Planar 6 with Ania or 2M Black -you might be surprised at the winner.

So I've been digging my new Planar 6 with the Ania cartridge for a while now. It sounds very good but I've always wanted to try the Ortofon 2m Black and so I decided to throw one on just to change things up. It is brand new out of the box and not broken in yet but I have to say it sounds friggin amazing. Before you start yelling, the Ania is a good MC cart, most people would have been ecstatic with the new P6/Ania combo and never changed a thing but we are not most people and as such I had to try it. Paired with the EAR 834P and the Cronus Mag 2, the sound coming from my Focal 726's is sublime.

The black performs better in 2 areas so far....deeper bass -you can hear it instantly, it is subtle but there's no question it grabs you with a thump in your chest (picture the T-Rex walking in Jurassic Park) and treble...drumsticks sound as if you can reach out and grab them from the drummer. You can literally hear the snap of the wood as they make contact with the drum pad. I'm looking forward to break in at around 25 to 50 hours but so far I am not regretting that switch. Again the Ania is no slouch but the black is doing a few things better.

Anyone else try a 2M black on the new Planar 6?

 

Both the Ortofon and the Rega cartridges sound really good. With my systems, which I generally keep very neutral tonally, the 2m Black picks-up too much surface noise for it to make my list. I actually prefer the less expensive 2m Bronze for this reason. The new Rega Ania cartridge, when paired with a neutral sounding phono stage, is very clear and dynamic, yet is never thin or bright sounding. Through the Ear 834P, it would be a bit on the warm and soft side without as much transient attack. I am sure that is why you prefer the 2m Black in your system, not because of the cartridge, rather because of the phono stage. The Ear is very warm and fluid and just doesn't have the drive and speed to accommodate a LOMC as well as newer and better designs. One issue there is its lacking the loading options required for optimum results from most LOMC carts. That could be done externally, but it still doesn't overcome the general character of the amps sound. It has a good sound for the most part, just too much of a sound. So with the Ortofon 2m Black and its much higher output voltage, and properly matched loading, it provides much closer to the level of performance one would expect from a more modern and versatile phono preamp.
-Bill

 

Thanks Bill, I was looking for a bit of warmth with my system the CM2 can be a bit too detailed sounding for a tube amp. I will say I've gone though over a dozen albums and surface noise has not been an issue yet. I trust your comments and so I'll chalk that up to good luck so far!

 

This is a great thread demonstrating why system synergy/interrelation of components is so important. The OP prefers one great product over another in his system and reports that. @KT88 then expertly, and in detail, explains how that makes sense in the context of OP's system. OP gets it and is appreciative of the expert input. Readers of thread get educated. Good stuff.

(OP now intrigued by what a "more modern and versatile phono preamp" could do in his system and begins the long and winding trip back down the rabbit hole....)

 

Any RFI with the new setup, @mike catucci ?

 

Nothing. Dead quiet. Since I added the EAR and got rid of all the SS stages the radio station is gone.

 

I 've taken that drug recently. In the last 2 months I've had several mid to high end stages in my system paired with the Ania. This includes the Rega Fono MC, Rega Aria, Sutherland Insight, Lehmann Black Cube SEII, Lehmann Decade, and EAR 834P. For my gear the EAR 834P sounds best with the Ania. When I added the 2m Black, things just got crazy good. YMMV.

 

Awesome! I'm happy for you, bud!

Enjoy the music! You've earned it.

 

Thanks Strat! You've been a big help along the way.

 

I don't have neither a Planar 6 or a 2M Blue but it's so nice to read a post where someone says how happy he is with his system. Good for you!

 

not surprised. the ania sounds like a sub $500 MC cart and is not a good value (IMHO) even with the package deal $200 off its $800 retail.
if i were in the market for a P6 combo deal I would get a package price for the P6 with dynavector 17D3 cartridge from a dealer that carries both. should be able to land it for ~ $2600, $400 more than the P6 Ania combo. a huge jump in performance for not that much more $,
the good thing about the 17D3 is that you would not need a spacer for the tonearm.

 

I also enjoy the 2M Black / 834p combo very much. Great synergy! The Ortofon picks up loads of information from the grooves while the EAR makes sure the end result is musical and satisfying.

 

Sounds like a bright cartridge with a warm phono stage gives a more pleasing sound than a more neutral cartridge. Probably the use of relatively inexpensive inbuilt SUT doesn't help MC performance. I would suggest try a good solid state MC stage with the Annia. I have heard it with the new Fono MC and it sounded pretty incisive (and that's a fairly budget device).

