Tier Lo · Vocals-First (mandate)
Every choice made for the singer — the voice comes first and the rest follows.
One certified system per brief. Costs appear only as signed percentages against each tier’s (unpublished) baseline; absolute prices are not shown.
The certified system
| Slot | Component |
|---|---|
| Turntable | Pro-Ject Debut Pro (with cart) |
| Tonearm | Roksan Attessa Unipivot tonearm |
| Cartridge | Ortofon MC Quintet Black S |
| Phono stage | Cyrus Classic PHONO |
| Integrated amplifier | Leak Stereo 230 |
| Loudspeakers | Neat Iota 2 |
| Whole-system cost vs tier baseline | +0.4% |
Amplification: integrated amplifier — an outcome of the search, not a requirement.
How the money is shaped
How the budget is shaped here — each share is the portion of the whole build this brief aims at that position. A position marked free is left to find its own level.
| Position | Share of build |
|---|---|
| Cartridge | 21.3% |
| Tonearm | 2.5% |
| Turntable | 7.5% |
| Phono stage | 11.3% |
| Loudspeakers | 37.5% |
| Integrated amplifier | 20.0% |
Why there is no subwoofer
No subwoofer is fitted: at this tier the budget is better spent inside the core system, and the loudspeaker carries the bass range alone.