I am looking to buy an affordable turntable and hardware, what do I need for a complete setup and are there any models you would suggest?

Nope but I do know pawn shops always seem to have them in stock. You may be able to find an affordable one there.

A record player needs only speakers (unless of course it’s a model with built in speakers, in which case just plug it in and play).

A turntable, on the other hand, requires a pre-amp as well as speakers.

Unless you want to do some mixing or DJing, go with a record player so you don’t have the added cost of a pre-amp. When you do, enjoy – after listening to vinyl, it’s hard to go back to the over-processed cold digital sound of an mp3.

thank you for the answer syzygy2600! I’m no DJ so I’m going to go with the record player. But that means I won’t need a receiver either? I have no clue what one is, I’ve just heard i might need one if i was looking to buy a turntable.

I don’t know either, my guess would be that receiver is just another name for a pre-amp.

Basically, a record player is a machine that plays records. A turntable produces an output signal that requires amplification before it can be heard – you can’t just plug it into speakers because the signal is far too weak.

Just make sure that your speakers and player are compatible with each other and you should be fine.

Thanks this is very helpful.

Gbrew, you might want to look into FLAC files! They are lossless, which means they sound MUCH better than MP3, and have a much wider spectrum/higher bitrate. Any true audionerd now a days is keeping all their collections in FLAC, you can get a FLAC player at the link included as well as more information, and most artists and music sites (bandcamp, for one!) allows downloading in FLAC format. Just a thought :)

Link:

There is no point buying a record player with a shitty built in amp and speakers if you are wanting to get away from what you call the horrible sound quality that mp3 provides so the minimum I would suggest is a turntable, amp and speakers.

A half decent amplifier doesn’t have to cost the earth, This is the amp I have, I have had it for about 15 years now and it is still going strong.

I use these and these speakers although mine are in a cherrywood finish.

Turntables, this is where it gets fun. The insanely expensive to the cheap and nasty

Obviously most normal people try to find a happy and affordable spot between these. As far as club DJ turtables go the industry standard has been the Technics SL-1200 series since the late 70’s, I use 2 SL-1210MK2’s. They are solid, reliable and reasonably priced. There are contenders to their crown though, for example the Stanton ST 150 which I believe Ministry of Sound have installed.

Something like this would probably do for home use.

Have fun with your records and buy a Vinyl Cleaning Kit

thanks to both of you! this is a big help thanks