Tier M · 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 Costs appear only as signed percentages against each tier’s (unpublished) baseline; absolute prices are not shown.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 | Technics SL-1200G |
| Tonearm | Rega RB880 |
| Cartridge | Etsuro Urushi Cobalt Blue MC |
| Phono stage | Tom Evans Groove+ SRX MkII |
| Integrated amplifier | Icon Audio Stereo 30 SE (KT150) |
| Loudspeakers | Emmae Reginae (custom) |
| Whole-system cost vs tier baseline | +12.6% |
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. The loudspeaker already covers nearly all of the bass that recorded music actually carries, so a bass cabinet would mostly duplicate it — the coverage arithmetic says the bottom octave left over is not worth a box at this listening level.