I am thinking about buying my first turntable . Which rega or linn model would give me sound quality equal to ndx2 + xps dr
Rest of system is nac 282 hicap dr nap 250 and kudos super 20 speakers.
What is your budget. If you are looking at Linn then the alternative of a Rega P8 should be approachable.
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I don’t have a set budget, I am interested to know what I would need to buy to have equal sound quality.
Rega P8 would be a good starting point. As ever you need to speak to a local dealer and listen.
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Another thread for Rega vs Lp12. As always.
I can only comment on whatI have tried.
I would concur. P8 with Apheta 3 and a decent phono stage would be a very good and comparable vinyl setup.
Have a look at the LP12 Selekt , it’s their new midrange turntable package
Would sit beautifully with your naim gear
Somewhat pricy but you get what you pay for
Regards
Bevo
Technics SL-12xxG would also be worth an audition.
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My comment was not towards your post, sorry for the confusion.
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A very interesting question.
Most members probably ask which streamer will match the quality of my high-end turntable, and for reasons of nostalgia/analogue preference have struggled to find what they want in the digital domain for many years, at least with streamers rather than high-end CD players.
Turning this on its head a little, why are you interested in a turntable to equal the quality of the NDX2+XPS DR?
Simply saying if the sound quality was very similar then vinyl won’t add much sonically but will bring large attendant costs (over the years) for ongoing deck maintenance, cartridge replacements and of course the vinyl itself to play on your turntable when you will have a vast array of music to stream cheaply on the NDX 2 from various sources.
Since my first ventures into hifi in the 80’s I’ve always preferred vinyl to CD or streamers, but the convenience of streaming, relatively cheap streaming plans and expense of new vinyl/storage requirements would probably put me off starting afresh.
Indeed I’d even be tempted if just wanting to test the water to buy a good budget deck, a few albums, see if you enjoy it and if so move on to something high-end.
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Musically, vinyl is always better with pre-90s releases in my experience (I’m excluding modern re-issues of pre-90s music which are often poor). Not always so clear cut on more modern music.
Sonically, I have a feeling that a Majik LP12 will sound a bit soft, but agree with above comments that Rega P8/P10 and Selekt LP12 should be broadly in the same ball park as your digital source. Not actually compared them though and they are different formats anyway, with different strengths and weaknesses no matter what equipment you have.
Defo get a dem to compare yourself before you pull the trigger though!
EDIT: Another option is start with a used Rega P3 and see how you get on. They’re easy to setup and you won’t lose much if you decide to sell. A mate of mine wanted to get into vinyl, bought a player and some records, and now they just sit there doing nothing cos it never really gelled with him.
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I’m with @Alley_Cat on this.
I got my first hifi in 1979 and the bulk of my collection is on vinyl so it makes sense for that to be my primary source.
I doubt very much I’d choose it as my primary source now though.
Whilst I still prefer the sound of vinyl, knowing the associated costs - servicing, replacing cartridges, buying an overpriced medium of which a lot of reissues and remasters are inferior to the original releases (many sourced from digital files) - wouldn’t make me too keen on the format. On top of that anyone investing a serious chunk of cash on a turntable needs to invest in a decent RCM, to extend the life of the cartridge if nothing else.
If you’re still keen to proceed my only advice would be don’t limit the choice to just Linn and Rega. There are many quality decks out there that you may prefer. I do.
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I was going to mention that - if the OP intends spending a significant amount of money on a new turntable rather than going with a basic model and upgrading over the years, I would certainly try to demo ones aside from Linn/Rega. Appreciate this is not as simple as in years gone by and may entail some travel to audition unless you’re very lucky with wares on sale locally.
Yes, that does complicate things.
I was considering changing decks and wanted to hear the top Vertere player. None of the UK dealers listed it as available to demo.
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I would be tempted to suggest as others above, trying out something like a rega P3. It won’t have the ultimate sound quality but the essence of it will be there and you can assess in your own time whether the faffology of running vinyl is for you or if it is more likely to become an ornament.
