I want to move from Rega Planar 6 help me to pick a new turntable


Hi Folks,

About couple of years ago I got Rega Planar 6. Now since I got more experience with turntables and know what I want from it I am looking for a new one. 

There is nothing wrong with Rega Planar 6. In fact I enjoy it and if asked I would recommend it to other people. As long as they don't care about VTA and Azimuth. And this is the main reason I want a different table. I somewhat agree that VTA is not a huge deal and on Rega you can get a spacers, not too convenient, but not too bad either. But Azimuth for me is crucial. My experience with lots of different cartridges - most of them don't have stylus perfectly perpendicular to the surface.

I don't necessarily looking to upgrade to something much better. I want a turntable that has adjustable Azimuth. I may consider an upgrade but want to stay below 3k.

Also I don't want anything with suspension, my floors are too resonant and believe me my kids could jump upstairs so hard I sometimes have recessed ceiling lights falling off :) And for some reason I don't care about ProJect.

There is also a limiting factor of availability. Because of COVID production stopped and wait times are months in some cases.

So far I have identified the following options (based on my preferences and availability).

Technics SL-1200GR - $1.7k
VPI Prime Scout - $1.9k
EAT B-Sharp - $2k
VPI - Scout 21  - $2.8k
Music Hall - MMF-9.3 Turntable - $2.7k
EAT C-Major - $3k 

The only table outside of my price range that I might consider is Technics SL-1200G for which I've heard extremely good reviews.

The rest of the system
Cartridge - temporarily DL-103. (before I had Ortofon Quintet Black S and Audio-Technica ART9XA)
Phono stage - Parasound zphono xrm
Amp - PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium
Speakers - Martin Logan Motion 60XTi 


Thanks,
Alex 

adrobitko

I recently moved from a Rega P5 to a Technics SL-1200GEG-S because I was not able to get my Zyx cartridge working well with the Rega, despite of playing with VTA spacers, VTF (+ exchange of the CW with an heavier tungsten one) and AS (from none ot max). Azimut was looking good (visually + test records).

In fact I have never determined the origin of my issue. It looks to be an incompatible match between the RB700 arm and the Zyx Ultimate SB. Before the Zyx I had a Golding Eroica LX that was playing very well.

So, looking at a new turntable I set 2 non negotiable points: VTA adjustment (on the fly or almost) and a removable headshell. And a third point being a dust cover (when the TT is not in use).

I went finally for the Technics and I can say that I cannot be more than happy!

This TT is almost plug & play (however I used a protractor for fine cart adjustment), a strong motor torque, very stabilized rotation, my Zyx is finally singing very well, etc... And I can even play the records with the dust cover in place. Also, the stylus is going down to the record very "vertically" which was not the case with the Rega. I haven't tried any test record on the Technics yet, I just performed the adjustment by ears using mono records and the sound is excellent, may be I can fine tune and get more from this TT+cart.

You seem to happy with the sound of your Rega P6, and rightly so! So why not upgrade to the best Rega Cartridge within your budget and call it a day since it will be perfectly aligned for your arm. Then concentrate on listening to music !

I'd never own another Music Hall. Poor quality and Roy is a jackass.

I'd look at Well Tempered.

I own and love my p3 rega ....... but my next table is a VPI for the same reason.