Rega Planar 6 - Exact or Ania?

I've had a Rega P3 (with Goldring 1042) for many years and am about to take the plunge on a new Planar 6. Any thoughts on cartridge if I were to stick with the two discounted Rega options? If I went with the MC Ania, I would need a new MC phono stage. Has anyone compared the two?

 

The 1042 is a great cartridge. When I bought my RP6, the dealer had models with the Exact and for a bit more money the HOMC Sumiko BPS Evo III. In direct comparison I liked the better detail of the BPS Evo III. With my flea-powered 2a3 SET, however, I wasn't getting enough gain, so I went with an Audio Note IQ3 (MM), which is modified by AN on a Goldring body. It should be easy to audition both cartridges side by side at the right dealer. I'd also bring along your 1042, you might be surprised.

 

Go with the Ania if money is not an issue. The new Rega Fono MC has been designed for the cartridge. I am using a Sutherland KCVibe with mine. Quite nice. No spacers, perfectly aligned.

 

Wondering if the fono mc vs the Aria would be money well saved

 

The Aria was an amazing upgrade for me . Ania with it.

 

was that an upgrade from the fono mc?

 

I did the whole package.... P6/Ania/fono and with it all run in I'm extremely pleased with the way it sounds with the rest of my system.

 

Same here. I’ve had that setup for about a month and couldn’t be happier.

 

2M Black? If the P6 is as good as my P7 it deserves better than Exact and for me i hate the fact the Ania has an Elliptical stylus... 2m black is kind of best of both worlds with a better stylus profile than both... but demo demo demo... up till now ive been very happy with the Exact but now for me moving from P7 to P9 and like you wanting to stay Rega ive got an original Apheta that im getting retipped and getting a boron cantilever installed as its worn... costs less in Aus to do that than buy an Ania... im considering keeping my P7 (cant sell it... keep getting pathetic offers) selling the Exact and putting a 2m black on it

 

I really dig the Planar 6. In my case, I own a Dynavector DV10x5 high output moving coil cartridge that I previously had installed on my RP3. I have been very happy with this cartridge. When it came to the P6, If I did not find one of the Rega cartridges to my liking I would have just bought the table without a cartridge and installed the 10x5.

The discounted prices on the Rega cartridges only make sense if you truly enjoy the cartridge. Plenty of people do but they’re not for everyone. Then again, the same goes for any cartridge and not just those from Rega. There are plenty of people who love the Ania, yet there also those who look down upon it. The same goes for the Exact. I’d suggest that you listen for yourself to determine what makes the most sense for you. I take the opinions of others into consideration but at the end of the day I go with what I like best. We all like different things so what works best for me might not work best for you and vice versa.

 

If you have an older Exact, from the original P7 install perhaps, then you should reconsider that thought. The latest Exact is improved and of course would be brand new. It is more agile than the original and has a similar tonal balance that mates perfectly with the Rega table. The Ania is a similar sounding unit but LOMC, so it offers even more when coupled with a proper MC preamp.

I don't really recommend the 2m Black with the Rega tables as it is very resolving and dynamic but not typically warm or rich sounding. The Rega decks are mostly very dynamic and accurate as well and so you might find the resolution to be a bit too honest. The best fits seem to be cartridges that provide some warmth, yet retain a very detailed and otherwise neutral balance. The Dynavector and the Rega cartridges are great fits.

In your case, getting your Apheta retipped is the best choice. For the second deck, if you keep both, then an Ania or Exact would be my choice. The more varied material that you throw their way, the less that I find to nit-pick. Many cartridges tend to do do one or two things right or very well but then have a weakness. I find the Exact and Ania cartridges to both be very well rounded performers, which are not really the absolute best at any one parameter but which don't really do anything wrong and at the same time get so much right on all fronts. If you have an Aria phono stage, one convenience that you are afforded if you install a MM on the second table, is to keep the MC plugged-in as well as the MM to its own input and toggle back and forth with the front panel selector switch. That eliminates disconnecting and reconnecting or second phono preamps as the Aria is really two separate preamps in one chassis. You could then play your more pristine records with the MC and the more "well loved" examples with the MM. Apologies if you already have this planned, but others might appreciate the idea as well. I don't have the space for two decks in my current room, but if I did, that would be an ideal rig.
-Bill

 

Thats Exact-ly (haha) what im thinking Bill as i do have an Aria. I have a later model Exact 250ish hrs about a year old. I really do love the Exact i was just stating that the P6 can handle a more resolving cart. Ive only ever heard the 2m black in store and not in a proper demo but its reputation preceeds it and i personally would love to hear it in my set up (80 watt EL34 tube mono power amps). Despite everything else being Rega the excess shimmery detail might be balanced out by the tubes. I tend to err on the side of lean anyway (hence why i havnt gone past EL34s yet) but i do like a certain depth to distorted guitars that the EL34s offer over SS while still keeping everything else fairly sharp. Still i will probably keep the Exact as i think even after i get the Apheta retipped the Exact will be better for most of the heavier music (Slayer... pantera... metallica... machine head) and the retipped Apheta for everything else (Zep... Purple... Hendrix... ray vaughan) that i listen to.

