slowriot wrote:i have a choice to make.

rega planar 3

vs.

pro-ject 6

I bought a lower end Rega model 12 years ago and have been extremely pleased with it... Around $500 at that time, glass platter, and I upgraded with a better cartridge than the Grado or whatever it came with (I think I chose a Rega Bias II cartridge, but since have replaced with a Benz MC Gold which can be re-tipped cheaply by Benz until I want to get a whole better system)...

So, no too expensive (at a time when I had almost no money) and over a decade later nothing's gone wrong. New belt every now and then. All manual, so nothing really there to break, as long as you don't operate while shitfaced.

Do have to admit, though, tonearm auto-pick-up at the end of a side would be nice... and just now looking at current Rega models, the graphics have gone a bit 'Miami' for my tastes.

Still, good product.

slowriot wrote:also, what should i use as a reference album to compare sound quality? any suggestions?

US Maple 'Talker' sounds lovely on good equipment.

i have a pro-ject 1 that i bought in 1991, it was a floor model. one belt change and a couple of cartridges and it's still going. sounds fantastic after all of these years.

the band that supported the motor (which "floats" inside the plinth) busted once. i called sumiko (berkeley, ca) and they sent me two spares and a spare belt for $5.

i don't have any experience with rega but i'm very happy with the pro-ject.

I picked up some equipment from a local place, which works well enough for me... a Technics SL-220 belt driven turntable, and a Kenwood amp. Both sound good enough for me at the moment. However, the speed control dials on the turntable are going. I'd assume those are just standard replacable pots?

Also, the volume knob on the amplifier is cutting out on one channel at certain points. How difficult are these dual volume controls to find/replace?

enframed wrote:i have a pro-ject 1 that i bought in 1991, it was a floor model. one belt change and a couple of cartridges and it's still going. sounds fantastic after all of these years.

the band that supported the motor (which "floats" inside the plinth) busted once. i called sumiko (berkeley, ca) and they sent me two spares and a spare belt for $5.

i don't have any experience with rega but i'm very happy with the pro-ject.

the few reviews that i've read about the pro-ject are so hit-or-miss that it leaves me wondering why. some call the 6 "the poor man's oracle", or the best turntable they've ever used, while others claim that it's shoddily built and a frustrating mess.

rega obviously has a lot of supporters on this board, but are their newer models any different structurally/sonically over older models? has anything changed?

slowriot wrote:.

rega obviously has a lot of supporters on this board, but are their newer models any different structurally/sonically over older models? has anything changed?

the new Rega P3 -24 is a dramatic improvment over the original, or so I've read. It was on the cover of last month's stereophile, and the review was very favorable.

slowriot wrote:

Brinkman wrote:

slowriot wrote:also, what should i use as a reference album to compare sound quality? any suggestions?

How about an album you listen to a lot that's recorded really well?
blah blah blah.

makes sense. i mostly wanted to check to see if anyone had specific recommendations about the two turntables in question.

Well, as far as I could gather, they've both received their share of positive and negative criticisms and neither would be considered a class above the other, so it's really up to your own ears.
Contrary to $inmusic, I would listen for improvement on the frequency extremes. If the treble breaks up and gets a harsh "sizzling" sound (on spoken "esses" and cymbals), then you have sibilance issues that may or may not be remedied with a new cartridge. The bass doesn't really need to sound "deeper", but if you don't hear a clarity or presence that you know belongs there, the platter may not be spinning at a constant-enough rate to keep the low-frequency information intact.

These are the very same problems I'm addressing in my own system, though I've still managed to enjoy "musical"-sounding recordings and I look forward to getting even more enjoyment out of them. Chances are that if you're on this forum, you already own several well-recorded albums (made in Chicago, hint) and I'd put those to work before the usual over-produced soft-rock torch-singer dreck that so many audiophiles use as a measure of quality.
Try out material that represents your own listening preferences. A step up is a step up, so what you'll hear should sound more natural, whether it's Nina Nastasia or Einsturzende Neubauten or The Dirty Thee. And it's okay to qualify your subjective impressions with quantitative criteria.

slowriot wrote:

enframed wrote:i have a pro-ject 1 that i bought in 1991, it was a floor model. one belt change and a couple of cartridges and it's still going. sounds fantastic after all of these years.

the band that supported the motor (which "floats" inside the plinth) busted once. i called sumiko (berkeley, ca) and they sent me two spares and a spare belt for $5.

i don't have any experience with rega but i'm very happy with the pro-ject.

the few reviews that i've read about the pro-ject are so hit-or-miss that it leaves me wondering why. some call the 6 "the poor man's oracle", or the best turntable they've ever used, while others claim that it's shoddily built and a frustrating mess.

is this the "round" one or the 6 Xperience about which you inquire?

Ugh. This thread makes me mad I got a Technics 1200. My wife got it for me, so I can't really bitch. Plus, it IS pretty nice still.

What's a good cartridge for it? I have a Shure 97xE in it right now.

slowriot wrote: what should i use as a reference album to compare sound quality? any suggestions?

a well recorded album or two you know very well.

enframed wrote:

slowriot wrote:

enframed wrote:i have a pro-ject 1 that i bought in 1991, it was a floor model. one belt change and a couple of cartridges and it's still going. sounds fantastic after all of these years.

the band that supported the motor (which "floats" inside the plinth) busted once. i called sumiko (berkeley, ca) and they sent me two spares and a spare belt for $5.

i don't have any experience with rega but i'm very happy with the pro-ject.

the few reviews that i've read about the pro-ject are so hit-or-miss that it leaves me wondering why. some call the 6 "the poor man's oracle", or the best turntable they've ever used, while others claim that it's shoddily built and a frustrating mess.

is this the "round" one or the 6 Xperience about which you inquire?

it looks like this one: