I think that this is a good summary of the ‘P10’ sound…alive! I have had an LP12 (12 years ago) and by comparrison the Linn sounded ‘sluggish’. But, others may prefer this as being more ‘laid-back’.
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I have no experience of Rega other than a P1+ which I bought for my daughter - excellent for the price. I would have bought a Vertere MG-1 (after 30+ years of LP12 ownership) if my dealer hadn’t mischievously set up a Brinkmann Balance next to it!
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I would love to say that you’re right, but having had decks setup by 4 highly regarded dealers, I found differences even among those. It’s important to note that all of them sounded really good, which might be what one would consider as basis for the “myth” part, but one did stand out above the rest.
Would I not consider buying a deck from the others or discourage someone from doing so? No, that’s too far. Indeed, with attention to detail, I’d argue anyone can set them up to great standards following a dealer’s guide easily found online. However, I personally make the choice of having only two people service my deck: one specific dealer (who does travel internationally to see me) or myself.
Similarly, for all the plonk-and-play nature of Regas (and I’ve had a couple), there are still differences in how dealers approach them. There’s less to get wrong, certainly, but even then I’d choose a dealer that actually inspects and sets up the deck - including adjusting slightly the cartridge alignment despite the 3 bolts! - vs. someone that ships sealed boxes.
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Does that mean there’s play? Or not using all three?
My experience (from my P8 and LP12) is that there is some play in alignment - very little with P8/Apheta 3, more so with LP12/Krystal. Three bolts helps, but visual inspection/alignment is still required if one wants to get it entirely correct.
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It’s interesting that the three that keep popping up are Lp12, Veterre and P10 and looking at comments from owners I think I’m really getting to like the idea of the P10, one reviewer actually said (Absolute Sound I think), why would you want or need to spend any more than the P10/Alpheta
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I fitted the Apheta 3 to my P10 myself, as I bought the cartridge a couple of weeks after the deck. There is a little bit of wiggle room but I managed to get it spot on, using the Rega protractor.
Michael Fremer said in one of his videos that people don’t take the P10/RP10 seriously because the brand is associated with entry level products and their competitive performance and subsequent value for money. What most people don’t seem to acknowledge is this value for money philosophy to their products can trickle up the product line as well. IIRC, Fremer commented (in the same video) that the P10 was his default record player recommendation up to something like the 10K price point.
I heard a few decks at the recent North West Audio Show recently, and the stand outs were the Vertere room and the Kuzma R in Definitive Audio’s room.
I’d still buy the P10 though - I just like Rega!
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Same here, fitted the Apheta 3 myself as a subsequent upgrade from the factory fitted Ania Pro. Went by visual alignment only. It’s quite simple and sounds just fine. The third hole is obviously a big help here.
Tiny bit of play.
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To use the word plonk gives entirely the wrong impression. It might actually be intended as implying flippancy around such TTs, but I don’t know what you meant to convey.
For clarity…whatever type of TT you use, do not plonk it down. This will even if microscopically, damage the bearing.
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Thanks for the PSA, though I’m sure most would understand it not in the literal sense.
If anything, I was being dismissive of the idea that every Rega out there performs the same. There are fewer things to be careful about when setting one up, but what is there requires just as much care. Likewise, they are also sensitive to the surface they are sited on. They have QC failures, especially in the lower ranges, and in some cases lax tolerances (does anyone remember wobbly platters on P2s and P3s of a few years back?).
As such, dealer (or very careful end user) also matters.
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So to throw a spanner in the works, how much better will the P10 be than the P8 with the same cartridge?
Much better.
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Maybe I don’t understand the Queen’s English, but the 2 sentences seem contradictory.
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I see ‘fettling’ as ‘fiddling/tweaking’.
Neither of which mean servicing or upgrades to me.
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As @steviebee says
Big difference between service / upgrade and fettling.
Think of it as a car. It has a service once a year, but needs constant work on it to keep it running.
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They are rather different than one is “better” IME
Some prefer presentation of P8, but guess most want the P10 and the psykologic in being much pricier playing the game too
Then there’s the skeleton looks which put many off, some end up on P6 level.
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The difference between a P8 and a P10 was a lot smaller than the difference between my old P6 and a P8 when I went through this process. I thought the 8 was more solid sounding than the 10 but the 10 had very good detail separation… (both with apheta 3 and Aria stage). Maybe the aria is the limiting factor in my set up and a P10 through a better stage like an aura would show more…. Either would be very easy to live with.
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I’ve never compared P8 to P10 but I’ve used both their tonearms in my LP12, and RB3000 is clearly superior to the RB880 in every way.
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