Rega Planar 2 vs Technics SL-1200mk2 comparison needle drops

Time to reveal which turntable was which. Thanks to all who took the time to listen and thanks for your thoughtful comments as well. Sorry about the speed difference and inverse phase between the two turntables, I have another set of recordings I may put out a that ameliorate that issue.


Which sounds better?
Poll closed 10 minutes ago.

1. 
   Soul Mining 7 - Technics SL-1200mk2
   8 vote(s)
   38.1%
2. 
   Soul Mining 8 - Rega Planar 2
   10 vote(s)
   47.6%
3. 
   Too close to call
   3 vote(s)
   14.3%

 

I missed this poll. Too bad because it was the first one that used music with which I'm familiar. I still listened to the clips before looking at which one was which.

I much preferred #8. Brightness was tamed somewhat and it had greater musicality.

 

I was wrong. Good to know.

 

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I finally found the time to do some needledrops and compare your decks to mine, since I have a 30-year-old copy of Soul Mining.

Here's the excerpt on a Technics SL1210/TimestepHE/MikeNewBearing/Rega250/Goldring2500:
http://cyberphotographer.com/technics/soulminingclipA.mp3

Here it is on a Garrard 301/Ekos/2MBlack:
http://cyberphotographer.com/garrards/soulminingclipB.mp3

My Garrard doesn't sound like it's keeping speed particularly steady - could be time for a professional service - probably its first in 50 years!

Phono stage is Uphorik, and I set it for a pretty dry treble as I get tired of brightness. Recording was down a wet string to an old MacBook Pro running Audacity 1.3.12-beta at 48/24 and converted to 320kbps mp3. Good enough for me

Obviously there are so many differences from John's setup, and in particular I think the refinement in the treble of a good moving coil cartridge and generally brighter and more open high frequencies in his recordings are the most notable differences.

 

I had a Planar 2 (Ortofon MC-10 Super) for a long time, and would probably still have it if a friend had not bugged me for about 3 years to sell it to him. Great table. "The beauty of this is its simplicity" - Walter Sobchak

 

The first soundclip sounds open and detailed to me, very nice! The second sounds rolled off in the treble, a more receded sound, but not as detailed. The loss in detail is what bothers me, somewhat muted treble not at all. I listened through Sennheiser HD 420 SL headphones, an ordinary hp laptop with no special sound card, and a vintage Pioneer SA-500a amp for driving the headphones. (the hp runs out of gain) The SA500a is known to be quite warmish for a solid state component, although I can not tell any difference between the hp and the Pioneer at the same levels. BTW increasing treble did not recover the lossy detail in the second clip! I also hear sibilance in a few vocal esses.

I have always wanted to buy a vintage 301. The difference between the clips is very audible. Could the difference be mostly in the cartridge and arm, or possibly the turntable? Thanks for posting the clips, I always find this interesting!

 

Very hard to say. There are so many variables with turntables. When trying properly to assess the differences between turntables I think it is necessary to use the same arm, cartridge, and phono stage on each. Even then, how tightly you mount the arm can affect things, as well as VTA and most frustratingly of all, synergy. The best arm/cartridge on one deck isn't necessarily the best on another. It's a minefield. As a consequence, I try to assess how much I'm enjoying music on a particular deck over several months. Whatever the shortcomings of the Garrard, I keep coming back to it, and I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it takes my mind off the treble range and concentrates it on the blood and guts in midrange and bass. I don't know.

The other issue when comparing these clips is that they need to be level-matched. That's a moot issue when the FR is slightly different on each.

 

Yes, I did match the levels. The perception is usually in favor of the louder clip. The pitch must also be the same. John recently did a poll that someone noticed the pitch was slightly higher on one of the clips, (The Rega approaching 34 RPM) and so the pitch difference altered the perception of the music. (The Carpenters, "Song of Joy" and "Soul Mining") The needledrop was flawed, and everyone involved agrees, I believe.

Your clips are simply comparing two TT setups, so ok to do that.

Synergy is elusive. Sometimes an upgrade doesn't work out as well as expected for this reason. Since the Garrard is a vintage turntable, would it be possible the platter bearing has a bit of wear? Also, being that the platter must be substantially massive, perhaps a little slack wouldn't have any significant affect.

 

Thanks, these clips kinda just sold me on the Rega. I much preferred the second clip, but I was afraid that it was the Technics.

Glad to know it was the Rega. And, yup, I noticed the pitch discrepancy. I guess the Speedbox would help with that? Not even sure if it's available on the Planar 2 since it's been a while since I researched.

 

Give a listen to these two songs where I speed corrected the Rega to match the speed of the Technics.

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...-2-vs-technics-sl-1200-mk2-comparison.386026/