Old B&O vs. new Rega P1


I have an old B&O RX turntable with the MMC3 cartridge. I'm thinking of upgrading. Would the new Rega P1 be much of an upgrade?
jimmymac

Showing 2 responses by johnnyb53

It's been a long time, but I worked at a store that carried B&O, and I remember their 'tables as being pretty clean-sounding but a bit on the light side where slam and bass weight were concerned.

I certainly feel that I get a lot more performance out of my SL1210, particularly where weight and slam are concerned, as well as a rightness to the midrange and a great sense of immediacy. I think you'd also get a noticeable improvement with a Goldring GR1.2.

08-16-07: Jaybo
nope...keep the b&o.....down the road take a leap,but your not missing anything compared to the 2k and under contendors
I find it hard to believe that a sub $2K Funk Firm, Rega P5, or VPI Scout wouldn't leave a B&O RX totally in the dust in every conceivable parameter.
Here's another thought:

Get a Technics SL1210 Mk2 from Musicians Friend for a mere $399.99. It has a lot going for it--build quality, speed accuracy, low noise, close tolerances, durability, and slick controls and ergonomics. You will get an increase in transients, bass, and slam. You will no longer be limited in available range of cartridges. In fact, with the TT's included second counterweight and headshell weight, you have a decent range of cartridge weights and compliances that will work.

A removable headshell is nice for learning to mount cartridges and keeping it from being too frustrating. Upgrade to a nice $40 Sumiko headshell.

If you decide to upgrade, you can get an outboard power supply, threaded clamp and spindle, fancy footers, strobe light disable, tonearm rewire, and tonearm fluid damper from KABUSA.com. The fluid damper further improves the range of compatible tonearm/cartridge combinations.

If that's not enough, you can get a Rega-adaptor armboard and tonearm from Origin Live. Origin offers compatible tonearms from $240 to $everal thousand. In other words, you can buy the Technics and modify it to have an RB250 arm for about the same price as a Rega P3.

If you leave it stock and decide to sell, you can probably get within $100 of what you paid for it.