The modified Rega P3 arrived yesterday. Custom hardwood plinth (massive), Deepgrove subplatter, RB300 arm...I plugged in the motor and discovered there was a pulsing sound from the motor (disconnected the belt to make sure it wasn't the platter). Bummer...haven't solved that one yet, but working on it.
Not having my cart or phono preamp yet I decided to give it a try using my over 25 year old well worn Signet TK1EA cart and the junk phono pre I picked up from Frys several years back. I really wasn't expecting much - even if the P3 was way better than my old Yamaha TT, I expected the results to be masked by the worn cheap cart and the lousy pre amp. More importantly I wanted to find out of the motor pulsing sound would be audible when playing music.
Much to my surprise - not only did the pulsing stay out of the audio path, but there was a noticeable improvement in clarity and detail over my old table. So much that even my wife noticed - commenting that there was much more depth to the music.
Can't wait to hear what it sounds like with the new cart and pre!
BTW - I have to add I had forgotten how much I enjoyed playing LPs compared to CDs. Music is fundamentally an analog experience - and placing the needle on the spinning vinyl disc (and watching it play) somehow completes the experience in a way that placing a CD into a digital machine (essentially a computer) can not.
