I have a streaming only solution at the moment and am thinking of adding vinyl replay into the mix. I am mainly focussed on music and that led me to HiFi. More and more releases are coming only on vinyl these days. Sole older releases are only on vinyl etc. I have been thinking of this for a while now…
I considered Solstice and this maybe an option but I am now thinking maybe a Rega P10 with Aura or an LP12/Radikal/Urika maybe a good bet. I only really want to use 1 shelf on the Fraim for a box and probably a top shelf for the Turntable itself. The Rega P/S is an additional box that maybe could live on the floor??
Does anyone have any experience of Superline/Supercap DR vs Rega Aura? The Rega is cheaper and 1 box but aesthetically different to the Naim boxes.
I want a turntable that does not disappoint vs my streaming set up. It does not need to better or be as good but it needs to be good enough that I actually use it!
Streaming is ND555/555DRx2/MelcoN10/ER Switches x2 with DC3+ P/S.
I can and will demo but it will be hard to do at home so some narrowing down would help me at this musing stage.
Thanks in advance for wasting your time this morning!
A lot depends on how much you want to spend and what you want the thing to look like. The Solstice and the P10 could not look more different. There is an unused Solstice for sale at £13,500 or offers to get rid, which would be a good deal if you like the looks.
The P10 is a great deck but sometimes overlooked because it’s perceived as too small and too cheap. If it was twice the price it may be taken more seriously. You can have it out of the box and set up in ten minutes, with no need for a dealer to do it. As you are starting with vinyl maybe it doesn’t have to be the Aura; the Aria is very good too and you can fit it and the PS on a single shelf. Quite a few use the Aura and some have moved to it from the Superline/Supercap if I recall correctly.
This is along the the lines of something Michael Fremer said in one of his videos (can’t remember which), that he considered it one of the best value for money decks at the price point in terms of the performance on offer.
Rega mention this view in their excellent book ‘A Vibration Measuring Machine’. To their credit they haven’t upped the price and have stuck to their good value mantra.
That should leave you budget for a very nice cartridge as well. If you want MM/MI I would look at the Nagaoka JT-80BK / MP-500. If MC other forum members probably have good recommendations.
Regarding phono stages, I would recommend Lehmann Audio but ideally would go for an LCR one. The Remton V-LCR (Mk2?) has had very good reviews.
Yes, I read that in the book too. My memory may be playing tricks on me - it could that Mr Fremer was talking about the RP10 in that vid, I just can’t remember (age!). Whichever 10 variant, still cracking value though.
And agree, their core philosophy is admirable, and one of the reasons why I like and admire the company so much.
I do wonder if there will be some sort of mass produced P-Naiad range topper that follows on from the P10. Surely something like that would be taken more seriously by the higher end buyers. One would hope so anyways.
Hi Steve,
Beyond the cost of the device, media costs must be taken into account, which will be out of all proportion, require ongoing and time-consuming maintenance.
Otherwise you have a stock of old records somewhere in the attic.
I would be surprised to read from your experience that the turntable will surpass the existing ND55 in its performance.
Good luck.
If the goal is to buy modern lps from recent albums, which are hires digital files transferred on vinyl, I am not sure it’s a good choice.
You will pay twice or more to get the vinyl album, will have to return maybe 1/3 of the lp you receive, and will have a sound very similar to the digital album.
To listen to good quality audiophile reissues or original albums from the 60’s or 70’s, it’s a different matter.
Don’t forget other brands vs Rega or Linn, like Vertere, Technics Sp10r, Kuzma XL.
As for the Solstice, in my opinion, to match your Nd555/ 2X 555 dr and 2X ER / ps, Melco N10, the cartridge and phono are not at the level.
I used to own a Nagaoka MP-50 (which became the MP-500 with very little change other than a huge price increase) and found it to be the best sounding MM cartridge I had ever personally heard. My new MC cartridge (Phasemation PP-2000) beats it, but at 10X the price.
If you are going down the rega P10 and rega cartridge then for sure the rega aura will be the best match, its only when you start to dig deeper like i did into my vinyl journey that you realise that the rega set up isn’t as suitable as you first though.
So with that in mind, i would say rega set up if you are happy with it and its sound, and don’t want to move outside the rega box, but if you feel that you might like to try different ways in the future then get yourself a turntable that has lots of adjustment on the arm, as in height, weight, azimuth, etc and a phono stage like the naim superline that you can add your own resistance plugs too, so you can perfectly match to any cartridge that you want.
Thats my advice, unless you want to go tubes, but thats altogether different again
Thanks for the replies so far. Much appreciated. For clarity I am not expecting to beat the streamer in an A-B test of the same mastered recording, I just don’t want to find that what I choose is enough of a chunk below the level I have now that I am not motivated to use it much. I have some records still and sole bands that I am kore obsessive over have material only available on vinyl. I am a music obsessive more than a HiFi obsessive and want to access sole bands material that I can’t listen to at the moment. Different masterings from the past will be key also.
If you go for the P10/apheta3 with aura, with the right vinyl i think you will be very pleasantly surprised as it will match your streamer.
Both will sound slightly different but the vinyl will have something that the n55 just can’t do and you my find that the n55 takes a back seat.
It took my rossini to push the bar up to the point that my rega set up no longer had it over my digital set up, the sme/dynavector drt xv1t was at about the same level as the rossini and my new turntable, arm, cartridge has once again trumpet the rossini.
But now the rossini has a nice new upgrade, that lifts it up to even higher level, so it might just become top dog once again.
But vinyl and good vinyl is hard to beat, it just has something special that most dac’s cant get close too, plus a decent turntable set up will easily complete with a dac costing many times more.
If you are in the UK, I would recommend a trip to a scenic part of Leicester, to a lovely village called Rearsby, and visit Peter at #Cymbiosis. Peter sells all the turntables you mention, no Techniques, he can demo virtually any LP12 configuration, and has an enviable worldwide reputation.
Like what? I find that just about everything reissued on vinyl is also available on streaming, but I mostly listen to classical, jazz, and some classic rock. In fact, a lot of times I use Qobuz to see if I like the music before buying an expensive vinyl reissue.
Personally, if I weren’t already fully engaged with vinyl – with some 4000 LPs collected over the last 40+ years – I wouldn’t get started now. Vinyl is expensive, fragile, a total PITA, and often frustrating when you get a poor pressing and have to deal with returns/exchanges. Setup can be way more finicky than digital too. It really is a major commitment, and if you aren’t prepared for it you could end up with more grief than joy. That’s my POV. I’m sure others may disagree, but I think buyer beware is something to consider.