Rega P8 vs 333 Wow! đŸ€©

Hi-Fi Corner
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Recently I had a demo of a Rega P6 and P8 and 333 as streaming source. All connected to a 332 and 350’s.

I was stunned that the P6 was nearly equal to the 333. When he connected the P8 my mouth fell open of shock how much better the P8 sounded compared to the 333. It just blew the 333 away with quite a big margin. Is this also the experience here from users of a P8? They did use different xlr cables to the 332 but both of equal price class. The pre amp for both record players was the Rega Aura.

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which cartridge?

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Ania pro

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Isn’t it a lovely surprise what “good old vinyl” and decent record player can do👍

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I am surprised. I run the P8 although with a Hana Sl and GoldNote ps/ph10 phono stage into a 552.My streamer (Auralic) has more of everything. For me the P8 is almost as good but not quite.
I would have thought the 333 would outshine the P8.

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I have a P8, it’s great but into NSC222 / NPX300 the streaming side is just as good. That’s with a Rega ND7 cartridge and 222 internal phono. You would expect with an Aura (over twice P8 price!) and better cartridge then the balance would shift


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I was so confused as I didn’t expect this to happen.

I kept looking at the power cables and interconnects to see if there was anything that was not equal in the connections but it was all fairly similar and within same price class.

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Could be streaming medium (Roon or similar?) made the difference? The 333 is pretty exceptional and way ahead of any other digital source I have heard.

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It was just the Naim app.

I own the 333 as well and I agree with you but being a vinyl noob I expected that the 333 would be much better than the p8. “Newer tech should be better” kind of mindset. It was the other way around actually.

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The Aura is a very good phono stage, an often over-looked part of any analogue source. In this case I would say it is a major contributor to the performance with the P6/P8 + Ania Pro combos being the weakest part of the chain link.

I have a Rega P9 + Lyra Kleos SL + Superline analogue source and an NDX 2 + XPRS-DR digital source. It’s pretty close between them and would likely come down to personal preference. With a good pressing the P9/KleosSL/Superline combination is sublime though.

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It depends on what kind of vinyl you are listening to.
When I compare original analog lps from the 70’s vs same hires albums on my Melco, My P10/ Kleos/ Ear 912 phono is much much better, more dynamic, fresh, livelier, more colourful.
But if I play an album from nowadays, hires transfer on vinyl, the Nds is a bit better.

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We only listened to Michael Jackson’s album Bad, Dominique Fils-Aimé’s Nameless, James Hunter - The hard way and Ludovico Einaudi’s Experience.

All sounded much better on the P8

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It is nice to be surprised sometimes and good for you for being open minded enough to realise what your ears were telling you even though you had expected a different result.

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Doesn’t surprise me at all, I used to have an nds with two 555 psu’s and my current linn lp12 is another level

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So many subtle variables at play. I’ve been leapfrogging vinyl and digital sources for years. You need to look at the whole chain not just one item ‘P8 v 333’.

For vinyl - mastering- pressing-LP condition- stylus condition and set up- cartridge-arm/TT- interconnects- phono- interconnects and power leads.

For digital mastering - file resolution and sampling- home network - source (streaming/local)- roon or Audirvāna or app - final step Ethernet switch and PS.- interconnects. (Firmware!)

It all matters and by optimising you can keep making one sound ‘better’ than the other

 best option is both very good but not the same presentation. I think good vinyl is easier to achieve than good digital - it’s a real faff with the Ethernet. Currently my streaming side is a bit better than my vinyl having had a big investment. Will look at a better cartridge this year.

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Once again someone prefers the presentation of vinyl, I do for the most part, but what this proves is that analogue and digital will always sound different.

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Very insightful comment and I agree with you that there are many variables. Only a home demo will tell what the better performer will be with the current configuration.

I dot start to think that to achieve the same quality with streaming as with vinyl you have to spend a lot more on optimizing ethernet switches and cables etc. to get close. Before this demo I thought you needed at least a P10 and decent phono to achieve the same level as the 333. Actually the P6 was on equal level as the 333 in this case if not better.

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Different or better or just personal preference?

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This was not personal preference. It was really obviously better.

Soundstage was so much more open, bigger and 3D, bass was of more defined and punchier and deeper. It really was a moment where I am sure it was better and not just different.

From a relatively “flat” soundstage to depth and width. The piano from Eindaudi suddenly sounded so much more realistic and full.

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Fair enough.

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