Which Turntable?

[repeetavx]

Well I've decided to upgrade my turntable for my birthday. I been reading, and I've think I've got it narrowed down between two different turntables.

1) Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge

or

2 Pro-Ject X2 with the Sumiko Moonstone cartridge.

I'm interested in hearing what you guys have so say.


P.S.
I'm still reading reviews. Thinking I would upgrade the Elys 2 cartridge to the Exact cartridge on the Rega.

[novisnick]

Jun 3, 2022 21:32:08 GMT -5 repeetavx said:

Well I've decided to upgrade my turntable for my birthday. I been reading, and I've think I've got it narrowed down between two different turntables.

1) Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge

or

2 Pro-Ject X2 with the Sumiko Moonstone cartridge.

I'm interested in hearing what you guys have so say.


P.S.
I'm still reading reviews. Thinking I would upgrade the Elys 2 cartridge to the Exact cartridge on the Rega.

I’ve been a fan of Rega for years and the Exact II is a wonderfully sounding cartridge for the price. The ease of use of the Rega, along with simple setup has been most delightful.
Sorry that I can’t give you anything about the ProJect W2

Good luck with your suggestion.

[405x5]

Jun 3, 2022 21:32:08 GMT -5 repeetavx said:

Well I've decided to upgrade my turntable for my birthday. I been reading, and I've think I've got it narrowed down between two different turntables.

1) Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge

or

2 Pro-Ject X2 with the Sumiko Moonstone cartridge.

I'm interested in hearing what you guys have so say.


P.S.
I'm still reading reviews. Thinking I would upgrade the Elys 2 cartridge to the Exact cartridge on the Rega.

Well best of luck with that.
Though no longer do I have an interest in record players, you did take me down a trip of memory Lane!

The last time I bought one was in 1969… An ARXa turntable with an empire 999VE cartridge. Shortly there after that cartridge morphed into a Stanton 681 EEE With the Shibata stylus.
Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio therefore I am forever lost to the sport.

[bonscott]

Maybe Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio. But its nowhere near as fun

[novisnick]

Jun 4, 2022 10:52:51 GMT -5 bonscott said:

Maybe Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio. But its nowhere near as fun

I completely disagree with the statement about competing

[DYohn]

I don't do vinyl but I have a friend who works for the company making Pro-Ject so that's what I recommend.

[405x5]

Jun 4, 2022 10:52:51 GMT -5 bonscott said:

Maybe Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio. But its nowhere near as fun

The way you worded that, I wasn’t sure which one you thought was MORE fun, but I assume you mean records are more fun.
I would only add that as with most things of interest, FUN is a matter of perception.
For years I spun records because there was nothing else and the “fun” came AFTER the the cleaning, the Dstat.,and whatever else it took to RUN, over to the infamous sweet spot for a maximum of around 20 minutes (or a few more at times).
So, to that end (on a personal level) all the fun comes from basking in high fidelity uninterrupted for, at times as long as 3 hours. That is a LOT of fun! (Try that with a “LP”) which in and of itself has become an oxymoron.

[405x5]

Jun 4, 2022 11:11:15 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Jun 4, 2022 10:52:51 GMT -5 bonscott said:

Maybe Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio. But its nowhere near as fun

I completely disagree with the statement about competing

I agree…other than the fact that BOTH make “noise” come out of your speakers they are not competing formats. You could go that way with analog records VS analog tapes. Even there Tape rules because I hate like Hell lifting my ass out of the seat!
I work out 💪 constantly….I call it Couch potato training.

[bonscott]

I agree Fun is a perception that is different for everyone. To some fun might be sitting by yourself in a sound treated room and paying attention to every instrument, vocals, clarity etc.. To others maybe not

[novisnick]

Jun 4, 2022 12:34:36 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Jun 4, 2022 11:11:15 GMT -5 novisnick said:

I completely disagree with the statement about competing

I agree…other than the fact that BOTH make “noise” come out of your speakers they are not competing formats. You could go that way with analog records VS analog tapes. Even there Tape rules because I hate like Hell lifting my ass out of the seat!
I work out 💪 constantly….I call it Couch potato training.

Jussst couldn’t leave it alone! Could you?