Alternatively, have a word with a decent LP12 specialist such as Cymbiosis who would be in an ideal position to assemble a pre-owned LP12 from a kit of parts in great condition to suit your budget and provide you with a better flavour of what vinyl can achieve. This would also provide you with a platform on which to improve if vinyl became your go to medium.
My preferred option from the two above is the second one as I believe an LP12 should be able to get you closer to the music for a reasonable cost.
Good luck with your ponderings!
Peter
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A P3 is a fine turntable but it doesn’t answer the OP’s request for an equivalent sound quality to his existing system.
Trying out vinyl isn’t the same as looking for an equivalent SQ.
I have NDX2/ XPS, 52, 250 etc. My LP12 is at least as enjoyable, vinyl permitting. It has Ekos, Core, Lingo 4, Karousel, Krystal and a Naim Superline. Going down a rung on several of those will still leave a good deck, but I doubt a Majik-level LP12 will match your streamer source for grip or vigour.
Buying a second-hand LP12 from a good dealer with an appropriate spec is a great idea and saves quite a lot.
If a Selekt-level LP12 is an option, then so is a Rega P10. Others know the relative merits of different phono stages and cartridges on P10s much better than I, but I would guess Rega’s own Aria3 or Aura phono stage and Apheta 3 would be the obvious choices. Do get the loading on the phono stages right for the selected cartridges - if in doubt, just ask.
Fortunately, a lot of good dealers carry both turntables.
Please don’t forget support for turntables. These two have different requirements if getting really picky, but both work very well on a good and light wall-shelf - for the P10, it is hard to beat Rega’s dedicated offering.
If using the top of a rack instead, you may find that footfall makes the needle bounce in a less than helpful way, depending on your floor - LP12s are particularly annoying. Even without anything so obvious, things may sound more softened/ dulled/ blurred/ noisy than they should.
A decent base board (Trampolin 2?) helps, but (as well or instead) a lot of people here have resorted to using an isolation platform too, whether that means a chunk of wood or stone or something a little more specialist. These measures can also help with wall brackets (if chosen carefully), but the difference here should not be great anyway.
FWIW, if my LP12 vanished in the night, I would audition a replacement LP12 of similar spec against a P10/ Aura/ Apheta, but I would want to hear a few other turntables too - there are lots of sensible choices when spending that sort of cash. Top of that list would be the Vertere (ahead of Brinkman, Clearaudi, VPI, Michell and Avid), but you could try something rather different too - Well-Tempered perhaps or even a heavy platter design like Nottingham Analogue or a direct-drive Technics.
Comparing sensible choices from Linn & Rega will give you a great deck. But, if spending that sort of money, spending an extra afternoon or two on auditions may (at worst) prevent you wondering whether you could have done better.
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There’s a lot of peripheral to the vinyl ceremony. The collection itself if starting from scratch or from a modest entry point is costly, a single recording equating
to what you’d pay per month for a streaming service.
You then have the cartridge, MM, MI, MC these alone can cost 1000’s once you dip your toe in the Moving Coil rabbit hole.
Phonostage follows, probably with some exotic linear supply feeding it, interconnects next, they’ll need to be “up to the task” and with a cost in line with what they sit between.
It’ll need a suitable rack or shelf and possibly additional isolation relative to the system.
Then you’ve got the logistics of storage and space and a cleaning schedule, wet brush, ultrasonic and so forth.
I have a fairly decent collection amassed over a few decades and enjoy the format and the tactile nature of the ceremony but critically
lack the sufficient time to enjoy it frequently, the time I do find I’m more likely to dip in and out of streams both local and Internet based.
Getting in to vinyl especially coming from a place of high expections on a streaming source requires more than anything patience and time and care to listen to as many of the viable choices as possible.
You could easily test the water as many have suggested with a used or mid range Linn or Rega deck and either improve from there or get something more capable should the format meet your expectations.
A couple of years ago I was looking for a TT to match the SQ of an NDS. I listened to new models of Lp12, Rega 8 and VPI. However, I went to Cymbiosis and asked Peter to build me a LP12 to suit my budget. It’s excellent value for money (and interesting to talk to him and watch him put it together).
I happy with it as I have around 500 albums that I don’t have in a digital format. Where there is an overlap I prefer the sound from the NDS.
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