Vinyl setup help?, [TOS #6: moved from General Audio] Options

[UKben]

Basically im only 16 so i have no knowledge on vinyls and i want to buy a set up. I only want to use it to play tunes im not interested in mixing, the music i want to play is trance, jungle, hip hop and house. My room is 11ft x 10ft, i dont know hom much i need to spend, but i will not be able to spend more than £500. I really know hardly anything but my guess is that i need a turntable, amp and speakers? I want some big, loud speakers as i have a lot of m8s round my house and we share a love for loud, thumping beats Can you give me some tips on what to buy and possibly even a list of what to buy ( make, model ect.). Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[cliveb]

Basically im only 16 so i have no knowledge on vinyls and i want to buy a set up. I only want to use it to play tunes im not interested in mixing, the music i want to play is trance, jungle, hip hop and house.

Can I ask why you want to get into vinyl? If it's simply that the music you want to play is only available on vinyl, then fair enough. But apart from that, the only really valid reason for using vinyl is if you enjoy the rituals involved. Good quality playback is much easier to achieve with a digital setup.

OK, let's suppose you really do want to get into vinyl. Your desire for loud thumping beats in the context of a £500 budget gives you two problems:

1. Acoustic feedback. The loud thumping beats will impinge on the turntable, possibly resulting in groove skipping. If you and your mates are likely to be jumping up and down while listening, this will make matters worse. To avoid this you need either a massive turntable or one with a well-designed suspension. Neither of these come cheap. You should also think about mounting the turntable on a shelf firmly attached to a solid wall. Putting it on a stand on the floor or a shelf on a flimsy stud wall will mean any vibrations will easily transmit back into the turntable and provoke skipping.

2. Loud thumping bass only comes out of big speakers. Good quality big speakers cost a lot of money. Be prepared to sacrifice sound quality in exchange for lots of (ill-defined) bass at your budget level. Perhaps look out for secondhand Cerwin-Vega speakers, which are renowned for their ability to shift large volumes of air, albeit in a somewhat uncouth manner!