Rega Planar 2 (2016) vs Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC: No Contest

agree overall..

But again, to be accurate, the P3 is $975 PLUS an addition decent sum for the cart. Just to get the numbers right. The Carbon, btw,
will surprise you.

but i must say my first TT in a while, the Denon 300 made me want to smash my records and toss the the thing out the window.
I could not send it back fast enough. At that point I knew spending under $500 for good vinyl sound was a pipe dream.

 

Well, for a $975 TT, there sure seems to be a lot of ppl who want to sell it to you for $945...

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Rega Planar 3 Turntable

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Rega Planar 3 Turntable
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$945! Sold..to the man in black!

 

I have the carbon dc and am happy with it.
What is so much better about the rega?
Any chance of needle drops of the same record on both machines or something? I just wonder how big the difference is, i'm sure there is one!

 

The arm for one. That alone makes it a better table, but it has other benefits such as a heavier, less resonant platter and a more stable main bearing. I also like using the Rega arms more than pretty much any other from an ergonomic standpoint.
-Bill

 

In the UK these RRP for the same price...

 

As the owner of 2 Pro-Ject turtables (6Perspex with 2m Black and 2Xperience III with 2m blue), I still find Rega TT's amazing value (sound) for money. I don't know why some find it hard to believe that OP P2 setup beats an entry level table from Pro-Ject?
Rega TT's and carts have different sound signature to Pro-ject and 2m Ortofon setups.
Different strokes for different folks. Again, there are hardly any absolutes in this hobby. Stuff either moves you or not.

Cheers

 

I had a Denon DP 300 for a few years. With a Shure M97xe, that table sounded pretty damn good.
Did you swap the cart on your Denon, or did you rock the white cart? Just curious as to why the Denon made you want to smash your records.
My Denon with the Shure cart sounded better than my friends Debut Carbon with his Ortofon Red. We tested out both a couple years ago at his place.

 

It is annoying how much higher-priced British 'tables are in North America as opposed to in the UK, yes.

What's the deal there? Some sort of export tax? Or UK companies milking the NA market? The pound has been weak as heck vs the dollar ever since Brexit, and we're still not getting any relief on the pricing here on the left side of the pond.
.

 

I was looking at a Planar 2 but found out it is 4 mm too wide to fit in my hifi closet (yes, I can't change that closet, it needs to fit ).

Looking at the Pro-ject family, I'm considering the RPM 1 Carbon now. I think it's more of a descent competitor for the Planar 2 than the Debut. Did anyone compare this table to the Planar? Any thoughts?

 

I have the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC with Ortofon Red 2M cart; haven't had it long enough to detect any sort of hum or other noises, and I never had any sort of audiophile turntable in the past, so I don't have anything to compare it to, personally, but I like it and it works great for me. I haven't measured the speed, and don't have any idea how I would adjust the speed even if it was off.

 

everything just sounded like someone threw a blanket over the speakers.

yes, all stock. i think the tethered cables are of very poor quality which was probably a big factor.

 

Sounds like it was the white cart. As soon as I swapped it, the table livened right up.

I've since sold it, and the new owner has emailed me twice to tell me how much he enjoys it.

 

The Rega is 50% more than the Pro-ject. Rega 1 is not exactly stellar simply because every dollar matters in that low range.

 

that is the key..if they enjoy it...i admit i might be a bit harsh on the Denon...but i really believe it is really tough
to get decent vinyl playback for under $500.

 

No it isn't.

 

You are saying $675 is not 50% more than $450???????

 

In my experience (having owned two of them, to be precise), the DC Carbon is a good idea executed poorly. Pro-ject really need to a) sort out the noisy switching PSU, and most of all B) calm down the motor noise a tad - this likely means a redesign of the motor mounting, or perhaps tighter tolerances around actual motor noise - I suspect the former would be better.

To be honest, in my estimation the DC is squarely aimed at the market tier just above Crosley's, which is to say a more discerning customer but likely a non-audiophile (read: somewhat unfussy).

I think if you're in the market for a brand new audiophile turntable with some legs on it to keep you satisfied for some time to come, look toward a Planar 3. Ok, it's extra outlay but it's a real value proposition that likely won't have you looking to upgrade or troubleshoot in the near distant future.

 

My experience with a Pro-Ject Debut II and later with a Rega RP1 was less than stellar to say the least. Both exhibited shoddy and primitive assembly and construction, obvious cost saving omissions (come on Pro-Ject, would a decent user manual booklet really drive your profit margins into the ground?) and average sound quality. Incidentally the RP1 frustrated me so much that I got rid of it 3 days after it was un-boxed.

What I got from both was not a satisfied feeling of returning to an era when music was enjoyed in the mechanical way but the smell of oozing cheapness and a big disappointment. Honestly I have no idea if the RP2 was any better than the RP1 or if there is anything better yet still affordable in the Pro-Ject range because what these two TT managed to accomplish is make me decide never to buy anything from these companies, ever.

 

He lives in the UK, where Regas are priced much lower than they are in the US.

 

The point I was trying to make, perhaps too subtly, is that there is an assumption in this thread that the Rega must be better because it's more expensive when in actual fact these turntables compete in the same price bracket outside of America. The OP has essentially made a sideways move that seems like an upgrade simply because of the USA markup. I have no experience with either turntable and I don't doubt that the Rega could indeed be 'better' (though the lack of published specifications makes me sceptical, something I wish Rega would improve upon with all their product pages) but price should not come into the equation because, in reality, these products should be seen to exist on a level playing field.

 

Agreed, although I prefer the Rega. Both sound good and are good value for the money. The Rega product is more solid and has a better feel to its tonearm. The arm on the carbon is hard to use IME. It's arm is super light and has almost no finger lift by comparison to the Rega.
-Bill

 

Did anyone address this in this thread? Seems like Rega Carbon would be inferior to Ortofon Red, especially since the Red can be easily upgraded with a Blue stylus.

In spite of that the Planar 2 easily trumps the Debut Carbon out of the box?

 

Yes. Which may or may not prove that the cartridge less important than the overall design....

 

There was no '2' when I bought my RP1. If there was, I would have bought the imaginary 'RP2'. The better tonearm and glass platter are well worth the little extra in price. From the day that I saw it, I stated that the Planar 2 is a steal. The cheap Carbon cartridge actually makes sense. If you want 'plug and play' you've got it. If you want to mount a better cartridge without throwing away a lot of money, you've got it.