Just got my new Rega P2 up and running.

[chebby]

Oh yes 🙂

First time in 5 years that vinyl has "rung out in the land" (well, our lounge at any rate.)

I am still waiting for the IKEA 'Lack' table (and some spikes) to turn up - probably next week - so I went to a local second-hand furniture shop and found a very nice and rigid little solid wooden table (45cm x 53cm) for a fiver. I have checked it is level with spirit level and marbles and set-up the P2. Luckily my Shure SFG-2 tracking force gauge arrived today so I could set the weight with more precision than Rega's instructions allow for.

The P2 has the factory fitted Rega Bias 2 cartridge and I am using a Fono-Mini phono box into my Solo-Mini.

This is sounding wonderful even straight out of the box! I cannot wait to see what happens once the Bias has had a couple day's worth of spins to loosen up.

Currently playing an excellent French pressing of 'Rubber Soul' and the bass (McCartney?) sounds quite awesome on the track.. 'What goes on?'.

No crackles or pops or other nasties at all so far. (Must go out later and get a carbon fibre brush and a stylus brush. Gave my old ones to a friend a few months ago.)

Next year (or later this year) I am going to get the Denon DL-160 but from what I am hearing so far, I don't feel I need to hurry.

 

[gregory]

Good for you Chebby, I've had my p2 for a month now and love it's sound quality, ease of use and set up are a breeze so all in all a very good deck for the money. I use a Denon dl-110 in mine which i have to say is the best cartridge I've owned and is a great match for the rega arm. I had a super elys on a gyro se which i found did minimize surface noise very well but at the expense of a little emotion but the Denon is just that much better at conveying that emotion and tracks superbly. There are many tweaks for the rega deck but i enjoy mine in stock form apart from the platter so the original glass platter is going to be my only addition. Happy listening,
all the best, Gregory.

 

[chebby]

Thanks Gregory.

Interesting to see you are using the DL-110. How did you get on with the increase in cartridge body depth? Did you use a spacer to raise arm base height? (Rega discourage this as being uneccessary despite making spacers of their own.)

 

[Anonymous]

Excellent news! I will be getting my rega p2 or p3 in 3 weeks or so, im looking forward to hearing my vinyl open up a bit, my genie turntable is good but rather basic, happy listening!

 

[gregory]

I don't use one Chebby, the Denon sits nice and parallel with arm and record surface. It is a couple of mm's higher than the Rega's 14 mm but it doesn't seem to make a difference, in fact i had more trouble with a Technics SL 1210 which has an adjustable arm height but it did have a couple of faults so i got my money back which is why i bought the Rega. There is a lot of talk about cartridge alignment and arm height but as long as the cartridge is not sloping at the back towards the record and alignment and tracking weight are in order all should be fine.

 

[chebby]

That is excellent news. Thanks for the swift answer.

 

[gregory]

Hello Jimm, i had a look at the Genie and although i did not hear it the build did not inspire confidence. There is an upgraded version due out soon the Genie 2 which is supposed to be better built but I've not heard a project deck that floats my boat except the old rpm 4 which i have to say i was quite taken with. I know others here on this forum say they are happy with their project deck's Hob *** Duncan being a firm advocate and their more expensive decks get good press but I'm just not convinced by their lesser decks.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree Gregory, the genie is a little light weight in build and features, for the money though it's a sound deck which is holding the fort until my rega p2 or p3 arrives, ive bought a fair bit of new vinyl that im itching to hear on a more solid rega deck, i will have to wait until the end of the month, grr...

 

[JoelSim]

oooooh, I really want a turntable now!