[405x5]

Jun 4, 2022 12:47:44 GMT -5 bonscott said:

I agree Fun is a perception that is different for everyone. To some fun might be sitting by yourself in a sound treated room and paying attention to every instrument, vocals, clarity etc.. To others maybe not

However, “ room treatments” are not the pathway to high end audio nuances. That is the charge of the loudspeaker.
Room treatments can help, or hurt depending on how that’s done.

[405x5]

Jun 4, 2022 13:02:48 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Jun 4, 2022 12:34:36 GMT -5 405x5 said:

I agree…other than the fact that BOTH make “noise” come out of your speakers they are not competing formats. You could go that way with analog records VS analog tapes. Even there Tape rules because I hate like Hell lifting my ass out of the seat!
I work out 💪 constantly….I call it Couch potato training.

Jussst couldn’t leave it alone! Could you?

LOL ….now that would be no “fun”

[vcautokid]

You know someone has to do it. The upgrade is a 2 track reel to reel and playing master tapes.

[novisnick]

Jun 4, 2022 13:08:00 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Jun 4, 2022 13:02:48 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Jussst couldn’t leave it alone! Could you?

LOL ….now that would be no “fun”

[405x5]

Jun 4, 2022 13:08:42 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

You know someone has to do it. The upgrade is a 2 track reel to reel and playing master tapes.

The Allison Loudspeakers that I’ve been hooked on (to this day) were demonstrated to my ears via master reel to reel tapes.
A “live” 16 piece jazz orchestra in a packed room….that’s exactly what it sounded like. (Where do I sign?)

[novisnick]

Jun 4, 2022 13:08:42 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

You know someone has to do it. The upgrade is a 2 track reel to reel and playing master tapes.

Mic drop!

[novisnick]

Jun 4, 2022 14:11:09 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Jun 4, 2022 13:08:42 GMT -5 vcautokid said:

You know someone has to do it. The upgrade is a 2 track reel to reel and playing master tapes.

The Allison Loudspeakers that I’ve been hooked on (to this day) were demonstrated to my ears via master reel to reel tapes.
A “live” 16 piece jazz orchestra in a packed room….that’s exactly what it sounded like. (Where do I sign?)

Where does the queue begin?

[vcautokid]

Anywhere you want.

[novisnick]

an engineer that works at a highly reputable shop in NY tells me that the arm on the pro-jets tables are difficult to set, he recommended the Rega.
Somebody else asked about buying a Pro-Jett’s table and his recommendation was the Rega. This was an unsolicited answer.

[KeithL]

I actually had several AR turntables over the years when I still played vinyl...

An AR-XA, and AR-XB, and one of the newer models (it had an actual hinged cover - I think it was just called "the AR turntable").

I also had, at various times, one or two Dual's, a Thorens, and a Rega...

(The ARs did have lower wow, flutter, and rumble than any of then others... but not the world's greatest arm.)

(And no speed adjustment or calibration... it was just always right.)

The ARs were by no means the most convenient ones to set up and use.

But they had better actual performance than most modern turntables...

(And they were VERY economical - especially by today's prices.)

I think the last cartridge I had was an Ortofon VMS20e mkII.

(I can't quite remember which ones I had before that one... although there were one or two Shures in there somewhere).

And, no, I DO NOT miss all the fiddling and adjusting.

Jun 4, 2022 8:43:14 GMT -5 405x5 said:

Jun 3, 2022 21:32:08 GMT -5 repeetavx said:

Well I've decided to upgrade my turntable for my birthday. I been reading, and I've think I've got it narrowed down between two different turntables.

1) Rega Planar 3 with the Elys 2 cartridge

or

2 Pro-Ject X2 with the Sumiko Moonstone cartridge.

I'm interested in hearing what you guys have so say.


P.S.
I'm still reading reviews. Thinking I would upgrade the Elys 2 cartridge to the Exact cartridge on the Rega.

Well best of luck with that.
Though no longer do I have an interest in record players, you did take me down a trip of memory Lane!

The last time I bought one was in 1969… An ARXa turntable with an empire 999VE cartridge. Shortly there after that cartridge morphed into a Stanton 681 EEE With the Shibata stylus.
Vinyl cannot compete with lossless audio therefore I am forever lost to the sport.