New cartridge/Phone stage for Rega P3-24

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I've had my Rega p3-24 for about 12 months now and although I love it to bits, I'd like to upgrade the cartridge from the Elys2 that it came with to something that will make it sound even better!

I listen almost exclusively to Classical, and want something that will give me better detail without making some of my more knackered records sound unlistenable. Is this possible?

Another option is a new phono stage instead of the one in my Audiolab 8000A - any suggestions, or would the money be better spent elsewhere?

Speakers are B&W 601 S3's, soon to be replaced with either Rega RS3, ATC SCM 7's or Spendor S3/5R once I've managed to get a demo of each of them.

All suggestions gratefully received!

 

[chebby]

I would buy the Rega TT-PSU before anything else. Big upgrade for a P3-24 and the improved timing benefits all genres.

If I were to buy a cartridge purely for classical only then I would get the Shure M97XE (About £98 at Stoneaudio) or Audio Technica AT440MLa (£125)

 

[Lost Angeles]

mikii1977:

Hi,

I've had my Rega p3-24 for about 12 months now and although I love it to bits, I'd like to upgrade the cartridge from the Elys2 that it came with to something that will make it sound even better!

I listen almost exclusively to Classical, and want something that will give me better detail without making some of my more knackered records sound unlistenable. Is this possible?

Another option is a new phono stage instead of the one in my Audiolab 8000A - any suggestions, or would the money be better spent elsewhere?

Speakers are B&W 601 S3's, soon to be replaced with either Rega RS3, ATC SCM 7's or Spendor S3/5R once I've managed to get a demo of each of them.

All suggestions gratefully received!

I did a comparison between the 8000A phono stage and my Graham Slee PS this afternoon but I only had time to set it up using headphones and if there was any difference then it was very minimal with headphones.
I will connect the Audiolab to my speakers at sometime over the weekend and do a back to back comparison and let you know the outcome.
I'll be interested to know the outcome myself.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lost Angeles,

Would be very interested to know if there is a distinct difference between the two - please let me know if you get chance. I'm going to order the power supply anyway when I get paid, but still have some money to spend on improving things further.

 

[Lost Angeles]

mikii1977:

Hi Lost Angeles,

Would be very interested to know if there is a distinct difference between the two - please let me know if you get chance. I'm going to order the power supply anyway when I get paid, but still have some money to spend on improving things further.

I did some back to back tests this afternoon and there is a difference between the two but it's not enormous. There is a definite clarity with the Graham Slee with everything just sounding more musical and a fraction easier to pick things out.
What did surprise me though was that the GS was only a fraction louder, I had to turn the control knob up or down by about 7degrees and I expected it to be more than that.
I had to do the test using some old Mission 79 strand speaker cable as my TT sits on a shelf and the lead from the arm is not very long, so I had to compromise as I couldn't get my speakers cables to reach where I ended up putting the 8000A.
Maybe using better quality cable may have made a difference although the Orbe TT could counteract that.
My advise is take your 8000A with you to a dealer and have a demo against a phono amp and see if it's worth spending the £100-150 on one as you may get more of an improvement by putting the money towards a cartridge in the £200+ range.
I have no idea what £200 Cartridges are like for listening to classical and Chebby's previous answer may be the best bet anyway.
My 8000A is a UK built mid 80s model in which the phono stage was always highly rated and all the testing was done with rock music as I have no classical. There is a view that the later 8000As were not as good.
There are quite a few people on here with RegaP3-24s who are using the phono stage of their amp and seem quite happy with it also they use Ortofon Blue or Bronze cartridges with them.
Sorry I seem to be sitting on the fence but it's not my money I'm spending.
I did use a Rega Planar 3 for 22 years with the 8000A using the Phono input on the amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the update - I think I'll have a listen to the difference that the power supply makes then have a look at a new cartridge further down the line.

If the difference was relatively slight with the external stage I think the money will be better employed elsewhere.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd be interested to read what you think, mikii. I'm planning, when I return to the ranks of hifi at some vague point in the future, to buy a P3 and was wondering whether the power supply would make a difference.

 

[crusaderlord]

i recently moved from a Rega Planar 2 to a P3-24 with the power supply upgrade and there was a world of difference

what i cant answer though is how much is down to the power supply but every magazine i have read has commented that it is a decent enough improvement to warrant the spend

find a deal on a second like i did and get the P3-24 with psu for £350 and then just add a cartridge - Ortofon 2m Blue is a great choice