Start up system for 16 year old

Outside the box...

...how about a pair of Ruark MR1 (£300) or Q Acoustics BT3 (£200) and add something like a Pro-ject Essentials III Phono (£360) or Rega Planar 1 (£250) and Phono Mini (£90)

Eloise has the answer 

I'd get a better deck (Planar 3 perhaps) and an A&R Cambridge A60.

Why does he want a deck, amp, and speakers? 

Surely the 16 year old will get much more from this if he works it out for himself. There’s loads online eg What Hifi, and he could go to Richer Sounds or one of the other chains that sell basic hifi. Best advice would be about what not to do, such as buying a Crosley turntable! 

Not sure what the budget is but if buying new a possible solution could be something like a Denon mini system DM40 DAB (available for less than £150). They tend to get very positive reviews for what they are. The Denon has a USB socket for ipod/pad. It also has optical in and so could be used with Chromecast for streaming.  Add speakers of choice (quite a few sub £100 available)  and then add the Rega Planar 1 and Phono Mini. Would need to budget for cables etc

If you want Naim - a  a Mu-so Qb + Rega front end. Someone on the forum will probably have tried this sort of set up and could report on its performance.

If buying used then there is a lot more choice but depending on where you buy from more risk.

BN

Let's see ...

Second hand, cheap.  "Classic" products

Pioneer PL12D + Shure Cartridge

Arcam A60, Creek, NAD

Wharfedale Diamonds, Small Mission speakers

The potential list is endless.

Me, I splashed out on both my girls when they reached teen years (quite some time ago, thinking about it ... sigh)

Daughter 1 : Rega 3, AR cartridge (?E77), Nait, Royd A7s, Rotel Tuner, later added a Denon CD player

Daughter 2 : Linn Axis, 'cheap' linn cartridge (can't recall the model number, Nait (used), Royd A7s, Yamaha Tuner.  Later added a CD player (a used Arcam alpha IIRC)

Nothing less than a Statement.

Crosley CR8005D-BK Cruiser Deluxe Portable 3-Speed Turntable with Bluetooth, Black, CDN$98

May be S/H could be cheaper.

Maybe talking him out of getting a TT would be the wise thing to do. 

MangoMonkey posted:

Maybe talking him out of getting a TT would be the wise thing to do. 

Agreed, especially if a 16-year-old will be buying primarily modern, overly-compressed vinyl, in which case I'd say may as well just stream. If hell-bent on a TT then a dedicated lesson as to how to properly handle LPs would be in order.

My skin crawls when I'm digging through the used vinyl bins and I see Millennials drawing LPs from their jackets using a hefty thumb and index finger grasp. Next thing they do is blow on the record.

I would recommend a demo at Richer Sounds, recall many of my younger days on a meager budget. Was great as lots of choice options and good advice, but most of all it was the experience and learning, as to be honest thats the part i enjoyed most, otherwise it just becomes a magazine led box buying mission.

I’d support Eloise’s suggestion of the Ruark speakers. They can take a Rega 1 with the fono A to D converter, but can also play Spotify from a phone using Bluetooth, or a digital feed from a laptop. Something small and transportable is ideal when University comes in a couple of years. The Rega could be left at home and the Ruarks taken in a rucksack. 

Thanks all, pretty hard to advise without budget - I told him to go to Richer Sounds

 heers

Gary

fathings cat posted:

Thanks all, pretty hard to advise without budget - I told him to go to Richer Sounds

Probably the best option - though these days Richer Sounds often don't have demo facilities - it may not be typical but locally Richer Sounds appear more to focus on TVs these days.  I would also give SuperFi a go as they sell a lot of the same "budget" stuff but still have demo facilities.

Hi. I agree that streaming is the way to go, at least for starters. I'd look at Yamaha WXA 50 with a pair of Dynaudio Emit M10 (or M20 if he has the room). Or WXC 50 (which is a streaming preamp) + active studio monitors, which would be an even cheaper combo. Later, he can add an Audio Technica LP5 TT. Or Rega Planar 1 + a phono stage for a cheaper solution.

If the kid wants a TT, he will get a TT. Does he want to make DJ noises? The standard Japanese direct drive will do fine. They should be cheap and readily available. If he wants to listen to music, go belt drive. There is a useful lesson in that about ignoring media hype in favor of trusting your ears.