Re: Rega - discussion thread

[bassraptor]

Not GTI, lah, too far up the ladder ... maybe the 1.4 .... will still smoke anything else under RM150k!!!

[cmboy]

VW Passat lah!.. Dynaudio speaker system.

[wingman]

Not GTI, lah, too far up the ladder ... maybe the 1.4 .... will still smoke anything else under RM150k!!!

Oopppsss.... as long its a Volks.....still a good and sturdy....test drove one...but Home Minister wanted an MPV.....to accomodate family expansion...lugging....bags....baskets....and what not.....all related to kids....

Off topic a bit ....before kena wack..... back to REGA .....which model was that ...... .....

cheers

[mugenfoo]

Slight digress to the Linn website (and while taking a break from hunting bottlecaps)...

There's a picture of an LP12 on the Linn website showing what could possibly be a "Pro-Ject" tonearm on the Linn Sondek.


Link is here:
http://www.linn.co.uk/images/library/81303e5a-.jpg

A quick check on the Pro-Ject website does reveal that its range of 9" arms do indeed follow the Linn-standard 212mm mounting distance.

A mixture of old-school deck with a modern carbon-fibre unibody tonearm. Could just be a killer-combo right here!


Now ... to find some new elusive targets, Fanta-grape and Fanta-orange bottlecaps.

[carz]

mugen, what do you want the bottle caps for ?

[sflam]

cmboy wrote:

As for bearing, I tend to favor bigger bearing as they're more stable, can take higher mass and contribute to better sonic quality thereon. Bearing assembly is a major contributor to the overall sound quality and I believe the manufacturer place quite a lot of due consideration in this area. High quality TT's will have an excellent designed bearing assembly for sure. Classic examples of heavy build bearing assembly can found in vintage Garrard, Lenco, Thorens and others. They don't build things like these anymore. Consider yourself lucky Rega implemented a reasonably excellent bearing assembly in their TT's thats known to last decades.
Some examples of light build and functional bearing assembly are mostly found in budget Japanese TT's. They're thin walled, lightweight, machined or cast alloy and designed to work with the light metal platter for all intent and purpose. They mostly with sonic quality limitations and merely serve the purpose of LP playback, nothing more.

i just found out that roksan turntables have very slender spindles - something like 5mm in diameter. now i am not sure if bigger spindles are better...

[cmboy]

i just found out that roksan turntables have very slender spindles - something like 5mm in diameter. now i am not sure if bigger spindles are better...

In my general view, the bearing and spindle assembly will always be very important to how the TT will perform and sound. Of course there's always the cost factor to any manufacturer. In some heavyweight TT's, the top spindle could be a seperate component altogether from and the bearing shaft/housing is entirely another component, unlike many budget tables where the entire spindle is everything from rotational component and support for the platter. Vintage TT's like Garrard, Lenco, Thorens have heavy build bearing/spindle assembly. I suppose Rega bearing assembly in its present form is quite acceptable although it may be much to be desired or as seen in the P7 & P9 with single point much in the style of the LP12. Then another breed is the inverted bearing or pivot bearing types which are quite suitable for heavy mass platter. I believe the Rega subplatter spindle is nothing great nor amongst highest quality, could be normal 304 grade steel. Its not the hardened type and void of maintenance will the ball bearing eat into the shaft.
I've seen some of those plasticky Japanese budget TT's and I could not be more happy given the Rega bearing/spindle assembly.

[hasnul]

what kind of records clamp/weight u guys using ? Im looking low height ones so can play my tt with lid closed.

[cmboy]

The Michell clamp is most suitable and can be bought from Ebay easily. Its merely a clamp, no weight to pose any undue spindle or bearing wear. Thats what I use, IF I feel like it, otherwise, none at all because its a chore.

[hasnul]

will it have sufficient weight to flatten mildly warped records ?

[cmboy]

you've to press it down and screw clamp to be as flat to the platter. Any spindle clamp is not 100% effective with wavy warp records. It generally flatten the whole record from center outwards.

[JediSavant]

I found out about it on Saturday while at Asia Sound in Amcorp. It's due here maybe after Christmas.