 

I did.....several actually. I absolutely hated the Rega Fono MC. It sounded dead in my system. I could not return it fast enough. I then paired the Ania with the Sutherland Insight, Rega Aria, BCSEII, and Lehmann Decade. When paired with each of those 4, the system sounded quite nice but something was missing to me and my ears. I'll default and say it was a bit of warmth. The system sounded on par with my digital chain, which is very good in its own right, but what's the point of having two chains that sound identical -at least to me anyway. The 834P sounds very good with the Ania and worked better than the others in my system. But again that said, I will stand by my ears and the 2M Black takes things to another level entirely.

 

Glad to hear that removing your SS stuff and replacing it with tubes removed your hum.

Also glad that you had the chance to try out the Black.

The first thing that I noticed when changing from the Bronze was the significant improvement in the bass department. I was not expecting to hear that, just better detail.

With the Shibata stylus, you will pick up better detail, if there is noise on the record, than it stands to reason, that you would pick up that too. As my record collection consists mostly used records that would not be in the same shape as those form a curated collection of new records.

I like the Bronze stylus a lot, but the black is so much more open and organic sounding, most of the time the surface noise does not effect me because it is a good trade off with what the Black brings to the table. I listen mostly with the black now.

Glad to hear that you are enjoying the Black so much, with your new P6!

 

You're spot on regarding the bass. It gets better each day I sit down with it. It is a nice tight thumping bass that can actually be felt. I put a couple of older albums on last night and you could hear noise here and there but as you noted, the trade off is well worth a pop or click here and there. Overall the sound was more than acceptable.

 

A great thread...positive and informative. I'm just waiting for someone to say "x" sounds better when listening to the Beatles.... NB Love my 35 year old Planar 3 with Elys 2 and the Ortofon Black on my Gyro SE...

 

Good to hear! I was having nothing but HUM and noise issues with my RP6 and 2M Black. I traded it up for the Planar 6 and hopefully should be solved.

Talking to Rega they said the RP6 does NOT work with the 2m Black. I can’t find anything about this online so hopefully it’ll be cleared up when installed next week. Love Rega but that really ticked me off.

 

I assume you mean the older P6 and not the new Planar 6 right? I know that seems obvious but lots of people are calling the new 6 a P6. If you did mean the new Planar 6 I can assure you not only does it work but it excels. Also....I was going to post up later or tomorrow, I did not add the 2mm shim at first because I could not find the darn allen wrench set.I found it this week and today decided to throw the shim on despite the back and forth you will find on the web that you don't really need it. I have 3 words for you: PUT IT ON, the difference in the top end is STUNNING!!!! STUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And it also might even sound more stunning if you put another spacer on (total of 4mm) regardless of the dust cover or whatever. The 2M black is 18mm from base to stylus tip, Rega cartridges are 14mm tall. The black on my old turntable sounded best at tonearm level and not as good 2mm tail down, which would be the condition on the Rega with one 2mm shim.
Running without any spacers (4mm tail down) is a complete waste of an excellent cartridge.

 

For 30.00 it is certainly worth a try! I'll post up results after it arrives.

 

No, rest assured I was referring to the previous RO6 model. I originally bought the RP6 at a discount (brand new) but could not get rid of this hum with the 2M Black. Previously had no issues with my RP3.

I even bought the longer DIN cable to isolate the power supply from the amp etc. No luck! The hum overpowered the music.

I emailed our Rega support here in Canada and they said both he cart and RP6 were incompatible. This made me really mad because nowhere did I see this online before purchase and even many retailers sold these as a premium package.

So, my wonderful dealer who sold me the table offered to bump up to the new Planar 6. To see if this works. *fingers crossed*

Your post made me REALLY happy to see because I personally think the Ortofon carts, at least the 2M series are made to work with the Rega arms.

I have the spacer set for VTA alignment (3mm) and I’m also using tubes for phono. I am really excited to get this back and hook it up.

Thanks for the good news!

 

I agree! You have to use Spacers. I found the 2M Black is not so bad for surface noise, once it’s properly aligned! It really is finicky! But once it’s set, the results (at least from my Rp3) are breathtaking!

 

Tubes, plus the 2M Back and the Planar 6 = MAGIC. Can't wait to hear your follow up report. Please be sure to let me know how it all works out.

Mike

 

After listening all weekend I have to agree with you 100% Noise is NOT an issue. The guys complaining of noise must have something else going on. I've played new, used and very old records, nothing stands out as objectionable in the way of noise. Only thing that stands out is the fantastic sound!