Recommendations for turntable and speakers

[squashyhat]

I want to get my records out of retirement and be able to play them again, but I am not techy and need some guidance. I'm planning to go to my local branch of Richer Sounds but want to have at least some knowledge before I go there. I'm looking for a compact turntable with 2 small separate speakers. I understand the turntable needs a pre-amp(?) and ideally I would like the speakers to connect to it wirelessly (using Bluetooth?) Can anyone recommend a set-up for £300-£400 all up?

Go on to soul source you will get advice from knowledgeable people that have very rare soul records that can cost fortunes.

I'm not sure why the rarity is relevant? These are just bog standard 70s and 80s LPs. I assume from your user name you have a vested interest in the site which is not what I asked for.

Bumping for hopefully some more helpful replies.

Wow- that was rude!

Richer sounds will help you, they are brilliant. Give them your budget and they can advise you on best options. We have an amp the turntable plugs into though, plus wired speakers however the system is 30 years old and still going strong!

Richer Sounds will definitely be able to help. You will need a turntable (Rega and Pro-Ject are often recommended as quality turntables for those on a budget), a phono pre-amplifier with AptX Bluetooth, and powered speakers with Bluetooth.

Some powered Bluetooth speakers have a phono preamp built in, but you will in that case still have to run a cable from the turntable to the speakers cabinet that contains the pre-amp which kind of negates the advantage of having wireless.

Note also that with Bluetooth speakers, typically one speaker contains the amplifier and Bluetooth receiver and is powered, and the other speaker is just a dumb speaker which must be connected to the master speaker using a cable. So they are not as wireless as you might want.

You may want to consider using a traditional solution with an amplifier and cabled speakers, which will give you a lot more options and probably sound better.

Do you have cable still yourself?

I’m looking to modernise my ageing system. I have a few rarities amongst mine vinyl but not enough to consider myself a collector. Hearing Regar described as budget made me smile - I practically sold my soul to buy a Regar Planar 3 back in the dark ages.

I’ve been looking at wireless options but have doubts about the sound quality. I’d be interested to know what you bought if recent (or would buy if your last set wasn’t so recent).

I’m planning a trip to Richer and Tottenham Court Road but like the OP, trying to gather a few more ideas first.

@C8H10N4O2 nope we have a traditional wired system and no interest in going wireless. We have an AirPlay/chromecast receiver plugged in to one input of the amplifier so it’s very easy to cast a podcast or something from a phone or tablet to the hifi.