A big improvement over the P5 and RP3?...

http://www.rega.co.uk/html/RP6.htm

[mugenfoo]

The
Rega RP6 Turntable

The
RP6 has been designed and engineered to achieve outstanding performance
way beyond the expectations of a product at this price point. Excellent
build quality, reliability and ease of use combine to make a product which,
if used correctly, will offer you a lifetime of musical enjoyment. Omitting
unnecessary gimmicks allows us to concentrate the manufacturing costs
on the high quality parts necessary to reproduce music accurately. The
RP6 is fitted with a hand assembled RB303 tonearm, precision main bearing
and a low vibration low noise 24v motor assembly which is individually
hand tuned to its circuit to further reduce vibration. The minimalist
design of the Rega RP6 and the use of extremely high quality components
ensure that your turntable should last for many years.

RB303
Tonearm

Designed
using the latest 3D CAD technology the new RB303 is the culmination of
more than 30 years of tonearm design experience. Due to advances in technology
we have been able to fine tune the iconic RB300 tonearm design. Featuring
a brand new tube which has increased rigidity to the bearing housing,
arm carrier and headshell coupled with intelligent redistribution of mass,
ensure this arm will exhibit fewer points of possible resonance. Extreme
stability with almost friction free movement from the high precision bearing
assemblies guarantee to gather more information from your vinyl than ever
before.

TTPSU
power supply


The
compact TT-PSU uses a high stability crystal locked low distortion sine
wave generator. This, along with an efficient drive amplifier fed from
a stabilised DC power supply, generates a 24V AC balanced signal of less
than 0.05% distortion, which is completely un-affected by any changes
in the mains/line voltage and conditions. This then drives the improved
Rega anti-vibration circuit built into the RP6 motor PCB.


http://www.rega.co.uk/html/RP6.htm

[JediSavant]

The plinth brace on the RP3 is phenolic resin ie plastic, but the one on the RP6 is aluminium, and the sub-platter is semi metallic and the pulley is metal in line with how the P7s and P9s are....

[wingman]

They have to differentiate their product range to fit the various segments of customers.

Good coverage but the price wise hmmmm........

After market solutions would be out soon...that would give older REGA TT's an upgrade option to derive better SQ or otherwise....



cheers

[fizi]

I don know it is true or not and i also not experience it personally...i heard that new rega tone arm 301 onwards already mix up with plastic parts in it...

p/s - who know this plastic things will make it sound even better

[JediSavant]

Must try to demo this side by side with the RP3 and P5... But those guys at Amcorp aren't known to be generous with their demos.

[cmboy]

Its it because from the start they haven't got the space and acoustic room in that location, other than the one on 3rd floor which not many people notice. Even Mr Lim Acoustic shop some doors away who sells mumbo jumbo and Simon's shop have a demo room. This shop we're talking about is more of a display center, nothing more.

I think and expect a bigger difference with the RP3 & 6 from previous P3 & P5. Thing that perplexes me if there's significant improvement in the RB303 over the previous RB700 tonearm. 303 supposidely sports a new tube casting and tuned differently from the older RB x00 tonearms.

My take is RP6 is a very fine candidate in someone's shortlist among budget to mid priced TT's to play for a long time if cannot afford those obscenely priced VPI's, Clearaudio, Linn and those asking for your hide. I think if anyone have an older Planar, like the Rega sound, itching for an upgrade, the RP6 is the next best choice.

[Forever Delayed]

Does the RP6 comes with Exact cartridge?

[cmboy]

I reckon u can have anything with it, all comes with a price tag.

[JediSavant]

No, it doesn't come with the cartridge.

[wingman]

Possible the RP 6 would be in the price bracket of a pre-owned LINN LP12 ?

cheers

[cmboy]

Ownership of LP12 can make you spend a lot of money in the aftermath, depending on the state of tune and specs you like it to be. I know many people who bought used LP12 in various and subjective state of age and condition. I can safely assume if one buys a new RP6, there'll be hardly any upgrade path other than change to some other cartridge.

