Earlier this year, I wrote about how I'd love to have a turntable system at home, but limited space and even more limited time to listen to music were holding me back.
One of the other things holding me back, I discovered, was the idea that my set-up needed to be 'perfect'. I didn't have the right shelf or cabinet; I couldn't get the right speakers or amplifier even if I did get a turntable; there wasn't enough space for everything; it wouldn't look right. Because of my work and having looked at so many lovely images on Instagram and on our forums of beautifully arranged and properly kitted out vinyl systems, it made me feel like my set-up would always be lacking.
But I had to start somewhere, didn't I? The urge to have a turntable set up didn't lessen as the days and weeks went by, and I also received a handful of encouraging emails from readers who said to just do it and I won't regret it. So I thought, okay: what can I do with what I already have?
The odd dilemma I had is that my main hi-fi separates – Cyrus One amp, Mission 70 MkII speakers – are connected to the TV. There is absolutely no space near that area where I could place a turntable, so I couldn't take advantage of the rather good phono stage inside the Cyrus amp. I did, however, have a pair of Ruark MR1 MkII desktop powered speakers, which do have an aux line in, and I've always enjoyed how they sound. I'd also seen these speakers regularly paired up with the Rega Planar 1 Plus or Pro-Ject E1 Phono in shops and in bundles – so I knew it was a viable solution.
The one wall space I had free was in my home office room and I managed to find a lovely wooden cabinet that would fit in this space perfectly. This cabinet is also great for storing records and was just wide enough to fit a Rega Planar 3/Elys 2 turntable on top – which is the deck I ended up with and should, ideally, last me a good few years.
Sadly, there's no space to put a pair of speakers on stands on either side of the cabinet here. There just isn't enough room, and even then, the doors and paths on either side mean there's too much footfall and potential for speakers to get knocked over. Once I placed the Planar 3 turntable on the cabinet, though, there was just enough space left to plonk on the Ruark MR1s at either side of the deck. The Ruarks have no phono stage inside, however, so I got the tiny Rega Mini Fono A2D Mk2 which just about fits onto the remaining cabinet surface. I opted for a separate phono stage here so there's potential to upgrade the system further down the line. And finally, I got myself a phonoRCA-to-3.5mm Chord Company cable to take the turntable/phono feed to the Ruark's 3.5mm audio input.
And voila: my turntable set-up finally existed! It isn't perfect – I'd love to upgrade the speakers or at least get them off the same surface as the turntable itself, but that may be a problem I can't fix unless I completely rearrange the room (or move to a bigger house). But it works, and it's mine.
So once I'd sorted the space and got it all up and running, have I actually been listening to records regularly? Yes – and it has been absolutely worth it.
In the first few months of summer, I got obsessed with buying vinyl so I could play album after album on my new turntable system. I just wanted to hear how it sounded with everything. I already had a few records – which usually lived in our hi-fi test room – but I brought most of them back home to listen, and had a lovely time hearing Tom Waits croon and rasp at me (I'm listening to Closing Time as I write this). It was a joy being able to put a physical record on and listen – actually pay attention and listen – to music. I normally stream tunes from my phone to the Ruark speakers over Bluetooth (and still do, when not using the turntable), and while that does sound very nice indeed, listening on vinyl, wired, and through the Rega system sounds so much more solid, more dynamic, and has more presence and tactility. Both in sound and in the experience of playing music.
I've since scoured Amazon (lowest prices), HMV (latest popular releases but terrible browsing experience), my local second-hand record stores (lovely browsing experience, lots of albums I've never heard of) and subscribed to an independent record store's newsletter (Drift Records) whose new releases are incredibly tempting. My record collection has been growing, and while I tried to limit myself to just one new record per month (vinyl is rather expensive!), I must confess I've usually ended up with two or three each time I went on a shopping spree.
Half the fun is finding records that I probably wouldn't have bought on CD, or streamed once and listened to half-heartedly. I decided that I wouldn't try to re-build my existing music collection – a rather futile exercise because most of my music taste of late 90s/00s rock was during CD's popularity, so vinyl versions are non-existent, rare or far too pricey. Besides, I have those albums on CD already, and those aren't going anywhere (I need a new CD player next...)
But vinyl gave me an opportunity to discover and buy new music, sometimes on a whim. I've bought video game soundtracks, a Son House blues album, Big Brave's A Chaos of Flowers and even a few 45 singles, for fun. I've bought records simply because I liked the album art and because they were cheap, and I've not regretted either decision. There are plenty of records, old and new, that I've earmarked to buy in the new year...
(I even bought myself a handy cleaning kit – the Pro-Ject Brush-It record Clean-It stylus brushes – when things get dusty, too.)
Don't get me wrong, I still stream music regularly, sometimes to discover new tracks but mostly I tend to listen to the same thing over and over again – usually because I'm listening when doing a task or need it as background music to power me through the day. But with the turntable system, it's more intentional. It's harder to ignore; the sound really is fantastic, so much more richly detailed, with greater depth and weight, and the dynamic swings are so engaging – it really makes me sit up and listen.
I'll admit, however, there was the time between August to mid-December (spanning our busy Awards season to the dreaded Black Friday in November), when I didn't have much time to music at home, let alone use my turntable. Reviewing products for the day job means that it can sometimes be hard to muster up excitement for listening to yet more music on my own time. The current holiday break, however, is giving me a chance to recharge and start using my turntable again, and it has made me enjoy listening for my own enjoyment again. It also helps that my husband, colleagues and industry friends have varied (and excellent) music tastes and often recommend new music to me – which I'm excited to hunt out on vinyl and try out.
I'll also be taking the time to see how else I can improve my system. As I already mentioned, I can't get an amplifier and proper speakers into the space I have, much as I'd love to. So until I can figure out the speaker situation, I've got to stick with the Ruarks. I've toyed with the idea of wall-mounting speakers – but I'm not sure how sturdy my wall is and I would need more convincing that this is a viable (and aesthetically pleasing) solution. (If anyone reading has wall-mounted their speakers, please do let me know how it's worked out.) The set-up currently is rather neat and tidy, so I'm loathe to add too much to it to overcrowd it, especially when it works so well.
One of the other things I've discovered in my vinyl journey is how varied the quality of pressings can be – but that's a rabbit hole that I'm trying not to get sucked into. While it has made me sometimes question the quality of a pressing, I'm also trying not to let it prevent me from buying new music or an album that I already love and want to listen to through the turntable rather than via Apple Music. Waxahatchee's Tigers Blood is my #1 album of the year, so that's definitely on the wishlist.
My turntable system is modest, but it's got solid bones, I enjoy the way it sounds and, more importantly, I love using it. After years of hesitating and procrastinating, I'm glad I finally took the step towards making it happen, and even happier that I am listening to records on it – something I was genuinely worried I wouldn't make time for. I can't wait to find out how it evolves over the years.
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