planar 3 Elys 2 $2000 Rega IO Amplifier $1000 Q Acoustic 3020i $799 (Total $3439 With Club Card)
Budget Range: $3500 to $7500
Here we move into the range of truly premium audio setups, this will be the last range in this blog post, if you are looking for setups above this price point give us a call or email at [email protected] so we can find the best fit for you and tailor the audio setup to your specific requirements.
Here we move up mainly to turntables with moving coil cartridges, we also now have the ability to include tower speakers in our budget. Our budget split it a bit more all over the place but the general idea of keeping it a fairly even spread still applies.
Project Debut Pro $1499 Yamaha AS501 Amp $1399 Q Acoustic 3050 Tower Speaker $1499 (Total $3977 With Club Card)
Project Debut Pro $1499 Nad C368 Integrated Amplifier $1999 PSB Alpha T20 Tower Speakers $1299 (Total $4337 With Club Card)
Project X1 Quintet Bronze MC $2259 Project Tube Box $689 Yamaha AS501 $1399 Yamaha Ns555 Tower Speakers $1399 (Total $5447 With Club Card)
Rega Planar 3 Exact $2300 Rega Brio Amp $1875 Q Acoustic 3050i Tower Speakers $1999 (Total $5574 With Club Card)
Rega Planar 6 With Ania MC Cartridge $3500 Rega Fono MC $625 Rega Brio Amp $1875 Q Acoustic 3050i $1999 (Total $7219 With Club Card)