Rega Planar 6/Ania Matching

[walidch]

Hello all,

I'm a beginner to the hifi world, but I've been reading/comparing for a while, and I've been a records collector for years.

I finally decided it's time to purchase my first system and I've been considering the following so I wanted to hear your feedback about my setup please:

Turntable: Rega Planar 6/Ania (the reviews are fantastic, and it's clearly a turntable I can keep for years)

Amp: Rega Elex-R or Elicit-R

Speakers: KEF LS50 (not the wireless version), or the ATC SCM11 (harder to find in The Netherlands where I live).

I've tried the KEF LS50 before at a listening room and the sound was really good for my taste in music, which is mainly rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, and generally music made between 1969 and 1977 for some reason haha

Thank you all!

 

[nopiano]

Welcome! These are all highly rated products, which with extended listening, a good dealer, and careful set up, should perform very well.

As i have no idea what other products you can access at home, I won’t suggest anything else. At least these are all British, so good for our exports!

 

[walidch]

Hi Gents,

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Since I live in Amsterdam, the setup will be a pretty small living room. And because Amsterdam houses are wooden and small, I won't be looking at a great delivery at super high volumes, but a vivid delivery at modest volumes.

My choices isn't as varied as what I can find on UK shops, there's a few NL shops and I think this is the best around as they seem to have all the brands I'm interested in and many more: https://www.benderhifi.nl

I will be mostly listening to vinyls over this system in the beginning, but I would like to add a CD player as well at a later point (probably in the same year). I am not sure how adding a streamer (for spotify) would affect this entire setup because I want to keep it analog and I am not sure how to proceed with that. My gf and I use Spotify a lot, but I am not sure how that would affect the entire setup. But I would love to hear your opinion about it for sure.

Now back to the setup:

PHONO: Rega have MC and MM phono amps so it should be ok, unless you would recommend a different one. It seems (online feedback) that they work well together. I couldn't test them in person yet (Rega P6 with Ania + Rega MC phono) as the new P6 hasn't reach our wet lands yet.

KEF LS50: I've tested them in a similar room size to mine, and the dealer played a CD version of dark side of the moon on the Rega Brio amp, which sounded AMAZING. I can only imagine what it would sound like on vinyl and the Elex-R amp.

Thank you guys, I love learning more about this topic

 

[Al ears]

Welcome! These are all highly rated products, which with extended listening, a good dealer, and careful set up, should perform very well.

As i have no idea what other products you can access at home, I won’t suggest anything else. At least these are all British, so good for our exports!

Can I also add my welcome. Can I refer my learned fried nopiano to the recent thread as to what constitutes 'British'. To the OP can I say as long as those speakers actually work well in your room then the selection should work well. It does seem however to be a group of five star items that can often be bettered by something WHF haven't actually reviewed.

The idea that Rega turntables work best with a Rega amp is often wrong.

The cartridge on that turntable, not that there is anything inherently wrong with the deck itself, can be improved for the same or less money.

Is it purely a vinyl set-up you are looking for?

More to the point and perhaps crucial is the Ania cartridge is a moving coil, are those Rega amps compatible? As far as I know they only take a moving magnet cartridge. In fact does the Elex R even do that? I don't think it does.

Skip the cartridge and get a decent moving magnet then the Elicit might be a viable concern otherwise you are looking at another box in the shape of a moving coil phono preamp.

 

[Al ears]

Hi Gents,

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Since I live in Amsterdam, the setup will be a pretty small living room. And because Amsterdam houses are wooden and small, I won't be looking at a great delivery at super high volumes, but a vivid delivery at modest volumes.

My choices isn't as varied as what I can find on UK shops, there's a few NL shops and I think this is the best around as they seem to have all the brands I'm interested in and many more: https://www.benderhifi.nl

I will be mostly listening to vinyls over this system in the beginning, but I would like to add a CD player as well at a later point (probably in the same year). I am not sure how adding a streamer (for spotify) would affect this entire setup because I want to keep it analog and I am not sure how to proceed with that. My gf and I use Spotify a lot, but I am not sure how that would affect the entire setup. But I would love to hear your opinion about it for sure.

Now back to the setup:

PHONO: Rega have MC and MM phono amps so it should be ok, unless you would recommend a different one. It seems (online feedback) that they work well together. I couldn't test them in person yet (Rega P6 with Ania + Rega MC phono) as the new P6 hasn't reach our wet lands yet.

KEF LS50: I've tested them in a similar room size to mine, and the dealer played a CD version of dark side of the moon on the Rega Brio amp, which sounded AMAZING. I can only imagine what it would sound like on vinyl and the Elex-R amp.

Thank you guys, I love learning more about this topic

Just as long as you are aware that you need to buy a phono preamp as well. The Rega isn't bad but for a £500 cartridge I would still be tempted to buy a decent moving magnet which would save a lot of money in the first instance and also later on.

 

[respe]

if you have the budget the elicit is a way better amplifier than the elex, or it is to my ears.

The limiting choice at your dealer is the cartridge. The ania is a fine sounding cartridge, and with its 3 point fitting, installing it into a rega arm is simple. Given the cost of the ania, plus a MC phone stage, I would suggest that you have a word with your dealer, and see if he will install a cartridge you have bought from elsewhere. Something like the Audio Technica VM 750sh, it carries a really good stylus profile, and will work very well with the Rega MM stages. The cost, as compared to the ania plus mc stage should give you the money to buy the elict-r. If at a later stage you want a moving coil, and stage (or SUT) the elicit phon0 stage can be turned off, and the input used for a MC stage (It works extremely well with my Rega ios stage and a AT 33 ptg II). If you want to go MC from the off a uk based company called Rothwell Audio do a thing called the Head Space. It takes the output from a MC cart, and increases the level so that it can be used into a MM stage. In the case of the Head space it does it very well. I am not sure how it would work for you, but in the UK they do a two week home trial, maybe they could offer something similar for you. If so you could take it into the dealer, set it to suit the ania, and have a listen at the dealers. http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/headspace_mc_headamp.html

 

[Marvindodgers]

Hi, as you clearly have a decent budget to spend on your hifi and you obviously have a liking for U.K. equipment, might it be worth taking a quick trip over to a good Hifi store here in the U.K. where you could audition a wider range of decks, cartridges and amps? I cannot personally recommend anywhere, but I'm sure others will be able to.

Just an idea?