Rega Rp1 vs Rp3 vs Thorens td160

[Al ears]

Might be lucky and get a Nagaoka MP 110 for £90

He might, but he said he's only got £80. ;-)

 

[BigH]

Well I hear good things about the audio technica at95e at only £20 but I can spend up to £80 (if I have to).

I would keep the Elys for now then and save up and get something better, don't think £80 will get a huge improvement over the Elys. While saving you could research cartridges sites like Vinylengine are quite useful. Cartridges are a matter of taste. Nagaoka would have been my choice but their prices have increased greatly in the last year or so, although you can get the 150 for £228 on Amazon from Germany. The Audio Technca At440mlb is around about £125. The Goldring 2200 at about £110 is worth considering, these are made by Nagaoka.

 

[plastic penguin]

Sorry for joining this thread a little late.

Purely on aesthetics it would be Thorens all the way. Remember hearing these turntables years ago and they sounded sublime. However, over recent times there's been a fairly hefty price hike with the Thorens, unless you can source a good ex-dem or s/hand example.

If it's just quality record playback then Regas a good choice.

 

[NMANo1]

Hi all,

I looked at the p3 and it was poorly stored so I decided it was not worth the money, however, I liked the turntable and found a p3 on gumtree and got it for £240 delivered. Although I couldn't see it before purchase the guy sounded meticulous and knew his stuff. The turntable arrived yesterday and is immaculate. It is 16 years old with glass platter, rb300 and elys cartridge. Although the cartridge will need replacing fairly soon I am overjoyed- the sound is brilliant!

Any ideas for cartridge upgrade?

Welcome to the world of vinyl addiction. I think you've made a fine choice for a budget deck. After I moved up from an old Dual deck to a new 1989 Planar 3 with the straight RB300 arm & Linn K5 cart' I was blown away by the improvement in every aspect of sound quality. I now run a Linn LP12/Lingo but I still bought another used 1992 Planer 3 just to have a change now & then. I use a Goldring Eroica MC cart' on that & it sounds excellent.

If I were you, I would keep the Elys ( as long it's not worn - will damage your LPs ) & wait till you can afford a cartridge that will really show what the Rega can do. The Ortofon Blue £120, Goldring G2100 £130 or even Audio Technica 44MLA £130 would all be a real step up over the Elys IMHO.

 

[Jackm219]

Thanks for all your replies. The elys still has plenty life left in it so I will save up and get a new cartridge this time next year (price would be more like £150).

I am very pleased with the rega and am now mainly focussed on bringing my vinyl up to quality- removing static, cleaning etc. I have read that the best/most affordable thing for this is a carbon brush and wet cleaning the records in a mix of distilled water and pure alcohol. Any views on this method or do you guys do something different?

Yes, although thorens are stunning decks, Regas seem simpler to setup and maintain and a was swayed by the acclaimed rb300 arm. Granted you can pick up a nice thorens for £200 it may have been an equally good choice.

for now I have plenty to amuse me, most significantly the upgrades to the turntable (I have heard a new sub platter makes a remarkable difference- but the one they talk about is £150) and the rpm is coming in a bit high (33.7) so I might look at a belt change.

I have also over the last 10 days built an isolation platform. The turntable was sitting on a table above a REL Q100e sub (!!) and directly next to a MS 916i floor stander- I knew I had to do something. I bough another Lack table from Ikea, shorter the legs on this to about 3 inches. Filled the hollow legs with expandable dense foam. I then attached squares of rubber cloth to the base of the feet and date this mini table on top of the existing table. In the 3 inch gap created I sat my pre amp. I then bought a piece of solid walnut. I split this into about 6 chopping boards and a large plinth. I sanded and finished it with bees wax and then sat this on the double table setup with 2 inches of rubber disc spacers. It gives the illusion of floating.vibrations when playing are now totally negligible. The setup is my profile picture

 

[BigH]

Thanks for all your replies. The elys still has plenty life left in it so I will save up and get a new cartridge this time next year (price would be more like £150).

I am very pleased with the rega and am now mainly focussed on bringing my vinyl up to quality- removing static, cleaning etc. I have read that the best/most affordable thing for this is a carbon brush and wet cleaning the records in a mix of distilled water and pure alcohol. Any views on this method or do you guys do something different?

Yes, although thorens are stunning decks, Regas seem simpler to setup and maintain and a was swayed by the acclaimed rb300 arm. Granted you can pick up a nice thorens for £200 it may have been an equally good choice.

for now I have plenty to amuse me, most significantly the upgrades to the turntable (I have heard a new sub platter makes a remarkable difference- but the one they talk about is £150) and the rpm is coming in a bit high (33.7) so I might look at a belt change.

I have also over the last 10 days built an isolation platform. The turntable was sitting on a table above a REL Q100e sub (!!) and directly next to a MS 916i floor stander- I knew I had to do something. I bough another Lack table from Ikea, shorter the legs on this to about 3 inches. Filled the hollow legs with expandable dense foam. I then attached squares of rubber cloth to the base of the feet and date this mini table on top of the existing table. In the 3 inch gap created I sat my pre amp. I then bought a piece of solid walnut. I split this into about 6 chopping boards and a large plinth. I sanded and finished it with bees wax and then sat this on the double table setup with 2 inches of rubber disc spacers. It gives the illusion of floating.vibrations when playing are now totally negligible. The setup is my profile picture

Is that speed when the stylus is on the vinyl?

Best belt is said to be the Edwards blue one, its about £15. Edwards also do a sub-platter which is more affordable.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks for all your replies. The elys still has plenty life left in it so I will save up and get a new cartridge this time next year (price would be more like £150).

