need advice!

[jmusica]

My take is he may get the most long-term bang-for-his-$ to split the funds mostly between an all-in-one type integrated like HiFi Rose RS201E, Naim Unity Atom, Lumin M1, NAD C 399 and speakers like Fyne 501 or BW 702 S2, with Blue Jeans cables or the like. (Not all those amp choices have phono stages so that’s a consideration; but presented to just give an idea.)

I do understand why some here suggest it may be time to consider just going digital. With only 150 albums, he’d have so, so much more music at his disposal with Qobuz, and imo likely better sound quality than a cheaper attempt at vinyl.

Just so the debaters don’t come roaring out of the woodwork to call for my immediate tar-and-feathering, this is just my .02, from the perspective of a digital-only user, ymmv, and all the other disclaimers.

 

[Old Bob]

THANKS Mikado. i did not think of moving coil cartridge. I only do CD's

I will ask him which cartridge he has.

THANKS JMusica. we want all ideas!!! I know nothing at all about streaming, I would have to learn along with him!
have a great day guys!

 

[Mr Peabody]

Atoll is a high value French brand, the player likely sounds pretty good. If the Marantz 15 is the unit from the Reference line it is an excellent table and would have to spend quite a bit to best it. Made for them by Clear Audio.

To keep things simple the more efficient the speaker is the less power needed to reach a certain volume. A speaker at 90dB will play louder than one at 86dB with same power input. (dB) is logarithmic but you get roughly twice the sound with 3dB more efficiency. Quality watts cost so you will need power or efficiency to fill a large to mid room.

I'm not familiar with the Atoll integrated amp models & price, but that's a line to look at for value, price to performance. The Parasound I suggested is a reasonable option as it has everything you will need. Except you really wouldn't need the DAC with a CDP. If you got an integrated with preamp outs he could always add more power later if necessary.

If no stores in your area to work with I'd buy online from one of many who offer returns if not happy. You might even look at Cary Direct where Cary Audio sells diredt to customer, they do have solid state integrated.

Most speaker brands have loevels at various price points, Monitor Audio Silver, Revel Concerto are a couple in the range you are looking.

 

[mep]

THANKS Mikado. i did not think of moving coil cartridge. I only do CD's

I will ask him which cartridge he has.

THANKS JMusica. we want all ideas!!! I know nothing at all about streaming, I would have to learn along with him!
have a great day guys!

I took a look at your friend's Hitachi preamp and power amp. The power amp is a true dual mono amp with two power transformers and separate circuit cards for each channel. The amp is a Class A/B design rated at 100 watts per channel into 8 ohms. It's a very classy looking amp with dual power meters on the front panel.

The matching preamp is no slouch either. It has both MC and MM capability with an input sensitivity of .1mv for MC cartridges.