Audiophile Turntable Newbie - What to buy as a gift?, [moved from Audio Hardware] Options

[musiclove]

Hi there all!

I am glad to have discovered this forum. I am a newbie at the audiophile game and want to buy my super audiophile boyfriend a turntable as a gift. I have done some initial research and have found brands such as Pro-Ject, Rega, and Pyle. I am not familiar with turntables and audio systems at all and want to make sure I am buying the right thing. I am looking for something with great sound quality (of course) and up to date technical capabilities - meaning I want him to be able to connect to his computer via USB and be able to hook up the turntable to his home audio system. I am having trouble understanding pre-amps etc. I also want it to be able to play all types of records - 78, 35, 45 etc. and my budget maxes at 400-450 US dollars. Please help - I need to be educated but dont want him to be underwhelmed when he opens the gift!

thank you all so much in advance. i really appreciate it.

[A_Man_Eating_Duc...]

If he is a super audiophile then I would be very careful buying a turntable without his input, there is no point taking the risk wasting your money on a turntable that doesn't tick all his boxes (so to speak).

Does he have a HiFi store he usually goes to?

This post has been edited by A_Man_Eating_Duck: Jun 16 2012, 00:08

[mzil]

Unless he has a collection of records and no way to play them because his current record player died, I don't think buying into an obsolete format makes sense. Although there has been a small resurgence in LP sales in recent years, it is still just a niche market with a relatively tiny selection, and it is audibly inferior to CD in not some, but rather all ways.

CD is better in terms of a lack of pops, ticks, warp wow, inner groove distortion, center hole misalignment, hiss, hum, rumble, speed accuracy, wow, flutter, surface noise, flatness of frequency response in the audible band, channel separation, distortion, and is maintenance free and more durable.

Some people may prefer a particular LP to a CD, claiming the LP has a greater dynamic range, for example , but this is just because the recording engineer decided to use a different mix. There is nothing inherent to LP which makes it desirable over CD if accurate sound reproduction is one's goal.

This post has been edited by mzil: Jun 16 2012, 00:58