Rega Owner's Thread

[Desmoface]

Greetings everyone,

After reading the rave reviews on the p3, I was ready to pull the trigger on what I thought was a good deal on a new one. Then I stumbled upon this video (5:15 into the video is where he tears into the motor):

Really? The motor is taped in? On a $1k turntable? They couldn't have spent the extra 7 cents on a couple of bolts? I'm thinking long term, down the road, when the tape starts to dry out and the motor chassis starts to move around. Is this something to be concerned about? Are they doing this on the 16+ p3's?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Steve

 

[Legrace]

Based on what I know now I would not purchase any Rega model below the RP8. Incidentally, the tape method secures the motor solidly, I had to pry the motor off my RP6.

 

[jrtrent]

Really? The motor is taped in? On a $1k turntable? They couldn't have spent the extra 7 cents on a couple of bolts? I'm thinking long term, down the road, when the tape starts to dry out and the motor chassis starts to move around. Is this something to be concerned about?

According to the installation instructions for the 24V motor upgrade kit, except for "early Planar and Planet models," most other models used an adhesive pad to hard mount the motor, like the pads used in the upgrade kit. I haven't read about any issues with Rega's motor mount method. I've only had my RP3 for a few years, but it's not an issue I've thought about at all.

I always recommend auditioning before purchase if at all possible, but I'll disagree with Legrace on the merits of Rega models below the RP8. For a few years, now, my stock RP3 (without the optional TT-PSU) has given me highly engaging performances from my vinyl collection, encouraging me to listen to record after record, always enthralled by what I hear. I really don't think I'll ever need a better turntable, and I got this one after decades of using higher-cost 'tables such as LP12/Ittok setups and a Well Tempered Record Player. I had previously auditioned the P3-24, but it just didn't win me over; the RP3 was enough better that I happily bought it and have had no regrets.

 

[stonedeaf]

There are two very common adhesive products that most folks lump into double stick tape and hot glue. In both cases industrial suppliers can offer you catalogs full of individual products with whatever characteristics you want ( set time of glue ,materials it will bond to, waterproof or water sol-liable,color ,self indicating/tamper evident , etc.) or need. Fair to assume that Rega is using a specific foam tape product that suits their ( and your needs) well - including long term reliability. The local Rega dealer has never mentioned any problems with this motor mounting method. Would bolting be better ? Different - yes - but foam tape is probably dampening some motor vibrations before they get to the plinth/base ?

 

[Legrace]

Main complaints were imprecise speed regulation and noisy motor. None of my post Rega tables are similarly afflicted. Although the new Neo PS can address the former. In which case satisfaction may ensure.

 

[jrtrent]

Main complaints were imprecise speed regulation and noisy motor. None of my post Rega tables are similarly afflicted. Although the new Neo PS can address the former. In which case satisfaction may ensure.

Do you think you had a lemon or is it just a matter of Rega's design and accuracy in that regard not meeting your needs? In their review of the RP3, Hi-Fi News measured peak wow at .09%, flutter at .02%, and speed accuracy was off just .01%. I haven't had my particular sample tested, but I don't hear any problems with it. DIN's standards are for 0.2% peak wow and flutter and speed accuracy of +1.5 to -1 %; these standards were deemed "quite respectable" by Gramophone magazine, but each person's own standards need to be met if they are to be happy.

 

[johnjhazel]

The adhesive tape holds the motor securely in place. If bolts were used, then rubber pieces would have to be used to reduce transmission of motor vibration. It is more effective, simpler, and cheaper to use the adhesive tape.

 

[plastico]

I had a Lim motor pod that decoupled the motor from the plinth. It was very good as the noise floor was dramatically reduced. When I changed my plinth to a Quest plinth, I could not use the pod. I used instead a Herbies double sticky pad for the motor that worked just as well as the isolation pod.
Cheers,Doug

 

[MisterDK]

Poor picture of my ‘87 vintage Planar 3. Bought it brand new. Still spinning merrily along with an Empire 2000t on it right now.
.

 

[Legrace]

Do you think you had a lemon or is it just a matter of Rega's design and accuracy in that regard not meeting your needs? In their review of the RP3, Hi-Fi News measured peak wow at .09%, flutter at .02%, and speed accuracy was off just .01%. I haven't had my particular sample tested, but I don't hear any problems with it. DIN's standards are for 0.2% peak wow and flutter and speed accuracy of +1.5 to -1 %; these standards were deemed "quite respectable" by Gramophone magazine, but each person's own standards need to be met if they are to be happy.

I think what's more important is that Rega continue to improve their products. I do think they have made a serious attempt with the launch of the Planar 3 and more recently the 6 and the Neo to finally address a number of long standing criticisms. The mantra that slightly fast is good is an old bromide that deserves to be put to rest. My negative remarks should not dissuade anyone from considering a mid tier Rega, at they dont apply the same anymore outside of historical context.

