Why is Rega hardwiring phone cables on all their TTs? Good or bad? *

I noticed that all Rega turntables have their phono cables hardwired which means you can't change or upgrade them afterwards. I was curious if anyone knows why they made that choice? Especially on their high end products. I haven't seen any other brand hardwiring phono cables on high-end turntable.

Love to have feedback from owners and how this positively or negatively impacts quality, sound, build...

 

It’s very good

 

It removes 20 connections - a good thing.

 

Cost.

 

One very good reason is that when hardwiring the manufacturer knows exactly how the whole TT perform including WITH the cables..
Because if somebody that do not really know what kind of properties they should prioritize when choosing a interconnect.

For example if the user hook up a high capacitance cable and the cartridge and the TT sounds harsh/bad. Then the TT manufacturer will get bad reputation when it is the user that have done wrong without knowing it..

If you are a high end TT why should you add a extra set (5) of soilder points and RCA females and RCA male. To the signal path? That add eddiecurrent, resistance, capacitance and so on. That is not high end..

 

What brand is Raga ?

 

Because Roy Gandy designed it so?

 

Newest manufacturer from India.

 

Best connector is none. Its actually the highest performing solution.

 

Don't be silly.
Every body know about the high end Raga brand!
Here is one for sale for example:
Raga Planar 25 Turntable With Raga RB300 Arm & Project Phono Box

 

Bingo. It is cheaper, easier, and more convenient. It can also be more convenient for the customer if you need to rewire the whole tonearm or swap out a tonearm completely for a change or upgrade. There is a company run by an ex-Rega employee that makes a hot-rodded/modded table(s) based on a Rega parts kit. They don't hardwire the cables, but their TTs also cost more.

So long as Rega using low-capacitance cabling it's not a big deal. I don't like their grounding approach though as it can cause some problems with associated equipment.

 

Ragga?

 

There are some third party guys who will rewire Rega tonearms or some people do it themselves and just buy the cables.

 

My bad, not even sure why I spelled this wrong... twice.

 

Makes sense but does feel awkward to make that choice in a world where audiophiles like to control & tailor every part of their set-up.

 

I didn't realize until just recently that Rega did this. None of the vendors that I frequent mentioned it, and none of them show photos of it. Which makes me wonder, if this is a "feature"benefit, or why not tout it?

I'd rather not have it personally. I see the new Technics SL1200Mk7 have done away with doing this, biggest issue being reliability, which isn't a surprise really.

 

Why would reliability be an issue ?

 

Actually, quite a few old and new tonearms are wired (or rewired) with one-piece cables, if you want ultimate sound quality then you don't want the extra connectors and solder joints between the cartridge and preamp. It's just part of the tonearm design, take it or leave it, though I don't know if Rega uses a one-piece cable or not, my Clearaudio does, we were just talking about it earlier this week in another thread ... My next upgrades on the vinyl front...

 

It apparently was for former (or current) Technics owners when the jacks started getting worn in their location, and it just becomes a bigger issue from there. Can't comment on Rega. Again, I'm guessing as a DJ when you move your equipment around a lot, these jacks become a liability not a plus. Again, if you're more of an audiophile and don't move your equipment around a lot, probably not an issue.

 

they set their tonearm up specifically for rega cartrdges, they sell you their cables hardwired to the tonearm. I'm surprised they don't glue a record permanently to the platter before they ship it.

 

I doubt many 1200g or 1200gr owners are going to wear out the jacks. Djing is a different world.

 

Don’t give Roy any ideas now

 

True. But if you buy a used one, apparently it's one of the common (if maybe only) failures on these turntables.

 

I’m fine w the hard wired cables on my P1, except that they’re not long enough. I have to use couplers to attach another cable. Sounds just fine but I’d rather not have to patch together cables.

 

1200G and GRs wearing out Jack's?

Considering they have only been selling them for a few years and are set and forget for the most part I find this hard to believe.

Where did you hear this?