Rega P3 upgrade journey

Have just this morning come to a standstill on my upgrade journey. the 1st thing to go was the mains voltage motor ( my tt is 18 years old now and came with mains motor) the 24 volt was easy to install and made more of a difference than I was expecting. Time went by and I got twitchy again, so inveterted conical feet were fitted, astounded by the improvment but knew there was still more to be gained. An Iceni Audio sub platter was next in line plus a ruby ball, had a small issue with the main platter rubbing on the motor pulley but was cured with a few stokes of a fine file over the pulley. It seems a shame to hide the sub platter with a turntable matt because it is beautifully machined. Another sinificant improvement. Speaking of mats, a cork mat was next that really tightened up the bass in a vey pleasant manner. Cartridge next. I really wanted to go moving coil but was not sure the Rega arm was up to it, some research was done and it came to light that the P6 uses the same arm as the P3.
So an Ortofon Quintet Blue was purchased along with a project m/c phono stage. I had to raise the arm by 2.5 millimeters to get the correct vta ( made my own spacer ). After some playing with the sttings on the phono stage I now think I have taken turntable as far as it can go, the sound is amazing, AMAZING. I am hearing details not heard before, the sound staging is incredible, surface noise is so low it is not sinificant, quiet passages are now really quiet, transients are sharp as you like. In the future I might invest in a tube phono stage which should give rounder feel. The whole thing has been a journey of discovery that I have enjoyed a great deal. Would be interested to hear if anyone has been down the same road or any hints for further improvements

 

Your RB300 should be fine. It'll handle any MC. It's a really good tonearm. But I wouldn't use the analogy that the Planar 6 uses the same tonearm as the Planar 3 justification for your situation. You're 2 generations off the current models. The RB330 is better than the RB700 that I have on my P5 (it was also fitted to the P7). So, it's not apples to oranges. The RB330 is a lot closer in quality to the RB1000 that was fitted on the P9 from your turntable's generation than your RB300.

 

I had the Incognito Tone arm re-wire done. Now has a ground too. Remarkable how much better it is.
I also did the Groovtracker Reference sub platter. Dramatically improved Wow and Flutter. I haven't done much else. The P3 I started with is 3 years old now so it has the RB330. Best sounding table Ive owned yet.

 

I keep looking longingly at the Ioatavx SA3/PA3 pre and power amp combo. Will these be an upgrade from my Rega Mira 3 amp which to be honest is getting a bit long in the tooth. Anybody got any thoughts on this?

 

Ioata whatever is apparently just a rebranded version of a "Tonewinner" amp. I wouldn't buy one, personally. They hit the YT shill circuit hard, which is the probably the only reason anyone has even heard of Iaota.

 

Adding the NEO speed controller will probably take the P3 up another level. It will be even quieter with dead on speed. I'm not sure you can add the NEO to the older P3 however.

 

If you can add the Neo do it , and then add the new Reference EBLT drive belt ...25 GBP and it lowered my Wow levels from +- 0.17 to 0.1% , which improves the output stability and , important for me , piano tone. And of course the Neo allows you to amend the speed setting.

I was looking to add a machined alloy subplatter to my P3 , but the manufacturer said with the PSU fitted the subplatter would not make a deal of difference ..... anybody any comments on this ?

 

The Groove tracer subplatter should fit no problem. Get the Reference it will make a very big difference in the noise level. It`s the thing that stood out to me instantly.
The Edward blue 'little Belter' is worth while. You can also add a ceramic bearing kit too.

 

Unfortunately its difficult / expensive to get the Groovetracer over in the Uk ....... and I am not sure the local alternatives are such a good design ...though much cheaper !

 

Gotcha

 

If you're thinking of the Fidelity Design ones, personally I'd say it was worth it, I had the sub platter with new bearing sleeve and I thought it made a great difference to the old plastic one I had.

 

Get the NEO PSU and the Reference EBLT belt . It will work like a charm with your 24v motor, and not only will give you speed control both of these upgrades will keep you smiling. You get sound improvement with each.
Cheers, Doug

 

You should definitely try silicone bumpers instead of mat (small dots 2mm or 2,5 in height), very cheap mod. Worked much better for me than rubber-cork mat or even more so wool. All mats I've tried caused static. With these dots I got rid of static and got much more detail. Record sticks on the dots like it was glued - no horizontal movement. Aaaand you can see the beautiful subplatter when you lift your record. Make shure you space them symmetric and leave them out where record label sits on the platter.

 

Get the subplatter. Not only will it give you smoother drive it will also isolate your platter better.
Cheers, Doug

 

Also personally happy the the Fidelity Designs reference sub platter and bearing. Well engineered and Ben of Fidelity is very helpful if you have questions.

 

If his turntable is 18 years old, he won't be able to add the Neo. My old P3 is 17 years old and it uses the old motor. I added the Groovetracer Reference Subplatter and the Delrin platter. The subplatter is definitely a worthwhile investment. The Delrin platter looks cool but I don't think it's worth the $350(US) or whatever it now costs.

 

On my old Planar 3, 25+ yr old maybe, I replaced the motor which also came with a new PCB assembly, this had two connections - one for the standard PSu and another 4 pin socket for the Speed box that was out before the Neo, someone else may be able to confirm if the Neo will work with the same pub. That combination followed by the new sub platter later completely renewed that machine.

 

If it is the 24v motor, the NEO will work like a charm because I got the 24v motor and had the first version of the Rega PSU.
Cheers, Doug

 

I have a 90s vintage Planar 3/RB300 that I rewired with the Incognito loom and replaced the stock sub-platter with a Tangospinner 'Astor' equivalent. The sub made a very obvious - and pleasing - improvement; well worth the outlay. Must try the silicon rubber 'dots' on the glass platter though Meehael, I'm intrigued.

 

I added a Heed Orbit PSU to my 20yr old P3 and the difference was huge. Great upgrade. Also added a machined sub platter i bought on ebay. Nice upgrade too

 

The GT Reference subplatter is a massive upgrade to the plastic piece on Regas. Stability and imaging take a huge leap.

 

That’s a good idea. I might try that.

 

Enjoy! If you consider an upgrade try to audition the Apheta 2 or 3 with an Aria phono stage.

 

The Iceni Audio sub platter is available in the uk for about £90. It is beauitifully machined and runs pretty much spot on speed. bonus is the detail that is now revealed.
got anaother update! having whatched Steves review on the schiit loki equaliser I thought it might be worth a try, but trying to get one in the uk proved pretty much imposible, then the JDS Subjective 3 came to my attention. The uk distributor is just up the roud from me ( hifiheadphones.co.uk ) and the price was tempting so one was purchased. I have initially put it in the tape loop so that a/b comparison could be done with amp remote. Well, it does excactly what I was hoping for and does not colour the sound in a detrimental way. it will now be going between phono stage and amp and will probably sound better for that due do more direct signal path. I will update with further thoughts later.