Take a rega

planar 3, rb300, original elys MM, silver wired musical fidelity 3a preamp with an mvt power supply and improve vinyl replay for £2-400, new or second hand any route. all genres listened to.

as usual, there's a can of vimto for the winning entry

 

Pop a Denon DL110 in place of the Elys and you will be dancing down the street. You can get them for £65-70 and I've been recommending them for so long that I guarantee them - I'll buy it from you if not happy

<PS: I havn't gone mad - a spare cartridge is always a good thing but to date, after dozens of offers I've never been sent a 110>

 

Could the rest buy a nice record cleaning machine?

 

Michell Tecnoweight - £64
Loads more bass.

 

Why planar ......not the best decks very prone to vibration needs a good wall mount to even start to play....
IMO....... keep the arm and cart and look for a better deck. phono stage and pre are pretty good too

 

Hmm ... I wouldn't have said it was any more prone to vibes than any other non suspended deck. So long as you put it somewhere reasonably sensible you should be okay and a sheet fo something solid with some sorbothane pads under can help out. A wall shelf needn't be expensive after all if nowhere else presents itself. Even if you had a suspended deck you would want to put it somewhere sensible ... like a wallshelf anyway.

 

Go the whole hog. Replace the RB300 with a Michell TecnoArm A.
Loads more everything.

 

I'm unsure of the precise differences between this and a TechnoArm, but I added an Origin Live modded RB300 to mine (cost me £125 off ebay) and the improvements in bass and soundstage were pretty vast.

I agree with UncleAnts too - a simple, light, well isolated wall shelf worked wonders and in terms of VFM, it took a Gyro/Orbe/VC combo to convince me to part with my Planar 3 and I'd heard an awful lot of decks in the meantime. I reckon that the Planar 2 was probably analogue audio bargain of the century - pity they scrapped it.

 

thank for the suggestions. i will look at the denon and michell carts. the rega is on a wall shelf already but any suggestions on other decks?- i have yet to audition any serious turntables yet but i reckon i'd need to take a good wad of cash along.
you'll have to work harder for this out of date can of vimto..

 

I used to have an MF Electra E100 integrated (roughly £800, circa mid 90's - so not that long ago).

The phono stage was extremely poor indeed. I'd go so far as to say it rendered my gyrodec a lower quality source than any cd player I'd plugged into the amp, even a dvd player.

If you're using the inbuilt phono stage, I'd reccomend trying an outboard stage to see if you're in the same predicament.

A rega phono, a graham slee - there are loads of decent ones in the £100-£200 price range.

There aren't many absolutes in audio - but one of them is that you can have the best cartridge in the world, but if the phono stage isn't any good it will never sound any good.

Hope you take this advice to heart (if you are using the inbuilt phono). Seriously, a new cart or deck can't make up for a phono stage.

 

1. Denon DL110 cartridge (£75)
2. Cambridge Audio 640p phone stage (£60)
3. Michell Tecnoweight (£65)
4. New P3 motor (£85), though if the existing one seems fine I'd actually leave it alone.
4. Funkfirm Achromat (£50), haven't actually heard this one yet, though all reports are positive. Uncle Ants should be able to throw more light on this.

The first three alone should render noticeable improvements and at the bottom end of your budget, leaving lots of lolly for more lovely vinyl. Do I win the vimto?

 

the vimtos your's - i'll only send the contents as the can's too rusty and brittle to be handled by the local postie.

the rega is still in good shape due to the fact that i have to change over phono plugs to change from preamp (for phono stage) to variable input direct from cd player (has caused the demolition of the back panel of the power amp twice) has limited the number of times i can switch between sources - all inputs could go through the preamp but it's smooth but vibrant sound skims a level of detail off compared to the direct connection- perhaps a decent switch is in order - but as i'm a purist...

will the cambridge audio better the mf? it will still have to go into a line level input. maybe i should find a better preamp?

was hoping for a quick cartridge fix, but i see this is going to be a battle of epic proportions.

packet of chewits also up for grabs

 

I used a Cambridge 640 for a while, and changed to a Slee 2 se, I would suggest-
DL110 or 160 ?70 ish
graham slee gram amp 2 ?220 ish
acrylic platter ?70 ish
arm re wire ?50 ish http://www.audioorigami.co.uk/ArmWork/Arm_Internal_Rewires.htm
technoweight
in that order

but you can keep the vimto
________
Sick From Depakote

 

dont worry about a phono stage going into a line stage..

seriously mate, borrow a decent phono stage - if you keep it, you can use it to audition carts.

my money would go on a second hand Ear 834P (£250-£300), but then I am valves through and through.

Graham Slee sounds good for a cheaper solution.

I honestly believe your phono stage will be the ''bottleneck'' excuse the pun.

 

the denon carts look nice; the 304 especially. a local dealer suggested ortofon mc's as a replacement. the phono stage/preamp will need more consideration, as will the switching unless i get a seperate volume switch. i could borrow a matching 99preamp from quad but even they told me it's not the best.

the michel technodeck looks another option but i do see the potential in the rega and would like to get more use out of it.

one final thing; having finally moved the wall table to a new listening area and leveled it up, i've found that the rega sits nose up on it's three little rubber feet - and quite a bit so. am i supposed to use it like this or un-level the table so that the platter is level? or is that a silly question?

and the vimto; couldn't prise it out of it's display case anyway.
my uncle has a fallout shelter full of eggnog but the sixteen inch blast doors has deterred petty pilfering

 

i'll back the denon DL-110 as well.. i was suggested it against my rega card when i had a modded planar 2... and it really was so much more musical and easier to listen to.

it sounded how i thought vinly always should have.. less of the brittle and rather shouty quality that plagues the rega carts.

 

played my turntable for the first time in nearly a year last night. sounded a bit laid back and distant for some reason.

anyway, i shall audition the reccomended carts and borrow a preamp from quad - i need some decent switching anyway. the mc input may be ok but if not i can look at separate phono stages.

i will report in due course.

and the deck its self, there is no height adjustment in the rubber feet; should i level the deck? the wall shelf is already level!!

 

its the platter and arm that need to be horizontal and parallel ......if the deck is not level try penies under the feet or even thin card to level it out.

 

that's good advice, great VFM cartridge - but I'd get a Creek phono stage first.

 

why Quad - great Power amps , fantatic ELS Speakers but their pre amps are pretty lowsy- if you want to change pre amp get a Croft ( or buy my Copland 301 from me!)