Not sure if there's a thread for audio equipment, but in case there isn't, maybe this could be the meta thread.

My daughter wants a new turntable.  I need recs for Austin stores that might carry gently used mid-fi brands like Rega, Pro-Ject, Music Hall, etc.  My expectation would be that we'd only need to supply a new belt and cartridge.  Mint old-school decks like Thorens might be cool too, but could bust the budget (~ $300 all-in).  No need for USB, phono preamp, etc., her system is good save for her very entry-level turntable.

I haven't been in the audio gear game for years now, so I'm not sure what stores are still open and what might be new on the scene.

I thought we had one somewhere but not sure.

I’m not sure about in Austin but AB TV used to have some of that stuff. In SA both Bjorns and Best Buy Magnolia carry what you’re looking for. There’s a BB Magnolia in south Austin off mopac.

In similar news, I’m picking up my new fronts, center and receiver on Thursday. Getting a pair of Def Tech ST-L super towers, a mythos ten, and a Marantz SR-7010. Fucking psyched.

 

I dig that modern Marantz gear.  I had one of their top SACD players maybe 10 years ago, it sounded great.  I ultimately downsized my rig to a higher-end Yamaha integrated amp and matching CD player, but I really liked that Marantz, too.

See this system here? This is Hi-Fi... high fidelity. What that means is that it's the highest quality fidelity

Subscribed to this thread. Thanks for starting.

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You can get a brand new Pro-ject Debut Carbon for $349. Why not do that and add the phono stage?   Comes with stylus and a new belt. 

Edited August 11, 20215 yr by VABuckeye

2 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

You can get a brand new Pro-ject Debut Carbon for $349. Why not do that and add the phono stage?   Comes with stylus and a new belt. 

We're leaning towards the Pro-ject Elemental.  I'll have to buy her a phono preamp, but that's cool.  I also have a Gingko dust cover that she can have.

Quality gear, new, no wasted goo-gahs (USB, etc.).  I thought the little Yamaha receiver I bought her a couple of years ago had a phono input, but it's line stage only.  No big deal, there are a bunch of sub-$100 phono preamps out there, and some don't even suck.

 

Got my son a Pro-ject phono box. $99 and definitely does not suck. 

I was about to recommend Sound Gallery on South Congress. Huge selection of used hi fi equipment but they are permanently closed.

Austin Stereo Service on Burnet has a good used selection according to a buddy.

The Dominator X-1.  It's so big and impressive. 

Anyone got a rec for hifi repair in Dallas? Have an NAD L53 that needs some attention, principally the belts on the CD drawer have had it.

Also, I am super-intrigued by the various streaming amps and receivers out there. Especially these https://www.wiimhome.com/

The reason being that I was always skeptical of the quality of streaming music until I ran it through a quality DAC (the one on the NAD). Now, I feel like streaming is a valid option even before you go to the hifi streams.

Those, and quite a few like them from more traditional brands, have Class D, digital amplification. On the one hand, I'm not sure how discriminating I really am. Historically, I know good sound when I hear it, even if I don't have the vocabulary to describe it. For example, I generally prefer the sound of vinyl to the sound of CD (and tube amps plus vinyl are very nice), but I am willing to compromise for convenience. See my satisfaction with streamed sound throuogh a good DAC.

So, I worry about how happy I'll be with Class D. Your thoughts @jimmyjazz ? Anyone else with experience or insight?

Not sure on a place but maybe check with Audio Concepts. Maybe they can steer you to someone.

Regarding Class D: I've owned a few, and my current rig is Class D. I may be fooling myself, but I think it sounds fine. To me, it comes down to watts moreso than it does amplifier class. I've certainly owned great class AB amps (Bryston, McCormack, etc.) and they sounded fantastic, but I haven't done a blind shootout. Maybe some day.

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Regarding Class D: I've owned a few, and my current rig is Class D. I may be fooling myself, but I think it sounds fine. To me, it comes down to watts moreso than it does amplifier class. I've certainly owned great class AB amps (Bryston, McCormack, etc.) and they sounded fantastic, but I haven't done a blind shootout. Maybe some day.

Thanks. As mentioned, for reasons I can't quite articulate, I sort of disliked the sound of CDs compared to vinyl LPs. It sounded artificially pristine or something to me. It may have been the equipment and the primitive state of DACs in the early going. But I recognized and succumbed to the convenience of the medium and the player.

By the time streaming rolled around I guess I had acclimated to digital reproduction, but ipods, mp3 players, headphones and PCs sounded pretty shitty to me. A bigger compromise of fidelity for convenience. Again, maybe more of a hardware issue than the fundamental technology.

But then I jury rigged a TV, playing a streaming music service, optical out to the quite decent DAC in the NAD, and got a much better, even acceptable quality, Miraculous!

So, the NAD needs partial replacement and those streaming amps seem a more logical choice to me than going back to say vintage amp and turntable and purchasing all the media (LPs). But I was concerned that I would have "digital" issues again. The audiophile press is generally complementary of those streaming amps, but does note some shortcomings. They're probably far more discerning than I.

Edited September 12Sep 12 by TwiceHorn

My bad: I got my current amp mixed up with my last one. The current amp is class AB. Sounds good to me. I don't recall any Class D amps I've owned sounding bad unless they were just anemic in the power department.

26 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

My bad: I got my current amp mixed up with my last one. The current amp is class AB. Sounds good to me. I don't recall any Class D amps I've owned sounding bad unless they were just anemic in the power department.

Some of the ones out there are pretty low powered, but those Wiim are 50-100W, so I don't imagine I'll have problems there.

It's funny how things sort of go. The old school amp companies mostly seem to eschew streaming and the streaming amp companies eschew traditional amplification.

NAD bridges that gap, but quite spendy and a proprietary-ish streaming platform. Yamaha does too, but in a bigass receiver package and also proprietary streaming platform.

Mine's a Yamaha integrated amp, pretty high end, I think it sounds good. But again, class AB.

9 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Mine's a Yamaha integrated amp, pretty high end, I think it sounds good. But again, class AB.

Any built in streaming features? I think Yamaha uses something called Musiccast. One thing about it, I believe it is closed to chromecast. I'm familiar with chromecast, so kind of want it, although I suspect the other platforms suffice.

10 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Any built in streaming features? I think Yamaha uses something called Musiccast. One thing about it, I believe it is closed to chromecast. I'm familiar with chromecast, so kind of want it, although I suspect the other platforms suffice.

Not my thing, so I don't know. I just use it for TV and CD. I'm kind of a luddite.