[mugenfoo]

Rega, still that rectangular plinth on rubber cup feet. Still that RB-cast tonearm. Still the same motor/subplatter/platter arrangement. Still the pinnacle of "don't adjust this or that, just play the music!"

[cmboy]

At least the Rega have big stable feet, makes the ones used by Linn for 3 decades look like rubbish.

[sflam]

what's interesting abt the rega rp6 is the platter.
it is still glass, but it is a two-piece component.
the bottom piece has a larger inner hole and is stuck to the top piece. this is to give the platter the fly-wheel effect for speed and pitch stability

[JediSavant]

Yes, we knew that. Did you get a special briefing from Asia Sound? I'm surprised you didn't know about this, but you knew about Zu....

[sflam]

i posted about the rega rp6 on dec 14.

btw, i am not so sure that it will arrive in malaysia so soon. the rp3 was supposed to be launched during the kliavs 2011, but only reached malaysia in november.

[JediSavant]

Still, a Linn still seems like overkill whereas, a Rega will get you up and running ASAP....

[JediSavant]

...and I find myself desiring an RP6 quite substantially....

[fizi]

Still, a Linn still seems like overkill whereas, a Rega will get you up and running ASAP....

Dont under estimated old Lenco or thorens table bro

[JediSavant]

I've heard them and like them, but if you get one, it'll be a kong time before it puts out music.

[cmboy]

Still, a Linn still seems like overkill whereas, a Rega will get you up and running ASAP....

Dont under estimated old Lenco or thorens table bro

A basic Linn LP12 (in the form of Majik model now) was a competitor to Rega Planar in its heyday back in the 80's. People who had a little more money to spend opted for the LP12. The Planar and Thorens TD160 looked more affordable in that era. For even less money would have been some budget Japanese product, espcially those plasticky Technics belt driven models.

Its a different story now because the price difference between the LP12 and Rega (say the RP6) is worlds apart today.

I could say RP series competition could be the Thorens TD309 or Pro-ject Debut models.

I think its unfair to lump in all the good ole vintage TT's like Lenco, Thorens (old models), Garrard, EMT, whatever as competition to RP6. These vintages are in a class of their own, not 21st century products, and likely deserve their own thread.

Its true to large degree that Rega maintains a no nonsense approach without pointing or suggesting major upgrade parts for improving performance. Linn does offer incremental upgrade parts as and when the need arise. As you all may know a full spec LP12 is obscenely pricy, enough to buy a local assembled national car.

Lastly, I too would luv an upgrade from my P3 to this very interesting RP6 but an upgrade acrylic platter from EU was possibly the single best thing done to it putting a full stop to any upgradtitis and itchibakside.

[Y.C.]

I owned a P5 bought new previously and now a refurbished vintage LP12, both tables fitted with the same RB700 tonearm. I must say the difference in sonic is very substantial

[JediSavant]

Welcome Y.C.!!! I've been a big fan of your blog and it's good to see you here. We met at Amcorp once while digging for records!!!

[sflam]

UK prices of the rega rp6:

Rega RP6 turntable: £798.00
Rega RP6 turntable with Exact cartridge fitted: £998.00

(compare the price with the linn majik lp12 with project tonearm and adikt mm cartridge - rm10k)

[cmboy]

(compare the price with the linn majik lp12 with project tonearm and adikt mm cartridge - rm10k)

Didn't I hint on this earlier? There's a substantial difference now.

Perhaps when Asia Sound used to offer the Rega P9 at RM10k not too long ago, with a tank build PSU box that looked like a great value deal and Linn wasn't represented here yet. Just the timing.

IMHO, LP12 Majik at local price isn't attractive at all. It should be much more competitively priced to entice potential buyers.

[Y.C.]

Thank you, Jedi. We've indeed.

All of us do have different taste and what we deem as music, you should audition both the RP6 and a well setup LP12 (if you're ever considering one) before committing yourself.

[wingman]

I own a Planar 3 and a Linn LP12, either of these models has their plus points and musicality. The only difference is one has the capability for further upgrades and the other is straight out of the box solution, that also depends on the potential owner if there is a need to upgrade.

End of the day it's a matter of personal preference .

