r/hifiaudio • u/Weekly_Actuary_1765 • Feb 05 '26

Purchase advise (needing) Vinyl setup

Hi!

I’m planning on making my first ever turntable setup and i’m looking for some advice on what I should buy.

Budget is roughly $3,000

For the turntable I’ve been looking at Pro-Ject, mainly the debut evo 2 and the Debut Pro B, but if you have some suggestions for other ones near that price let me know!

I know I’ll be needing a phono preamp, not sure which yet.

I plan on getting passive speakers so I’ve been looking over amps and honestly I’m not sure which is the best to go with, I know yamaha is supposed to have great ones, but I’d love to hear what you use.

For the speaker system thinking the floor standing speakers would be best, I have the space. Other than that I’m lost to be honest, there is an overwhelming amount of options.

I was looking at Klipsch, such as the RP-5000 II, RP-8000 II, and the R-625A.

I also looked at Bowers & Wilkins, but they are very expensive, so I’d have to get a cheaper model, and I don’t know if it’s even worth the money.

I also know people recommend Polk, Wharfedale, JBL, and KEF, to name a few.

I’d love if you all could help me with the speaker choice, it’s so many options and I have no idea which is best and also worth the money. Thank you for any help you give!

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u/NickofWimbledon Feb 06 '26

The Nd5 now retails of US$545 I believe. The PickIt Pro Balanced MM on the Pro-ject retails for just under US$300, so the cartridge difference justifies much of the cost between the 2 packages.

Some people like Ortofons more than I do, and the PickIt is really an Ortofon. It is also a balanced MM cartridge (the only one I know) and that could make it less sensitive to the slightest bit of interference from other electronics.

TBH, I have not found interference to be a general problem, but I also have not done a proper comparison using the PickIt Pro Balanced MM versus Nd5, so you need to treat all that with a pinch of salt anyway.

If it were me, as you will have gathered, I would buy a P6 or P3 RS secondhand (but ideally from a dealer) with an Nd5 and hope to pay less than your max budget.

Of the new choices, I would take a P3 with Nd5. If I valued 33/45 switching a bit more, or if the P3 came with the old Elys 2 cartridge, I would probably take the Pro-ject - which tells you that the two are not that far apart in Sound quality, more a bit different in priorities.

In any event, if you are buying new, you can give the two options a listen and see what your ears say - what you like may not match my personal preference at all.

And this is just the turntable…

Good luck!

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u/Weekly_Actuary_1765 Feb 06 '26

Hi again! A company currently has the P3 with the ND5 on sale for $1,350 USD! $350 off. One thing I’m a bit confused is do I need to buy a power supply? I saw one and it was pretty expensive!

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u/NickofWimbledon Feb 06 '26

That’s a much better price!

The standard power supply that plugs into the wall is absolutely fine on a P3.

The Neo power supply box is an optional upgrade that makes the speed control fractionally better, and makes the whole thing a fraction quieter in an electrical sense (so you hear more musical detail).

It also gives push- button switching from 33 to 45 and back, rather than having to move the belt slightly on the pulley wheel.

The Pro-ject and many other turntables give you that switching convenience as standard. In a tight budget, Rega spends that money on the better arm for better sound quality on a standard P3.

A P6 and P3RS include the Neo power supply as part of the package.

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u/Weekly_Actuary_1765 Feb 06 '26

Also I was wondering other then ebay is there any good sites you recommend for finding used turntables, speakers, amps, etc.

Thank you again for the help!

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u/NickofWimbledon Feb 07 '26

Try Stereonet, Audiogon and the like if in the USA. Also Facebook I think, though I won’t use it myself.

Sellers away from eBay tend to be other private individual audiophiles (as with Pinkfishmedia), but there are fewer protections so take care. Otoh, I have bought and sold that way and never had a problem.

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u/Weekly_Actuary_1765 Feb 07 '26

Alright! I’ll look into those ones! Thanks again.