Turntables

@dover 

I am interested in your comparison between Rega and VPI. Could you be very specific in the sonic differences? 

My first failed attempt at getting an Audiophile table was a Rega… long time ago, and not at the level of a P6 today would be. My second attempt at an audiophile table was a VPI Aries… it worked… absolutely better in every respect to every table I had owned before it… not by a small margin… but huge margin. It was very very significantly better in surface noise, bass, details, musicality, midrange bloom and  rhythm and pace. The difference was mid-fi vs audiophile.

More recently I upgraded to a far superior table… a Linn LP12 nearly the top level with a Koetsu Rosewood signature cartridge. One thing I have become aware of is the idea of a “lively” sound… versus what I would call a dead silent background (massive turntables seem to have the later aspect), 

Anyway, I am interested in understanding the aspects of the Rega that seem superior to VPI.

@dover

Thanks for your comments.

Hopefully in between liking this versus that there can be useful information shared.

My limited experience points to lighter tables typically being “cleaner sounding”… maybe that is like “livelier sounding”. Which to me has sounded a bit like the images flickering around at high frequencies and with a bit higher sound floor… versus the more massive tables having a lower noise floor and more solid images. I would say that the lighter tables seem seem a bit more detailed… but That detail is coming at a cost. I find massive is more forgiving in musical reproduction and more solid sounding. These are important personal preferences. Anyway… this is a partially baked hypothesis. I don’t have enough experience to feel I could realy defend it.

My thinking behind this is that high frequency vibrations are absorbed and transmitted throughout light weight tables. Heavy ones just don’t move because of mass. Additionally, when I got a Silent Running Audio Ohio Class isolation platform to put under my Linn. There was a very noticable improvement in image focus and solidity and drop in the noise floor. This made it perform more like a massive table.

On VPI unipivot arms. I think they sound great. I think what @dover was saying is that he prefers using a different kind of arm (that the mechanism wobbles when you pick it up and the anti skate doesn’t feel highly refined)… as opposed to it sounding bad. I found the arm and anti skate work great… but it looks less refined.

I bring this up because how much I like using an arm does not show up in my list of priorities. If there was a unipivot arm that sounded better I would buy the unipivot again. That said… I have loved the two Linn tone arms I have owned because they are so wonderful to pick up and use. My unipivot sounded great and I would not hesitate to buy another if it was appropriate for the table.

Omg, water pressure in a shower is so important. I worker in Japan for decades. You want to get a great shower? Go to Japan… anywhere! One of life’s greatest pleasures. Turntables also.