congrats! always cool to hear a new piece blow away your expectations. your descriptions are appropriate to the way my sutherland pre sounds but i could not find the right words. the goldnote seems an excellent value!
Same. I’ve never stopped the platter to listen in 6 plus years of listening until yesterday. It’s pretty great. Nice that you got an Audio Desk! I’ve had mine for five years now. It’s really the best.
Things like sibilance etc..i’d read a review of an apheta two with the gold note and they kinda said the same that when the cart was kept between 25 and 75 it was a bit more relaxed
I'm trying to decide how often to change the water. (Instructions say max use is 4 weeks I think.) Once I do I'll use up the last of my cleaning fluid. Do you buy the Audio Desk brand? I'm loathe to use something else, as I dont want something messing up the gaskets etc.
yep. I use audio desk brand. I buy them in five packs. I change the water / fluid every 4 (max 5) weeks regardless of how many LPs I’ve cleaned. Pretty sure I’ve never reached the max LPs cleaned with one bottle of fluid. And if I am not gonna use it for a while, I’ll just drain it. I’ve also been told that if you have water in there, you should run it once a week at least even without an LP. I think these are general guidelines.
Question—why do similar settings, like 100 ohms, sound different on different phono stages? It sounds *way* more wide open on the Gold Note than the Aria. I love the openness of the 100 setting on the gold note, but every now and then there is a passage where it borders on too bright. The next lowest setting—47 ohms—isn’t quite where I want it to be, though I’d imagine most sound professionals would recommend that setting. I figured something like a measured amount of resistance is a fixed value that would reflect similar dynamics in different components. But I guess not?
Been trying to do this as carefully and as slowly as possible between each record. Do you notice that the stylus “sticks” a bit more some times than others when pulling it back up? These times I see the onzow material flex with it before it releases. Freaks me out a bit but I assume this is what it’s made to do?
So I received and set-up my Rega P10 with Apheta 3 yesterday afternoon (having upgraded from a Planar 6) All the reviews are correct. This is a game-changing/endgame table. The details, presentation, soundstage, depth....it's all incredible. Every record I've put on so far is revealing itself in ways I had not known previously. Honestly, I am floored.
What cart did you have on the P6? Curious how much of the change you are hearing is due to the TT/Tonearm vs. the cart.
To answer two questions above. 1. I had actually put an Apheta 3 on my Planar6 to begin with. So I wasn't expecting a huge transformation in sound when I went from the P6 to the P10. But it was there. The Apheta 3 on the P6 was amazing. But the Apheta 3 on the Planar 10 just does all of that, plus more. It's hard to put it into words but the sound does indeed go to another level with the P10. 2. I am indeed using the Rega Aria still.
So as I changed up some music last night, I had a little bit of difficulty finding a one-size-fits-all setting on the Gold Note. The 100 ohm / +3 dB setting felt a bit to bright on Donald Byrd's "A New Perspective" (OG Mono), and the settings didn't present Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats" (1st UK Stereo) in the same dynamic fashion that the Aria did. Pink Floyd's "Animals" (1st UK Stereo), however, sounds magnificent and downright orchestra and surpassed the Aria's presentation in musicality. When I moved to 0db or 47 ohm on some jazz records that contained passages that felt a bit bright and overwhelming at times, I feel the presentation lost some of the open dynamics that I enjoyed with the 100 / +3 settings. It is incredibly easy to make adjustments on the Gold Note, but I am not one that wants to do that all the time, I much prefer to "set it and forget it." @talkingh —how often are you changing settings for a particular record? In terms of a head to head comparison thus far, I find the Aria to be punchier with a bigger bass sound, but the PH-10 to be a bit more musical, three-dimensional and realistic in it's presentation with an enhanced clarity. I think I have through the weekend to make a decision, but I feel the PH-10 takes some figuring out, while the Aria is unjust unbox, plug and play.
Ah. I read this as 470 ohms yesterday but you said 47. Makes more sense now. I am going to try the lower setting tonight. It doesn’t lose too much openness or overall dynamic for you at 47 ohms / -3 dB?
As an RP6 and RP10 owner, I can attest the TT/arm has a massive impact on the sound improvement between the two. Mind you I run the Exact on my 6's and Alpheta 2 on the 10, but I know these tables very well. The RP6 (and I assume the P6) is a really great table, and I love mine dearly, but the RP10 is in a whole different universe.
So I have found a sweet spot with the Gold Note at 100 ohm and 0 dB. Sounds incredibly delicate and clear. I've also found that the P10/ Apheta3 is incredibly revealing of a recording / pressing. If it's a quality recording and pressing, watch out—the fidelity os off the charts, but with a less than quality recording and pressing, one can very much hear its shortcomings. I guess that is what all the reviews mean by the table's "transparency."
I don't think it necessarily makes them less enjoyable it just adds and interesting air to the proceedings. I've actually found some things more enjoyably like Gear Box's Monk of which the master tape was a dumpster find.
Would you say that's the case regardless of Aria or the Gold Note, or is one of those more 'forgiving' of source shortcomings?
good question. I’m not sure. I can try the Aria again to find out. Perhaps the gold note is presenting more of what is there either way, but I hadn’t thought of that. I was wondering what you and other P10 owners on here have set your anti skate at? I believe mine is about 1.5 and I love how it is sounding, but wanted to compare to others. I’ve read that Rega arms often need less anti skate than recommended. Relatedly, I set my tracking force at 1.98.
ah. Gotcha. Mine is probably between 1.5-1.75. So tough to get any accurate reading on those plungers.