 

[Desmoface]

Woohoo! My Planar 3 came in today. I figured I would have to update the cartridge ASAP but it doesn’t really sound too bad.

Steve

 

[DavidTT]

I thought the Planar 3 (2016) sold without cartridge. Did you buy used, or buy the Carbon for the Planar 3? FWIW, the Carbon is Rega's rebadged AT91, which is a very good cartridge at its price point and much better than people give it credit for. Enjoy!

Woohoo! My Planar 3 came in today. I figured I would have to update the cartridge ASAP but it doesn’t really sound too bad.

Steve

 

[jrtrent]

. . . FWIW, the Carbon is Rega's rebadged AT91, which is a very good cartridge at its price point and much better than people give it credit for. Enjoy!

Agreed, and it's always possible that the Rega Carbon is more than just a re-badge job. It does have some different specifications in terms of tracking force range and output, so the Carbon may well incorporate some changes Rega felt would make it a better cartridge, or at least a better match to their own turntable line.

 

[Desmoface]

Hi David,

Interestingly, I took a bit of a chance on the purchase as the ad said, "Damaged Box," but it's a highly regarded retailer so I figured I had 60 days to return it if I didn't like what I received. Here's the ad; they must have more because they are still advertising it.
https://www.musicdirect.com/turntab...ith-Carbon-MM-Phono-Cartridge-Red-DAMAGED-BOX

Well, the box was fine, but the dust cover took a hit at some point and has a crack in the front. Ultimately I'm ok with it - the entire TT is covered when not in use, so it's out of site anyway. I also found it odd that it came with the carbon as I've been seeing them bundled with the Elys 2 cartridge. I thought maybe they threw the Carbon in as a cheep incentive to sell a slightly damaged unit, but I was surprised to find it installed - I just had to align it a bit, set the tracking weight and anti-skate and I was off to the races.

I still may upgrade the cart at some point, but I'm very happy with the Carbon, so maybe I will just stick with it. Those tonearm wires are awful thin and I don't look forward to messing with them, LOL.

Regards,

Steve

I thought the Planar 3 (2016) sold without cartridge. Did you buy used, or buy the Carbon for the Planar 3? FWIW, the Carbon is Rega's rebadged AT91, which is a very good cartridge at its price point and much better than people give it credit for. Enjoy!

 

[Desmoface]

He jrtrent, I noticed that too, Rega's literature says the tracking weight for the carbon is 2-3 g's which is higher than what AT recommends for the 91. I set it at 2.3 - seems to work well at that weight. I have to say I didn't expect much out of it, but it's quite acceptable; at least to my worn out ears, LOL.

Steve

Agreed, and it's always possible that the Rega Carbon is more than just a re-badge job. It does have some different specifications in terms of tracking force range and output, so the Carbon may well incorporate some changes Rega felt would make it a better cartridge, or at least a better match to their own turntable line.

 

[DavidTT]

It would be interesting to see if Music Direct might replace that cover for you, since the TT was advertised as damaged box vice damaged unit. It would be worth an email or a call perhaps.

Hi David,

Interestingly, I took a bit of a chance on the purchase as the ad said, "Damaged Box," but it's a highly regarded retailer so I figured I had 60 days to return it if I didn't like what I received. Here's the ad; they must have more because they are still advertising it.
https://www.musicdirect.com/turntab...ith-Carbon-MM-Phono-Cartridge-Red-DAMAGED-BOX

Well, the box was fine, but the dust cover took a hit at some point and has a crack in the front. Ultimately I'm ok with it - the entire TT is covered when not in use, so it's out of site anyway. I also found it odd that it came with the carbon as I've been seeing them bundled with the Elys 2 cartridge. I thought maybe they threw the Carbon in as a cheep incentive to sell a slightly damaged unit, but I was surprised to find it installed - I just had to align it a bit, set the tracking weight and anti-skate and I was off to the races.

I still may upgrade the cart at some point, but I'm very happy with the Carbon, so maybe I will just stick with it. Those tonearm wires are awful thin and I don't look forward to messing with them, LOL.

Regards,

Steve

 

[Desmoface]

I’m going to shoot them an email just to see what they say.

