Thetownend.com

I am looking at purchasing a turntable and some speakers to start an LP collection.

Any recommendations?

Some invaluable advice here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxQqWSnsHoA

 Is this a serious question Sippo?

 All Swindonian's would happily see a return to the days when Garrard's ruled the world.....

 http://www.swindonweb.com/index.asp?m=8&s=116&ss=394&t=GARRARD+IN+SWINDON

Of course. It's something that has always interested me, and can look at it as a hobby.

 Well the operation out at Lambourn, who seem to love their Garrard mighty be worth checking out...

 http://www.garrard501.com/

 The Bath Road Museum has a small collection of Garrard turntables for those who get misty eyed over such things.

You'll need an amplifier also if you want to drive the speakers. Depending if the amp or turntable has a built in phono stage, you may also need a phono pre-amp.  Lots of turntables use a manual speed change too, which can be an added inconvenience so may want to look out for that.

Might be helpful to provide your budget too.

All my hi-fi kit is strictly digital so that's about as helpful as I can be.

I don't have a budget as such. There are so many different ones out there.

I like the look of this one. https://www.johnlewis.com/roberts-rt100-two-speed-usb-turntable-natural-wood/p3302515

A USB turntable. Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron? If you want to listen to digital music, use a digital device!

Get yourself down to Richer Sounds, unfortunately not one in Swindon however.

In my experience they’re the exact opposite of the Mel Smith sketch, friendly and they don’t bamboozle you with tech stuff.

They’ll put a package together to suit your budget and, depends on the shop, they often have refurbished / unboxed kit which means more bang for your buck if you don’t care if there’s a box or not. I bought a cracking DAB radio in Exeter recently, no box or leads, £15 instead of £80. Their warranty is excellent too.

My wife knows zip about radio/hifi/TV stuff but will always go to Richer for, eg, a new TV. There’s a reason they always win the ‘most sales per square foot’ retail award - they have such loyal customers.

And no I’ve never worked for them.

Always liked the Rega Planar and Pro-ject turntables myself. And if I was made of money I'd have the Clearaudio Emotion SE. I'm lucky to have had a pair of Technics 1200s for over 20 years (although I'm soon to put one in the loft).

You could try Audio T opposite The Sir Daniel in town.

The kit is more at the premium end.
Turntables start at around £200 there.

Also check out sevenoaks online they often have ex display stuff at a fraction of retail price. I picked up a boxed immaculate amp for 60% of retail value and it still had all of the protective plastic on the display etc.

If you want something a bit arty Project do nice ones and there are lots of more expensive options out there too. Having owned a similar black one I would avoid the type in the picture though. At the top left that is the motor and drive band which is a very flimsy setup that you have to manually fiddle with each time to get the platter spinning, just unnecessary.

The Roberts one looks nice too Sippo. Have a look at the Project range which may be slightly higher quality. But if you can see the supreme beauty in a Technics 1200 or 1210 and don't mind paying the £400+ required for a second hand one then it will go forever and is top notch pro shit.