Rega Planar 3 vs Technics SL-1500C

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Pretty.Odd., Dec 4, 2019.

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  1. Pretty.Odd.

    Pretty.Odd. Guess I'm Dumb Thread Starter

    Location:
    Montclair, NJ
    These are similarly priced. Wondering which you would choose?
     
  2. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    I'm hopelessly biased toward Direct Drive and removable headshell, so that tells you where I sit on this one.
     
    RS2099, Wngnt90, Stanton56 and 11 others like this.
  3. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    This forum has turned me off on ever considering a Technics. I’d go Rega Planar 3. That’s not a knock on the forum itself, though. It’s just the Technics topic. If I went direct drive I’d get something different. JVC, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc.
     
    xfilian, Simoon, Pythonman and 5 others like this.
  4. JackG

    JackG Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ
    SL-1500C
     
  5. Drewan77

    Drewan77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK/USA
    I have always had a good experience with Rega turntables but since owning an SL-1200G, I am sold on the rock solid presentation, bass performance & imaging of Technics direct drive mechanisms.... it's a close call but I would therefore choose the 1500C (try and find a way to audition first if possible)
     
    Ken Clark, displayname and JackG like this.
  6. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    Although this might not be the case here, I'll just throw out some perspective on that:

    Thanks to the internet, you can find really bad reviews on pretty much everything out there. I noticed if first about ten years ago where a guy was actually demonstrating a serious steering flaw his Honda Accord had. Yet those are really good cars.

    I learned that I had to compare the positive vs negative reviews on a particular item and discovered that a "bad" product can be spotted when there seems to be mostly negative reviews and they have solid veracity. Technics turntables are very good and extremely hardy machines. They also can sound REALLY good. I can't find it, but there was a guy in Asia at a high end store a/b comparing a Tehcnics 1200 with a very expensive belt drive, both using the same cartridge. I could not hear any difference. At all. Yes, this was youtube, but the sound from both was absolutely fantastic and I was using very good headphones and sound card.
     
    EightSixEight, insoc123 and Sterling1 like this.
  7. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    The thing is, people on the Technics train just will not or cannot stop defending them. It’s been going on since before my time on audio forums began about 10 years ago.
     
  8. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    A part of this is because they make very good products and satisfied customers will be happy to say so. I don't see many unfair defenses in this forum, several owners are complaining here about tonearm lifters and irregular platters for example. But since their products are generally very good, it is natural that owners will praise them.
     
    AndyCC72, April Snow and bru87tr like this.
  9. Drewan77

    Drewan77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK/USA
    Yes that may be true.

    I'm a rather patriotic Brit (owning various Linn, Rega, Michell turntables among others) and decided to audition Technics GR & G models with an open mind when the 1200 range was reintroduced just to see what all the fuss was about. It didn't take long to realise that while I still dislike the looks & these don't have the requisite hifi cred/snob appeal, the music they play is very appealing. In fact excellent on many levels.
     
    HiFi Guy, fish, displayname and 2 others like this.
  10. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    This is exactly what I mean. You’re defending them.
     
  11. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I would not buy the RP3. Between the 2, I would get the 1500. If I could choose something else I would buy a 1200GR or 1200Mk7 instead.
     
  12. rebellovw

    rebellovw Forum Resident

    Location:
    hell
    There of course was the old technics army and now there is another entire different one devoted to the G/GR. It is a crack up.
     
    Timbo21 and JohnCarter17 like this.
  13. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    Well, I used to sell the stuff back in the mid-70's to early 80's. I actaully owned an SL23 belt drive in the early 70's as my first turntable. I didn't consider them the best, but thought they were very good. I mainly didn't like the styling. But that has changed.

    So I don't own one, but I've followed them as well as the Rega, U-Turn, Pro ject, etc. The Technics is the only one I would even consider of any of those. But again, it's because of my bias toward DD and removable headshell. I just see the Technics as an industrial strength monster, yet with a ridiculously good tonearm.
     
    Hardcore, bru87tr and JackG like this.
  14. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    This, as I said, is exactly what I mean. The tonearm has often been cited as the 1200’s weakness. And yet Technics defenders claim it as a strength.
     
    Last edited: Dec 4, 2019
  15. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Nothing wrong with an old DD deck. Many are quite nice. But some folks want new, a warranty, and spare parts. A 1200 is like a Honda Civic, you won't have trouble finding spare parts for it if the need arises. The other day I was in a shop and they had one of the huge Denons with the servo arm and the pretty plinth for a cool $349. Good luck fixing something like that if anything other than a standard cap or something simple needs to be fixed though.
     
  16. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Don't like the look? No problem. Get a fancy drop-in wood box for the Technics. Problem solved. You can probably get one in any type of wood or finish you desire, make one yourself, or have someone else make one for you.
     
  17. Vinyl is final

    Vinyl is final Not Insane - I have a sense of humor

    Location:
    South central, KY
    I didn't know you had a Rega. That may explain some of this.

    I don't have a dog in this hunt. I'm commenting "from the outside" talking about what features I care about in a TT. All of my turntables at this time are DD and all have reemovable headshells, but only one has an s-shaped tonearm and uses a "standard" headshell.

    So I'm just sharing with the OP thoughts about the features of the two tables. I consider both to "sound good". I think of it as two cars that are both great, but one is automatic and one is standard, and I only do standard.

    And it's possible people sing the praises of and defend a particular consumer item because it is just that good. :)
     
    AndyCC72 likes this.
  18. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Cuts both ways. I've looked at a lot of the sub-$1K belt drives. Didn't like the design of any of them, not to mention certain performance deficiencies. Wouldn't buy one after seeing them in person.
     
  19. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    Understood. My point is that the Technics army literally influenced me the other way, regardless of the turntable itself. Look at how I've got at least 3 people lined up against me.
     
  20. RPM

    RPM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Easter Island
    rogertheshrubber and snorker like this.
  21. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    I don't think it's fair for you to indicate that my opinion is nothing for than a bias for the turntable I own, unless you're going to say the same for Technics owners. In this forum, are we expected to comment only on equipment we don't own?
     
    Leadfeather, JohnCarter17 and bru87tr like this.
  22. punkmusick

    punkmusick Amateur drummer

    Location:
    Brazil
    Not everyone who disagrees with you are against you. You are in a defense mode, it seems.
     
    AndyCC72, Hardcore, deniall83 and 4 others like this.
  23. patient_ot

    patient_ot Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    People have their preferences. Part of the reason the pro-DD crowd is so vocal now is because for years DD tables were trashed by hi-fi mags and dealers that had a vested interest in pushing belt drive decks. Even today, many dealers don't carry a single DD deck. They are gonna push what they sell.
     
  24. Drewan77

    Drewan77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK/USA
    Actually it goes deeper than that - I don't like the various sliders, knobs etc. Only the tonearm appeals to me visually (fortunately I'm only interested in how something sounds so all of it's of little consequence).
     
    patient_ot likes this.
  25. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
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