Steve

 

[Bogdan AH]

Hello to all. I had an interesting experience with a Rega P3 2016 with Elys 2, that I bought today and it made a round trip after listening 3 records... I wonder if any here might give me a hint about the problem :

Sound quality is very nice, a few steps over the deck I use now. But at the end of the record, I started to sweat : a lot of electrical hum on the end track... On the second record the same, I was very excited starting to listen the music it delivers, and then towards the end starting to feel like my brain is boiling - something was very wrong. I made a different manipulation - I moved the arm from the center, to the arm rest, before shutting down the motor and I then heard the humming in the loudspeakers diminishing. After this, it was easy - just by moving the tonearm over the platter, with the motor ON, I could hear the hum increasing towards the spindle and decreasing towards the arm rest like hhhuuUUUMMM or HHHUUuuummm, and I can tell that there was a "barrier" - the border of the platter. No hum from the arm rest to the border of the platter, and variable hum after this, hovering the platter. But this I'm not 100%sure. I only had the deck for 2 hours... It's how I remember it. No similar hum with the motor OFF, even with the volume pushed at max. Another thing I noticed, that doesn't happens with my actual deck : while moving the arm, some small "POC"s occurs from time to time, randomly, like electrostatic discharges... I notice them as unusual to me, but didn't seems to be a problem. Felt like happening only when I was moving the tonearm with my hand.
Now, big problem : I called the dealer who sold me the P3, told him the symptom I can identify, and he asked me to bring it back. In his shop, with another amplifier (an Atol) that hum noise over the platter wasn't audible...He kinda put me back against the wall, I had to take a decision fast, so I took my money back and left.

I feel like lost because :
- my actual deck doesn't have this symptom &
- I tried the Rega first plugged in the option card of my amplifier (as my actual deck), and then second, on an external pre (a NAD) feeding the CD input of my amplifier. The symptom was present on both settings, apparently excluding the possibility of a faulty amplifier...
- As I said, on another amplifier the P3 didn't showed that symptom apparently excluding the possibility of an faulty unit.

Does anyone have a clue about this witchcraft ??? The P3 seems to me like a good deck, but somehow it didn't fit into my system... I wonder why !?!?

 

[jrtrent]

. . . Does anyone have a clue about this witchcraft ??? The P3 seems to me like a good deck, but somehow it didn't fit into my system... I wonder why !?!?

I've got no answers for you, but if your dealer was pressuring you for a quick decision, you definitely made the right one. I'm surprised he didn't offer to come out and hear the issue in your home (home visits happened regularly with a hifi shop I worked for some years ago), or at least have you bring in your own amplifier along with the turntable to see if the problem could be replicated in the shop.

I had a similar strange issue about 10 years ago when I bought a Well Tempered Record Player directly from Stanalog (there were no local dealers for Well Tempered at that time). It hummed when hooked into the phono inputs of my Audio by Van Alstine pre-amplifier, but that same preamp had no hum at all with my LP12. At my local shop, the Well Tempered's wiring checked out fine, and there was no hum when first going through a Grado phono stage and then into a line level input on the AVA. The tech at the shop couldn't figure out why it hummed with the AVA's phono input, and neither Frank Van Alstine nor the fine folks at Stanalog (George and Francis) had any answers, either. I ended up buying the Grado phono stage and happily enjoying the Well Tempered for a few years. At present, a Rega RP3 plugged directly into the Van Alstine preamp's phono inputs is hum-free and sounding great.

 

[Bogdan AH]

I've got no answers for you, but if your dealer was pressuring you for a quick decision, you definitely made the right one. I'm surprised he didn't offer to come out and hear the issue in your home (home visits happened regularly with a hifi shop I worked for some years ago), or at least have you bring in your own amplifier along with the turntable to see if the problem could be replicated in the shop.

I had a similar strange issue about 10 years ago when I bought a Well Tempered Record Player directly from Stanalog (there were no local dealers for Well Tempered at that time). It hummed when hooked into the phono inputs of my Audio by Van Alstine pre-amplifier, but that same preamp had no hum at all with my LP12. At my local shop, the Well Tempered's wiring checked out fine, and there was no hum when first going through a Grado phono stage and then into a line level input on the AVA. The tech at the shop couldn't figure out why it hummed with the AVA's phono input, and neither Frank Van Alstine nor the fine folks at Stanalog (George and Francis) had any answers, either. I ended up buying the Grado phono stage and happily enjoying the Well Tempered for a few years. At present, a Rega RP3 plugged directly into the Van Alstine preamp's phono inputs is hum-free and sounding great.

Yep... To be honest I was also surprised that the guy wasn't curious to see/know more about all this. It wasn't probably the right moment for him to deal with something like this. But also, he really didn't come with any suggestion to leave the door open, so to speak... Like he wanted his P3 back...

Thanks jrtrend for the sharing. And you gave me that idea. The guy was obviously not interested in seeing the P3 in my system, but I'll ask him if he would agree to bring my amplifier in his shop to give it a try. Because I want to know what should I do about it. If this might have happen with a more close to high end turntable (buying the P6 or the P8 is something that I consider) like happened to your Well Tempered for ex... it would be really annoying... I would want at least to know if there is an error somewhere in the system or if it's just an incompatibility that shows up sometimes and I have to live with that idea and get over, and continue looking.