Aphelion 2

Hi Dave,

I think you will be very happy! I recently traded a decent spec LP12 (Kore, Karousel, AO PU7, Krystal, Radikal) for P10/Apheta 3. I found it far more musical than the Linn which made some records sound amazing but far too many sound disappointing. Everything sounds fabulous on the Rega and the top end especially, is far more extended/sweeter than it was on the Linn.

Cheers,

Ian

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Hi Ian, I also noted you had the Rega Aura. Was that at the same time as the P10?

Phil

Likewise. I had a good trade-in offer on my RP10 too. Just waiting for Pete at Acoustica to bring over the Apheta 3 and Rega Aura to partner with the P10 on home demo.

From @Dunc comments the Apheta 3 is the sweet spot with the P10.

Hi Phil,

Yes, I run the P10 with the Aura. It really is a stunningly musical combination. Iā€™m sure there are turntables/phono stages out there that perform subjectively ā€˜betterā€™ but think, anecdotally of course, you would need to pay quite a lot more to get that extra performance.

I use mine with a Powerline, which is significantly better than the standard Rega mains cable, and a Chord Cobra RCA to DIN interconnect. I reckon this is probably the weakest link in the chain and when I can be bothered, I may well try something different; at the moment, Iā€™m too busy enjoying listening to records to give it much thought though!

Cheers,

Ian

Sorry Phil, think I may have misunderstood what you were asking there! I already had the Aura, which I was using with the Linn, before I bought the P10.

Cheers,

Ian

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Hi Ian, Thanks for your reply. I have no idea how to compare your Linn with the P10/Apheta 3. I have an RP10/ Aphelion (1) with the Aria. Like you I use a Powerline, but I do use Superlumina RCA to DIN as the rest is SL (Speakers, nDAC, DIN XLR). I have 552/500 without the DRing.

Iā€™m not a die-hard source first because the 552/500 was transformative. However, I may try the Aura again! I find that lots of space between black boxes makes a big difference so I think I get a lot out of the Aria even. However, I love my nDAC fed by the Innuos Zenith via Audiophilleo + PurePower, and I find I do not listen to vinyl as much and need to think whether I want to refurbish the Aphelion from time to time!

Phil

Hi Phil,

I think balance is a good mantra to adopt. I enjoy my turntable as much as my NDS/2x555s. They present the music differently for sure but there is ā€˜somethingā€™ about vinyl that I really like. I agree space between boxes yields great rewards, albeit at a significant cost, both monetary and aesthetically. I am fortunate to finally have a dedicated room where I can do what I like without upsetting anyone! Having said that, my wife never complained about the system in all the years it occupied the main lounge.

I too have a full SL loom and all boxes are DR. I hope to move to a NAP500 one day as it will provide improvement to all sources but itā€™s a big outlay and currently not feasible. A SL interconnect for the Rega might be on the cards later in the year though.

Cheers,

Ian

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Hi Ian,

Have you tried the Powerline on the P10 power supply as well as the Aura? Iā€™m guessing the Powerline on the Aura has the biggest uplift over the stock Rega cable.

Yes, the Powerline on the Aura made a clearly audible difference. I did try one on the P10PS but I couldnā€™t hear an improvement.

I borrowed the Powerline from my UnitiServe PS and the performance there took a huge hit; so the Powerline will be staying where it is!

Cheers,

Ian

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Thanks Ian. I hope it will sound fab. All Iā€™ve heard about it is positive and I do like the Rega philosophy and simplicity. I think if I went down the LP12 road Iā€™d forever be fretting about whether it was set up correctly and the upgrade options on those seem endless!

Summed it up perfectly! I suffered a degree of set-up paranoia with the Linn. I also realised that I was always hoping the next ā€˜upgradeā€™ would make it sound how I thought it should.

The P10 just sounded right from the off and improved over a period of time too. And now I spend no time at all wondering about the set up or whether it will sound better after the next upgrade; happy days!

Cheers,

Ian

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Does anyone have the new Rega wall shelf (for P8 / P10)?

Iā€™m trying to find out the distance between the two wall fixings on the back plate but to no avail. Rega donā€™t offer the instructions as a download on the website it seems and my dealer is closed today. Nothing else on the web either that I can find.

Iā€™m assuming they are closer together than on the 2016 wall shelf.

Many thanks!

So Iā€™ve had the P10 / Apheta 3 in place for a couple of days now. Itā€™s on the new Rega wall shelf which seems a neat solution and works well.

My impressions so far with the caveat that the cartridge is still running in:

  • itā€™s a step up from the RP10 / A2. Is it a dramatic difference? No. However I was not expecting it to be and I had heard a comparison at my dealers when the P10 first came out and went for the RP10 on that occasion. However hearing the P10 in my system at home the clarity and detail retrieval are quite something and IMO it is a genuine upgrade in terms of presentation and musical involvement.

  • so far Iā€™ve found that the recordings I know are really good quality (BN Tone Poet and a couple of my Speakers Corners) sound breathtaking. Iā€™m yet to try out some of the records that I know are lesser quality recordings.

  • It can be a little bright in the HF but I suspect this will settle down as the A3 runs in.

  • the usual Rega advantages of super simple set up and familiarity remain. FWIW the P10s outboard PS is far more attractive than the previous version and the switches more solid. Iā€™m also getting zero low level interference as I was with the RP10 and had to add a 1nf capacitance plug to the Superline. Iā€™m still using that along with the 100o Resistance plug but Iā€™m tempted to remove the capacitance plug and see what itā€™s like. Iā€™ve also just assumed that the 100 is the correct resistance for the Apheta 3 as it was for the Apheta 2 but if anyone has different experiences on that Iā€™d be interested to hear:

All in all Iā€™m pleased I opted to make the step up (whole deck) rather than just add the Apheta 3 to the RP10 and the fantastic trade in deal made it a relatively straightforward decision.

Dave

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Rega says on the A3 product page:

Load settings for adjustable MC stages

Impedance
100 Ī©
Capacitance
1000 pF

Thanks Suedkiez. What Rega recommends is often not what sounds best with the Superline. Probably different with the Rega Aura or Aria Stages. Iā€™ll do some experimenting with loadingsā€¦

Well the values are there for non-Rega stages predominantly, the Rega stages come with the correct defaults. And the values are a function of the cartridge design. But sure, personal preferences may vary.

Richardā€™s recommendation (though for A2, and I donā€™t think he tried A3 but in other posts assumed itā€™s the same)

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