I have had four turntables:
Dual 1215 1971
Beogram 2000 1986
Planar3 2002
RP10 2018.
Undisputed upgrade at every step.
The trick is to be happy for 15 years at each move.
Best of luck,
Nick
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That’s very good sound advice! I wish I could be more like that but I just tend to see things I like and buy them!
I recently went to P10, Apheta 3 and Aura having had a Michelle Gyro for 15 years and Ortofon 2M Black. Very very pleased and the P10 is highly recommended. I will reuse the Gyro in a second system.
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Good recomendation, funnily enough I was considering a Michell as I like the look of them
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A michell gyro se or full gyro is fun to watch, if that is your thing. A nicely made piece of British engineering too.
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£7.500 Is an extremely healthy budget for a TT.
The choices are plentiful….
But for the outlay you are planning….you definitely want superb performance and good on the eye…
Yes the Rega p10 is excellent on performance but in my opinion it’s lacks curb appeal….
I would suggest a trip to your friendly dealer….and challenge him to come up with some possible options….
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As it’s a turntable, curb, or even kerb, appeal probably doesn’t matter. Size isn’t everything.
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I ended up with a P8 rather than the 10 due to budgetary constraints but the combination with the Apheta 3 and Aria 3 is stunningly good - the step up from the P6/Anita/stage line it replaced was significant and well worth the outlay. Looks wise it’s a polarising thing I guess but I would say they look better in the flesh so to speak and they feel a lot more solid than they should… there is a form follows function aesthetic to it which you either like or don’t I suppose… I actually prefer the sound of the glass platter but the ceramic platter is a thing of beauty in the flesh…
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Since there seems to be quite a few suggestions on other turntables I urge you to not oversee the Goldnote range of players. If possible you should demo them in this price range. I have the Mediterraneo with Donatello red as cart, playing through their phonstage PH-10. Very good.
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Re: Kerb Appeal
For clarity, the P10 does not have a superfluous plinth, it is minimal and functional.
What it does not have is any glitzy or gaudy materials.
You need to see it to decide for yourself.
You need to hear it to decide for yourself…it punches way way above its weight in this respect, both literally and figuratively.
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At least nobody has pointed out the foam edges and said they look unfinished. In Naimspeak, it would be purposeful materiality.
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I had an RP8 and used it without the outer surround for a while, which was good. Until I got a bit tired of looking at the foam edges (which looked a bit unf
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I went from Rega P8/Linn LP12 to SL1200G.
Not going back.
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It’s certainly very good. I owned one (Aphelion 2 cart) for a while, before getting my Naim Solstice. They don’t sound anything alike but I did like the P10. And to my tastes its industrial design is wonderful; I like the minimalist look. Quite the opposite of the Solstice.
Sound-wise I found the Rega to be more “revealing.” That has its good and bad points. I’m enjoying the different presentation of the Solstice a lot. And given that I’m very new to owning a ‘good’ tt, it taught me first hand (and ear) that there are marked differences in presentation.
In a “for the money” analysis, Rega is phenomenal as well. But it’s much better than JUST a good value.
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I do like the look of gold note decks, they look beautifully built, I have a dealer nearby so I’ll give them a whirl
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Interesting, I’ve loved the 1200 technics throughout the years but thought it may be sonically behind the likes of Rega and linn?
I have not had a turntable at home since 1992. My final turntable then was a Rega Planar 3. Before that I had a Linn LP12 for 14 years, starting with a Basic arm and cartridge, then Basic LVX/K9 and finally Ittok/Asaka.
My time with the LP12 was rather strange. Firstly let me say it was without doubt, for me at least, the most musically enjoyable source I have ever owned. When it was properly set up that is. And there’s the fly in the ointment. It never stayed properly set up for very long. It seemed to spend as much time at my dealer’s as it did with me. It was completely stripped down and rebuilt twice, had a new sub-chassis fitted (the original was twisted apparently) but all to no avail. In the end I was heartily sick and tired of it. I was now married and we had very busy lives with limited free time so I wasn’t prepared to devote that to carting the LP12 to and fro. I wanted something that just worked without any hassle. Hence the Rega Planar 3.
In practice the Rega out-performed the LP12 for much of the time because there was nothing in the design to set-up or drift out of alignment. I have no idea how modern LP12’s sound or if they require the kind of constant attention that mine did. I’ve heard reports of LP12’s staying perfectly in-tune for around 5 years or so. Something I find very hard to believe - but who knows?
If ever I were to use vinyl again I would buy a turntable that did not require any setting up save for of course the arm/cartridge alignmnent.
The Rega Planar 3 sounded excellent fronting my 72/HiCap/140/Kans. Conventional wisdom at the time was that it shouldn’t work too well and the proposal certainly raised eyebrows at my dealers. I actually only had it for less than a year before abandoning vinyl completely in favour of CD when we were able to afford a Naim CDI.
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They don’t.
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Neither do my vintage decks, all pre cirkus with valhalla/ittok or lingo/ekos. My dealer has 40+ years experience so perhaps thats it or Pete was just unlucky. Ive also been told that talc is not good as it makes setup easier but liable to drift.
It’s been suggested that I simply had a rogue sample. I know this can happen, as with some people who buy brand new cars and have nothing but trouble with them. However the deck was seen by three local Linn dealers over the years that I owned it and was completely stripped down and rebuilt twice by different dealers. The one who found the twisted sub-chassis thought he had found the cause of the trouble, but the replacement was no better.
I was told that there was no magic involved in set-up. The aim apparently was to adjust the suspension so that the sub-chassis bounced only in the vertical plane with absolutely no lateral movement. Whenever I got the newly set-up deck back and gave it a little gentle bounce all seemed well. It was never long though before a gentle bounce would cause all sorts of erratic twisting movements of the sub-chassis and the sound had deteriorated to the point where even a Dual 505 easily out-performed it. I know this because my dealer used to lend me one whenever the LP12 went in for re-setting. I remember thinking that the Dual sounded superb and why did I ever bother with the expense of an LP12? Clearly all was very far from how it should have been.
I sometimes wonder whether my sample was under-performing even when apparently properly set up. Even though it sounded lovely perhaps I never heard what it was really capable of.
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