Start Your Own Listening Bar at Home: Two Turntables, One Simple Ritual

The First Spin

By Rafi Mercer

People ask how to begin. Not the big build, not the perfect room, just the first step into a listening bar vibe at home. I always start with the turntable, because the ritual begins with the hand. A simple deck, a clean stylus, a record you love, and a little patience. Everything else grows from that. My own path has two lanes that meet in the same place. One is a Technics 1200 MK7, the modern heir to a legend, tough and steady, all torque and reliability. The other is a Rega Planar 3 fitted with a Goldring 1042 stylus, graceful and precise, the kind of deck that turns air into detail. Between them I have a balance that feels honest. The Technics gives me maximum use, the Rega gives me fine use. One for the everyday, one for the evenings when I want to hear the room breathe.

The Technics makes starting easy. Plug it in, level it, set the tracking force, and it just runs. The pitch fader is not only for DJs. Tiny nudges can correct pressings that sit a touch off, and the detachable headshell invites simple cartridge swaps when curiosity bites. It is a deck that forgives, that invites you to play records without fear. Friends can choose a side, lift the arm, drop the needle, and nothing panics. That calm is part of the listening bar feeling. Music as welcome, not as test.

The Rega is different. Lighter on the platter but heavier on intention. You cue with care. You notice how the soundstage opens when the table is properly supported, how a felt mat and a stable shelf cut noise, how tiny adjustments in tracking force and bias change the phrasing of a piano note. On the right pressing, the Planar 3 with the Goldring sings like a well tuned instrument. Brushes on a snare become bristles, bass becomes shape rather than thud, reverbs hang like fog you can touch. It rewards slow listening, the same way a single cube in a weighted glass rewards a slow sip.

If you are starting from zero, do not chase perfection. Chase a repeatable ritual. Level the deck. Align the cartridge carefully, there are printable protractors if you do not own a jig. Set tracking force with a small digital scale so guesswork disappears. Keep a carbon brush to sweep each side before play. Clean the stylus every few sides. These are small gestures that change everything. Crackle falls away, dynamics return, you stop listening for faults and start listening for feel.

Then set the stage. Lights low, noise sources off, curtains drawn to calm reflections. Put the speakers where they can breathe. If you are using bookshelves, give them stands. If you are using floorstanders, toe them in until voices sit in the centre without wandering. Sit, listen, move them an inch, then sit again. Tape measures help, but ears tell the truth faster. Think in simple lines. Triangle between you and the speakers. Symmetry if the room allows. The goal is not loudness. It is presence.

Choose a first record that teaches the room how to behave. Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden if you want to hear space appear. Nina Simone’s Pastel Blues if you want to feel story sit down beside you. Massive Attack’s Blue Lines if you want the floor to find its pulse. Lower the stylus as if saying yes to the evening. Do not rush the next thing. Let side A be the conversation starter. The listening bar begins when skipping stops.

Bring the drink in once the music has the room. Keep it simple. One measure in a heavy glass. One clear cube if tonight runs long. Hibiki Harmony when you want floral patience. Nikka From the Barrel when you want a bit more weight. Tea works too. What matters is pace. The glass should slow you. The sound should open as the glass empties. Two arcs that meet in the middle of the night.

I like to keep a small stack of records within reach for a first session. Four is plenty. An ambient or modern classical piece to set calm. A jazz side with brushes and breath. Something soulful to bring voice into the room. One wild card that reflects you right now. Tell yourself you will play only these four. Limits help the focus. By the time the fourth side ends you will know the system better than you did two hours earlier. You will hear what needs moving, what needs nothing, what the room wants from you.

If your budget is tight, remember that an out of the box path can still feel special. A reliable turntable, a quiet little phono stage, a pair of honest speakers or a good set of headphones will get you there. The vibe is not in the price. It is in the attention. Clean the record. Centre the chair. Let the first note land without chatter. Those moves cost nothing and they change everything.

I began with a Technics because it made me fearless. I added a Rega because it made me attentive. Between fearlessness and attention sits the listening bar. Start with one, grow when the ear asks for more, and remember that the goal is not a picture of gear. The goal is a room that makes music feel lived in.

Tonight I will spin a side on the Technics while friends talk softly, then a side on the Rega when the house settles. Two decks, one ritual. Lower the needle. Breathe. Let the room do the rest.

Rafi Mercer writes about the spaces where music matters. For more stories from Tracks & Tales, subscribe here, or click here to read more.