Rega Subplatter Upgrade: Tangospinner or Fidelity Design ?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by rl1856, Sep 17, 2020.

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  1. rl1856

    rl1856 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    SC
    I have a P2 that I want to upgrade. Lots of info out there, and consensus is that a subplatter upgrade is both cost effective and delivers a noticeable improvement.

    Grovetracer has excellent reviews, but the price is too high for me.

    Tangospinner has excellent reviews and several options.

    Fidelity Design has excellent reviews and several options.

    Has anyone compared the Tango and Fidelity subplatters ? Any opinions yea or nay on either ?

    Thanks !
     
  2. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    I would buy the one that is cheaper for you. I would just get rid of the phenolic subplatter. The $100ish price is nominal. I think Rega doesn't offer the metal subplatter on the Planar 3 because the base price would be over $1000 and it would reduce the sales of Planar 6. I honestly think that most of the improvements of the Planar 6 over the Planar 3 are from the subplatter. The arms are the same. I don't doubt the plinth improves things, but I don't think the improvements are a dramatic unless you listen to a lot of Classical music. Popular music rarely has the crescendos from a solo into a full orchestration with Classical music. I bought the TTPSU as the first upgrade to my P5 years ago, it was a very slight improvement, but I do like the push button speed change. More recently I bought a Deep Groove subplatter, the improvements were significant. I spent $400 on the TTPSU and got a slight improvement. For 1/4 the price, I got dramatic improvements. I'll just say that if you don't immediately hear an improvement, you should return whichever you chose. I'll state that if you're swapping out the subplatter, you might as well swap out the metal ball bearing for a ceramic one. Most of these subplatter kits include them. The Deep Groove didn't. So I bought bearing from a guy in Portugal for under $10. I also replaced the oil. I got a small vile with the subplatter. I just cleaned out the bearing cavity with a bunch of Q-Tips.
     
    fish likes this.
  3. Liquid Len

    Liquid Len Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yorkshire, UK
    I haven't seen or used the Fidelity Design sub-platter so can't comment on its efficacy but I am a Tangospinner owner user and can vouch for their quality. Superbly made with no bells and whistles, just quiet, effective quality. It made a very appreciable and immediate improvement to my 1990s vintage Planar 3, bringing improved speed stability & solidity of soundstage. Gustavo (Gus) is also a great guy to deal with so you can buy with confidence.
     
    CCrider92 likes this.
  4. Dr. J.

    Dr. J. Music is in my soul

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    +1
     
  5. CCrider92

    CCrider92 Senior Member

    Location:
    Cape Cod, MA
    My Rega is doing the Tango as well! Great product by a guy who cares what comes out of his shop.
     
  6. GordonM

    GordonM Forum Resident

    Location:
    N.Ireland
    I have a 90s era Planar 3 and recently fitted the Fidelity Designs reference sub-platter and bearing. Ben at Fidelity was excellent to deal with. The kit was easy to fit and think the price is very reasonable if you are in the UK. I am happy with it and although I would not say the sound difference was night and day, that is probably more down to the listener and the difficulty with doing a comparison. I am confident it is performing well. As a bonus it looks good and has a longer spindle than the standard sub-platter. (By the way, I use with the Edwards Little Belter and although the speed is still greater than what it should be, it is closer than with white or standard belt. The slight downside is that Edwards belt is tighter than standard and causes the pulley assembly to jerk when the motor is first engaged.)
     
  7. ejman

    ejman Music, fountain of life!

    Location:
    Oregon
    I just got the Tangospinner (Canaro upgrade kit) installed in my 20 year old Rega P3-2000. I'm not sure which of the elements ( subplatter, double belt brass pulley, two belts, zirconia bearing) is responsible for what am hearing and measuring but I like it! I don't have perfect pitch so the rotation speed wasn't that important to me (within reason) but the warble sound I was occasionally getting (particularly with sustained notes) was bugging me a bit. I measured wow at around .20%-.22% so maybe that was contributing to things. Anywho, after installing the Canaro kit I measured between 0.08% to 0.10% wow and I can't hear the warbles anymore so I'm happy about that. On the overall sound I would have to say there is a lower noise floor and the sound is "crisper" just more "there" there. Anyway I'm listening to far more LP's and staying up latter than I used to so that to me is the best test. When I don't want to turn the system off and go to bed it means something is right!. BTW, the wow numbers I get on the Rega are not as good as what I get on my Lenco L75 - that one does 0.06% to 0.07% vs. 0.08% to 0.10% on the Rega but I can't really hear the difference on sustained piano notes between those two turntables so obviously that's below my capability to hear wow.
     
    Vaughan, MikeT., james and 1 other person like this.
  8. brubacca

    brubacca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I haven't compared them , but I bought the Double Zirconia Tangospinner. It works very well.
     
  9. fish

    fish Senior Member

    Location:
    NYS, USA
    Groovetracer Reference
    Subplatter_groovetracer

    incorporates a sapphire thrust plate that rotates on a zirconia (ZrO2) ball.
    nice kit. Nice service. Fast shipping. $275.
     
  10. doctor fuse

    doctor fuse Forum Resident

    Do any of the aftermarket subplatter manufacturers guarantee improvement in Wow and Flutter specs?
     
    csgreene likes this.
  11. ejman

    ejman Music, fountain of life!

    Location:
    Oregon
    Not that I'm aware of. Actually thinking about it I don't see how they could offer any such guarantees not knowing the condition of the hub the subplatter will be used in, how diligent the user would be in applying lubrication of the proper type and amount, condition of the bearing, the condition and type of motor, the belt(s) used etc etc. Too many variables.
     
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