Entry-level audiophile turntable- Rega or Orbit?

and that doesn’t mean much when you’re not a broadcaster looking for heavy duty studio gear….come on.

 

The Evo is the Carbon to consider. All kinds of upgrades and a good cartridge.

EVO: A Carbon Debut Turntable From Pro-Ject - The Audiophile Man

Search Ken Kessler's review at Hi-Fi News and Ed Seeley's at AVS Forums.

 

For the money your willing to spend I'd be looking at a good used TT, you will get a lot more performance than any of the new tables at that price range.
Technics SL1200 Mk11 or a JVC QL-7 comes to mind. Perfect speed and great build quality.

BillWojo

 

Ever seen those "you had one job" memes? Job number one for a turntable is to stay on speed and have low wow and flutter. If it can't meet basic standards from the 60s for that in 2021, something is wrong.

 

I’ve been happy with my RP-1

 

Happy Debut Carbon EVO owner here! My first turntable and I’m loving it!

 

I would agree or if you want to fix up an old DD Technics , Pioneer JVC etc deck or old idler from goodwill maybe ...

 

Those standards were met or nearly so by better Duals, ELAC/Miracord, and Garrard top models in that era. AR guaranteed their XA and TA would meet it. Ever listened to anything with held acoustic guitar or piano chords any length of time. A tip. If buying a Rega, save up your money and go Planar 3 level as your entry to Rega. Better performance stock than cheaper models.

 

Would 33.32 be considered close enough for speed, and .02 and .03 for w/f respectively?

 

Those numbers are well within specs. You won't find them on cheap belt drive tables.

BillWojo

 

Yes, unless you just want to whine about how great those $600 DD tables are instead.

 

My curiosity was aroused, as that's what Paul Miller at HiFi News measured for the Carbon Evo.

 

If I were to go looking for used equipment, what would you recommend? Something more along the lines of a Technics? I'm always a little shy about shopping for used electronics since I can't foresee if they'll need maintenance; that, and while lockdown is starting to lift, it still puts a bit of a damper on face to face shopping.

 

I was considering a PLX-1000 as a cheaper direct drive model than a Technics, but (as I'm finding with pretty much any individual piece of equipment) it has pretty vociferous naysayers on this board, as do Hanpin OEM products in general...

 

You can talk yourself out of nearly any piece of equipment if you do enough reading. As an entry level, just pick a well-regarded enough turntable with the features you know you want and have at it.

 

Save a few bucks until you can get the Rega P3. Or find a recent open box at one of online authorized dealer (for whatever table you get). I'd get the better table and add a better cartridge as needed. The P3 i just bought my son can handle and resolve a $1200 cartridge depending front end quality. Speed with the wal-wart is as good (couldn't tell it was that close) but adding Neo speed controller takes it up yet another level. In the meantime, stock with wal-wart is fine for all but the obsessed!

I'd jump all over the P3 2000 model with the BETTER RB300 tonearm. This won't last long.

rega P3 (2000) Planar 3 Turntable w/RB300 tonearm $750 List ! AUTHORIZED-DEALER | eBay

 

I'll respond tomorrow with some examples.

 

There were lots of great TT built back in the glory days of vinyl. Vinyl Engine covers the specs of almost every table ever built. Find something that you like aesthetically and research the heck out of it. Almost all of the higher models of DD made in Japan were excellent and you can find plenty of info if you search. At this age, if there are weak points in it's design, you will uncover them by searching.
When you look at a $500.00 table manufactured back in 1982 that doesn't directly translate to a $1500.00 table today just adjusted for inflation. There are a lot of other factors to include such as a much smaller market so production cost and engineering cost would be amortized over a much smaller number. I doubt a $500.00 table that was built in 1982 could be produced for $10,000.00 today. Plus a motor drive might be shared among several different models and even manufactures.
Companies like Victor and Micro Seiki made parts and complete tables for other manufactures. There was a lot going on in Japan that kept the cost of these superb tables within reason.
Today they are flat out bargains.
Today, unless you want to spend several thousand dollars, I don't find entry level tables interesting at all.

BillWojo

 

This has been pointed out as false. The direct opposite it true, the revision adds the bias slider. In light of that, does this change your view? I honestly think this change fixes the biggest flaw with the Planar 2. Before this, it was just a Planar 1 with a better platter. If I was on a tight budget, I'd get a Planar 2 with Tango Spinner subplatter. The subplatter upgrade could be immediate or something added down the road.

 

Find a DD pioneer PL-71 on goodwill dot com. I bet you that table would blow away the REGAs IMHO. Even if it needs a little adjustments. Or a little work. Just a thought. I 2nd what being said. FWIW these back in the day DDrive tables are overbuilt and over perform like crazy compared to these newer tables for the money

 

A little bit of a tangent, but bear with me. There will always be strong opinions about particular products in audio. Then there is the inherent entertainment of spending other peoples money i.e. you can always up your budget by x amount.

The thread about PLX-1000 has been active for many years now and is still going strong. That says something about the product, in this case that is has good value for the money. Considering how many manufacturers in home audio there are alone, not many of them has a thread that is active years after a product is launched.

Check out the latest post by Sean at the Youtube channel Zero fidelity. He offers some good advice how to buy/evaluate new gear.

My 2 cents is to go the used route. 600 USD will get you far from where you are today. Good Luck!

 

I'm not saying you should go Rega Planar 2, but the latest version does have adjustable bias Rega Planar 2

Regarding 33 / 44, if forgetting to set to 45, I used to leave the record on and with a little practice had moved the belt and refitted the platter / record. I was 40 years younger when I used a Rega Planar 3, but it didn't take much more than 10 seconds.

With the new motor, bearing, arm and in the last couple of months, new belt, it sounds better than ever.

Having said that, you can get some bargain (and complete duds) s/h turntables. A good dealer could save you money.

Happy listening!

 

A good start is half the battle.
Don't get a "chopping board" turntable, but something better at the same pricepoint.
But if you really need to reduce it to a dichotomy of Rega P2 vs Uturn Orbit Basic, I would go with the Orbit.
It's a lot cheaper, so you have more money left for a cartridge upgrade (after all, the cartridge does 70% of the sound).

 

This “chopping board”/MDF critique is weird to me. The Planar came out in 1977 when LP12’s and direct drives were the norm…and they gained a following.

is it that they look simple and unimpressive? There is a sound engineering philosophy behind that kind of design, whether one likes the look or feel of it or not.

 

This. I have the older P2 without the anti-skate adjustment. The newest one has the adjustment.

Also added the tangospinner Subplatter.

Oh... And I put a Hana EL cartridge on it. Great combo.