I am still waiting for the REGA Power supply upgrade kit that is strill to arrive on our shores or has it arrived ?

If there is not much difference in pricing, have a listen to both products before purchasing.

cheers

[cmboy]

From my POV, the cheaper REGA PSU isn't of significant advantage, Having tinkered and detailed look at a P9 PSU in the past, that one may do good but perplexing that my sampling of a P9 doesn't reveal exactly 33 or 45rpm. However, it'll provides speed stability over accuracy because the speed cannot be finetuned in any manner, mechanical or electrically. LP12 can finetune (mechanically) within some limits eventhough it uses a 110VAC motor which require expensive 2 opposing phase, set frequency quartz lock motor control board in the form of Valhalla or Hercules. (dangerous and lethal voltages here, never tinker with power switched on).

Ultimately LP12 and any Rega are different architecture and animals from the very beginning. They don't share any significant similarity.

[Y.C.]

Rega turntables up to P5 previously have been factory-tuned to run a tad faster (claimed to be more enjoyable) with their slightly smaller in diameter and grossly imprecise molded subplatter from a plastic-type compound called phenolic. Once we get the speed to be spot-on, we could easily discern the finer details found in the grooves of records and follow the bass notes with greater ease. The extremely hard compound used by Rega as main platter determines the overall sound quality, either we like it or hate it. Its plus side, of course, is its plug-and-play nature that literally warrants no maintenance, not like the LP12.

[JediSavant]

I just think that the LP12 would be too much work for me. Life's too short for some, and I just want to get along spinning discs and grooving it up...

Other brands are on the radar too, such as Oracle and Roksan.

[Y.C.]

Sometimes, we are merely put off by some unfounded fears in us. The moment we start to set up a LP12 ourselves, we will soon realise it really does not entail too much work nor were they too complicated a process to get the LP12 to sound right.

[JediSavant]

But back to Rega... it's been a decade of good solid fun with the Planar 3 for me and I've only upgraded the belt and changed the cart... It's rockin' on in a pretty solid way for me, even when compared to other so called superior systems.... Maybe it's my magic rack that's done all the work!

[Y.C.]

Perhaps you're truly happy with your Planar 3 all these years and therefore wish to upgrade to a better model from Rega and it's not a case of you not having check out the other worthy turntables out there. If you can convince yourself of such, go and buy another Rega turntable, else thread slowly and enjoy the journey instead of rushing to the destination.

[mugenfoo]

That pink RP6 looks very tempting ....

[mugenfoo]

There's also a few companies that like to sell turntables based on Rega platforms. Here's one of them:
SRM
http://srm-tech.co.uk/

The SRM Athena uses the Rega tonearm, Rega motor drive, but make their own platter & plinth structures. Interesting lil' piece of work.

And owning to the popularity & ubiquity of Rega TTs around the world, even specialist TT maker Clearaudio produces aftermarket accessories for the Rega RB tonearm.
http://www.clearaudio.de/_en/zi_Turboweight.php
http://www.analogshop.de/index.php?category_id=23&page=shop.product_details&product_id=242&Itemid=62&option=com_virtuemart&vmcchk=1&Itemid=62

[wingman]

I just think that the LP12 would be too much work for me. Life's too short for some, and I just want to get along spinning discs and grooving it up...

Other brands are on the radar too, such as Oracle and Roksan.

Hi Jedi...

I had similar fears as you have but the desire for something different prevailed. The Planar 3 is still part of my setup and the LP12 is my main deck. So have a fixed and a bouncy deck to suit my listening pleasure.

As most forummers have echoed in this thread and many others...have a listen to other decks but if your inner self has indicated that a REGA is the one....so be it....as you have said the need to enjoy the hardware and software.

The only put off is the pricing of these hardware that are being sold in MY...

Regards

[JediSavant]

Fear? Set up? Bounciness? A Jedi fears not these things... Just couldn't be arsed...

[mugenfoo]

even flipping LPs and dropping the needle could be "too much work".

Best to just play MP3s then. The Dark Lord Sauron would have agreed: One HDD to rule them all.



or as Aerosmith puts it: "Just Push Play".

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