Project debut carbon or Rega Planar 1

[Freddy58]

Crikey PP - you've gone in hard on PD

loved my Rega gear SQ wise - PD did a fantastic job resolving my issues but in the end I upgraded to the Primare gear.

if I was stuck on a desert island and could have £1500 for a vinyl system it would always be a Brio R Planar 3 & RS1s - brilliant system

Steve, I notice you mention the RP8, any thoughts on it?

 

[plastic penguin]

Avole and Plastic Penguin,

My last car was an Alfa 159 JTDM and I absolutely loved it and it was completely without problems ;-)

PD

Alfa diesel engines are cracking. Shame that the petrol engines (159, Brera, Mito and Giulietta) - all designed by Vauxhall - were tat. Too heavy and over engineered. The exception being the 1750TBI. *good*

 

[plastic penguin]

is silly. People have different tastes, so what floats one person's boat may be an anathema for someone else. Nothing whatsoever to do with poor QC, come on. By the way, I am talking from experience.

Also, you said previously you had no problem with your gear previously, yet now you are saying your Leema product had problems - should I start a thread now saying how bad Leema are?

Yet you own Alfas. Tell me, how reliable have they been - I mean the marque, not your perfect cars - and how good is their reputation, but that doesn't seem to matter to you, despite all the myriads of reported problems*. Play fair, you need to be more objective. I suspect Rega are no worse than anyone else. Where it seems they excel, however, is in after sales service and support for their products, even long after the warranty period.

* By the way, buying my fourth Alfa in January.

TBF, the food analogy is a good'un. Yes, it is about taste, as is hi-fi, but what I'm talking about isn't about taste it's about mechanical defects over recent years.

So for arguments sake, if you book a table at a certain Tapas bar because friends or colleagues have highly recommended this particular place. You have your food but come away feeling it wasn't up to the recommendations: Meatball sauce not rich enough or the fish was swimming in oil... what do you do? Complain about the quality and ask for a refund or do you just not return to that eating house?

Don't really see how Leema has issues: I had a couple of blips and one other poster experienced similar problem: Both purchased from the same high street dealer (same branch too). But Leema arranged a carrier and picked up my amp, repaired it and delivered it back a fortnight later fixed. All FOC. Other than that I can't recall others having issues with their equipment.

As for Alfas generally: Mechanically as bullet-proof as any German or Japanese cars. If you cut through the fodder of reviews you'll notice two reoccurring problems: Flakey suspension and dodgy electrics. Having owned 3 Alfas since 2007 I've only had the suspension bushes replaced on the first one -- three years after buying it.

Where have you read or heard about Alfas being unreliable? When did you last an Alfa broken down along the roadside, or on the back of a recovery truck? I've been repping since 1995 ish and I can't recall seeing one.

Alfas are no better or worse than any other car. Most of Alfas problems comes with owners who don't have a clue about maintanance.* Keep the oil changed on a regular basis and the coolant flushed the engine should serve you well for years.

It was the same when I had Triumphs: "Don't buy them. They overheat, blow head gaskets etc etc..." I've owned several of the so-called head-blowers: Dolomite 1850, 2 Dolomite Sprints, Stag... all over a period of 9 years and never had a sniff of a problem. That's because the average 'Joe' didn't have clue how to look after them.

My cars are far from perfect.

My 2008 159 TBI flew through the MOT in November with no advisories. Other than normal stuff like tyres, batteries, radiators etc etc. I've had no issues with the Milan wonders. (FWIW, I wonder how many of these reviewers have actually driven, much less owned an Alfa? Thin on the ground me thinks).

*Go onto the Alfa owners forum and you'll see woes left, right and centre. Go on a VW forum and you'll see as many woes about their Golfs etc. You only normally use car forums if you have a problem.

 

[tonky]

FWIW - I used to own a rega planar 2 - very simple - excellent sound. My brother still has and uses a Planar 3 with RB300 tonearm - excellent sound.

I still have (second/third system ) an elderly Rega Brio - great sounding amp. So - for me - great product!

Anal ogies - to be honest - whether it's cars/restaurants/food etc. They are pretty useless - boring even (inmho only)

Subtle tonky

 

[Freddy58]

Crikey PP - you've gone in hard on PD

loved my Rega gear SQ wise - PD did a fantastic job resolving my issues but in the end I upgraded to the Primare gear.

if I was stuck on a desert island and could have £1500 for a vinyl system it would always be a Brio R Planar 3 & RS1s - brilliant system

Steve, I notice you mention the RP8, any thoughts on it?

Ahh right, thanks for the insight Steve

 

[stevebrock]

This bloody forum - my post didn't post

yes the RP8 is very exciting to listen to typical Rega - fast musical and bass is very taut - i love it but keeping my gyro..........sod it I'm having turntables

 

[nopiano]

I've seen quite a few concerns about some Rega items too, and I speak as a 100% contented owner of a RB202 arm and Fono mini phone stage/preamp. I've recommended the preamp several times here, highlighted how to set up the arm, and also reminded posters that PD contributes here - the latter a commendable thing.

A significant proportion of problems seem to be about earthing matters. What appearsunhelpful is the Rega practice of not supplying tone arms with separate earth leads, therefore eliminating an option for avoiding earth loops. The other common issue is about mechanical noise in amplifiers, though I can't recall if they are mainly mechanical vibration or buzz at the outputs.

One of these is about design choice; the other more of a QC matter.

My totally arbitrary thoughts are that I'd be happy to get a Rega system or pairing from a dealer, but might be more wary if trying to mix and match myself, or if buying used. I totally accept that as a large producer (relatively) the volume of problems will be greater.

 

[Freddy58]

This bloody forum - my post didn't post

yes the RP8 is very exciting to listen to typical Rega - fast musical and bass is very taut - i love it but keeping my gyro..........sod it I'm having turntables

Cheers Steve. I must admit to being tempted towards an RP10 *smile*