Upgrades for Rega P3. Worth it?

I tweaked the heck out of my old rega planar II, to the point it's not recognizable anymore.

Sure, it performs very well, but I could have spent less on a new turntable.

It was a learning experience and all the tweeks provided better sound, but I could have gotten there much quicker with one single purchase.

Benefit of tweaking - you can do it at your pace

tweaks include...
•SRM/TECH Deluxe Acrylic Platter
•RB250 arm
•Cardas monolithic rewire kit
•Michell Technoweight
•ISOsub GT 2 S UPGRADE SUB PLATTER
•Rega II Motor Upgrade kit
•Audiomods Arm (latest addition)

Hi-fi is a long haul :-)

Nickomoff - If you are using a weight or clamp to secure the album then any slight deformity in the mat (like felt) would probably be eliminated, but the mat may still effect the overall sound.

With the upgrades I have purchased, I found that eliminating all mats provides the best sound - the old plastic Rega sub-platter was dull and listless compared to the ISOsub GT 2 upgraded sub-platter, especially when used with the SRM/TECH acrylic platter.

I found that using a mat reduced the ultra fine details in the recording venue acoustics and had a more confused image.

If you have the glass platter on the rega I would recommend an acrylic one - take your pick, there are many, or the GT Delrin platter that Doug has, reviews indicate they are extremely good

I found the glass platter, whilst great for consistent speed, seemed to present an image that was not very accurate when compared to my acrylic platter I now have and the bass was not as tight and detailed as it is now.

Strings also sounded quite shrill. Almost as though they were distorting.

I tried many things to fix this...
- gluing cork to the underside of the platter
>>> this helped a little with the bass and the shrillness
- a couple of different mats - felt and Mission(sorbothane)
>>> all matts seemed to take the pace out of the music and made it less dynamic.
- getting the acrylic platter was the one thing that worked

Hope this helps

Wc65mustang - exactly what do you find so unbelievable?...

Do you believe....
1. Rega aren't worth upgrading, or
2. they're perfect as is.

If #1 - then you appear to misinformed, since there are many companies offering some great upgrade products that people appear to be buying - so they are worth upgrading according to a lot of people and the many vendors

If #2 - then there are many people buying those upgrades that are achieving better performance in an affordable, incremental manner - standard product are built to a budget and can always be improved upon.

Whatever choice the fact remains that Rega has some great products whose performance can be improved on - just like any other manufacturer

Also, other turntable manufacturers wished they had the success Rega has had over the years, not only with OEM product but in providing parts/arms for other turntable manufacturers use.

BTW - I'm not a Rega bigot - there are many TT's out there that I would gladly try if I had the cash (VPI springs to mind), but my limited budget took me down the upgrade road instead of the trade-in road

Happy Listening :-)

Stringreen - agreed - many times I've questioned my approach.

Nickomoff, I think there are two parts to your questions...
1. Will the upgrades be beneficial
2. Is it worth upgrading a P3

With me, I tweak when I believe the benefit outweighs the cost - trouble with my tt is, the cost of the tweeks has reached the price of a VPI scout. But in my defence it has been spread over 20 years :-)

Then there's the sense of upgrade-achievement :-)

But back to the original question - of those upgrades listed - the sub-platter and platter are definitely worth while.

Another worthwhile upgrade is the Cardas one-piece rewire kit which will allow the improvements made by the sub platter/platter upgrades to be more noticeable.

Replacing the cartridge will change the sound, but opting for the other upgrades will allow your existing cartridge to really strut it's stuff :-)

You've heard from both camps and each has it's merits

Hope you find the solution that brings you much musical enjoyment