I am very pleased with the rega and am now mainly focussed on bringing my vinyl up to quality- removing static, cleaning etc. I have read that the best/most affordable thing for this is a carbon brush and wet cleaning the records in a mix of distilled water and pure alcohol. Any views on this method or do you guys do something different?

Yes, although thorens are stunning decks, Regas seem simpler to setup and maintain and a was swayed by the acclaimed rb300 arm. Granted you can pick up a nice thorens for £200 it may have been an equally good choice.

for now I have plenty to amuse me, most significantly the upgrades to the turntable (I have heard a new sub platter makes a remarkable difference- but the one they talk about is £150) and the rpm is coming in a bit high (33.7) so I might look at a belt change.

I have also over the last 10 days built an isolation platform. The turntable was sitting on a table above a REL Q100e sub (!!) and directly next to a MS 916i floor stander- I knew I had to do something. I bough another Lack table from Ikea, shorter the legs on this to about 3 inches. Filled the hollow legs with expandable dense foam. I then attached squares of rubber cloth to the base of the feet and date this mini table on top of the existing table. In the 3 inch gap created I sat my pre amp. I then bought a piece of solid walnut. I split this into about 6 chopping boards and a large plinth. I sanded and finished it with bees wax and then sat this on the double table setup with 2 inches of rubber disc spacers. It gives the illusion of floating.vibrations when playing are now totally negligible. The setup is my profile picture

Is that speed when the stylus is on the vinyl?

Best belt is said to be the Edwards blue one, its about £15. Edwards also do a sub-platter which is more affordable.

Good shout. There is always a slight amount of drag when actually playing records and this tends to slow rotational speed slightly. Cartridges do indeed vary in their susceptibility to noise.

 

[DizzyPenguin]

Is that speed when the stylus is on the vinyl?

Best belt is said to be the Edwards blue one, its about £15. Edwards also do a sub-platter which is more affordable.

Good shout. There is always a slight amount of drag when actually playing records and this tends to slow rotational speed slightly. Cartridges do indeed vary in their susceptibility to noise.

I was steered away from the Blue belt (by someone at AnalogueSeduction) with that precise argument, and was told the white belt is actually better. In the end I didn't bother with either... so I can't really test.

Instead, madness got the better of me and I am now finding myself contemplating cracking open my piggy bank to splash out on a Clearaudio Concept... *yahoo*

 

[Jackm219]

Ahh no it was with the stylus off, no doubt the friction would slow it a bit.

thanks for the advice, I will shop around for a nice sub platter.

 

[DizzyPenguin]

Rega announces Planar 1

http://www.the-ear.net/news/rega-announces-planar-1

Following the Planar 2 and 3 already launched this year we heard rumours last week that the RP1 was to follow suit, the Rega Planar 1 has now arrived and costs £248. [...]

 

[Al ears]

Rega announces Planar 1

http://www.the-ear.net/news/rega-announces-planar-1

Following the Planar 2 and 3 already launched this year we heard rumours last week that the RP1 was to follow suit, the Rega Planar 1 has now arrived and costs £248. [...]

It had to come, is it going to worry Pro-ject??

 

[NSA_watch_my_toilet]

As usual, this forum has given some good advice and worth keeping on board, Rega are undoubtedly one of the best turntables out there and ...

What Hi-Fi is basically a "Rega friend" forum. A neutral point of view seems impossible to have on this forum about those products.

And for the starting statement. I just remember that it's the same forum, where a majority of peoples say that the room is not that important, but the quality of the record is. And a wide amount of profiles believe that a better power cable/speaker cable is making your integrated amp sounds better.*dash1*

But I must admit, we have some really knowledgeable peoples in the turntable section. But they are not present very often.

 

[Al ears]

As usual, this forum has given some good advice and worth keeping on board, Rega are undoubtedly one of the best turntables out there and ...

What Hi-Fi is basically a "Rega friend" forum. A neutral point of view seems impossible to have on this forum about those products.

And for the starting statement. I just remember that it's the same forum, where a majority of peoples say that the room is not that important, but the quality of the record is. And a wide amount of profiles believe that a better power cable/speaker cable is making your integrated amp sounds better.*dash1*

But I must admit, we have some really knowledgeable peoples in the turntable section. But they are not present very often.

On the other hand I am omnipresent. ;-)

 

[momo72]

I found this old thread as I am in a similar predicament (having to decide whether to build up an old P3 or go for a vintage Thorens TD166 mkII (£200 no cartridge).

Firstly, I know nothing about the Thorens range. I've seen TD150, TD160, Super, TD166, TD316. Could anyone shed some light over that's best to avoid and what can be considered please? (The Super at around £1K are out of my budget, just to make it clear).

I've been buying bits to make a "nice" P3. Unused RB220 was found at a good price along with a new E3. Also bought an external rewiring upgrade kit. So all in all I will soon have something that should play some records.

Q: is it worth going for the Thorens which is cheap but probably needs a service? Or just forget about it and continue down the P3 route? Which sound the most amazing? (I will over time try and upgrade the cart)

Thanks

 

[Al ears]

I found this old thread as I am in a similar predicament (having to decide whether to build up an old P3 or go for a vintage Thorens TD166 mkII (£200 no cartridge).

Firstly, I know nothing about the Thorens range. I've seen TD150, TD160, Super, TD166, TD316. Could anyone shed some light over that's best to avoid and what can be considered please? (The Super at around £1K are out of my budget, just to make it clear).

I've been buying bits to make a "nice" P3. Unused RB220 was found at a good price along with a new E3. Also bought an external rewiring upgrade kit. So all in all I will soon have something that should play some records.

Q: is it worth going for the Thorens which is cheap but probably needs a service? Or just forget about it and continue down the P3 route? Which sound the most amazing? (I will over time try and upgrade the cart)

Thanks

If you cannot find your answer in the old thread please start a new one as resurrecting old threads is frowned upon.