What are your thoughs @KT88 on the Exacts prowess over the Apheta with heavy music... im just guessing really?

 

I don't think you will find the difference genre specific, rather recording specific. Better recordings will sound great on the better set-up. Lesser recordings will sound less great. The More affordable MM system will be more forgiving of the poor recordings and also absorb some abuse from Lp's with condition issues that you'd rather not see pass under your top end stylus. What I do is to just try to keep all decent copies of my vinyl recordings. I am not super-anal about it, but I don't want dirt or deep scuffs, etc. If they are clean, a few surface suffs will likely be all but inaudible as they often don't get down into the groove level that the stylus sees. I just set-up the best table that I can afford and run with it.
-Bill

 

@KT88
Makes sense. My records are all vacuum cleaned and i dont buy thrift shop junk also im lucky in that my local once a month record fair always has a great selection and about half the sellers at least wipe clean (one guy even vacuums, nevertheless i still do it again anyway) and provide new inners.

Does't really make sense keeping the P7 but im having trouble selling it which is weird as last year i sold my P5 with TTPSU and GT Ref subplatter for $1,400 (which i thought was a bit high really) so far im yet to get an offer above 1.2K for my P7.

Back to the thread (apologies for the derail) in Australia at least the P6/Exact is 2.4K and P6/Ania is 2.8K and while i still dont like the elliptical stylus profile it seems as though its not that big of a deal, so seems as though for those buying a new P6 its really the best way to go value for money wise. At 2.8K at least here in Australia that seems a pretty good price considering the diminishing returns per dollar goes up at an even steeper exponential rate from this point.

On a slightly related note once i get my Apheta 1 retipped ill likely have the opportunity to do a comparison between my P9/Apheta and an RP10/Apheta 2 on a pretty high end system, should be very interesting i hope my P9 gets close!

Ill also compare the retipped Apheta to the Exact as that will be of use to future readers of this thread in a roundabout way.

@kdl6769 Did you end up deciding which cart to get mate?

 

P9 might get smoked by the RP10, but it will always look better. IMHO, prettiest table Rega ever made. Shame they cant get RP10 performance and P9 looks, but it is what it is I guess. I understand the technology, and that pretty wood had to go.

 

I havnt given up on DIYing a P9 looks RP10 performance table... done a fair bit of research and i have a contact in ceramic oxide fabrication and a local foam shop that offers a huge amount of different foam core options... cost is up there however... whatever i end up with in the future i cant see myself selling the P9 its just too nice

 

No, haven't pulled the trigger on anything yet, but this is a good discussion. I think the best advice is just to audition both. I like the idea of a Rega cart just because it is apparently tricky to fit things like the 2M black on the Rega tone arms, although I may be mistaken about that.

 

Would the ania be overkill for a Planar 3? Would involve a new phono stage as well at my amp only handles mm. Looking at getting a new cart around November time and was originally looking at exact to replace my elys 2. Would the exact and neo psu be better upgrade than ania and new mc phono stage?

 

I have an RP3 with the TTPSU and Exact and love it. Though I have no experience with the Ania I'm sure the Planar 3 is competent enough to handle it and the NEO would round out the package.

 

Great thanks. Probably look at the exact neo combo first. A extra pre-amp might be a hard sell to my other half

 

Those two things will really elevate your P3 to another level!

 

Assuming you have a 2016 P3 the Ania and Fono MC will be a much higher level sound increase than Neo and Exact... initial outlay will be more but Rega gives a discount if you buy an Ania and a Fono MC together... add a Neo when you can afford it... then top it off with a Michael Lim subplatter after that and you are better than the old RP6 but still not as good as a new P6... if i were you ide save 1k... sell your P3 Elys and buy a new P6... you get better plinth, neo, Ania, subplatter, underslung platter... upgrading the P3 is a money pit and the furthest you can push it is old RP6 level and itl cost 1.5 k... P6 Ania Neo for 2.5k total is a no brainer

 

Thanks sounds like good advice. Will keep my P3 as is now and if I still have the itch to upgrade will look at the P6 when funds allow.

 

To the OP just my experience but I very much enjoy the Exact 2 on my RP6. Great all-arounder. Detailed, slightly warm, and excellent tracker. I have two of them, one playing thru a Rega Fono MKII and one thru an Aria.

Have not heard the Ania. When the time comes I am planning to replace one of my RP6's with an RP8 w/Alpheta.

 

switching back to the exact or possibly Hana SL after being disappointed with the Ania. Couldn't stand the IGD surface noise and grainy sound