So for my middle son's 17th birthday he requested a turntable and a Robert Johnson album... well as y'all know there's more to a turntable than just the turntable. So began the quest for a decent starter system that would at least get him moving forward on the right path. I didn't want to break the bank, but a pair of Axiom M3's was the minimum for a set of speakers. Of course a turntable needs a phono pre-amp, but lots of the older AVR's had one built in, so I found a Technics SA GX790 (of which I have one - first surround processor I owned and still have!) on ebay for $60, plus $40 for shipping - so he ended up with a 100W/ch and a phono preamp built in.
Andrew recommended the U-Turn turntable, so I ordered one. What I didn't count on was the 8 week lead time needed due to supply v. demand. So as part of his birthday he learned delayed gratification. I had him watch
The Distortion of Sound as posted on the U-Turn twitter feed. He was already aware of the loudness wars, but I have a few CD's with minimal compression that were produced before the wars began, including Dire Straits / Brothers in Arms, one of the first all digital albums produced and one i've owned since it came out. So he got that CD and my Oppo player (since the HT is not set up in the new digs yet).
Combining all that and several albums sourced new and old, he is amazed at what he's been missing, growing up in an MP3/earbud world. So now if he wants to get a better amp or pre-amp or a different mat or a different cartridge for the turntable, he can continue to build a better system as his interest and income allow.
