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Anyone here have a Rega RP 8? How do you like it? I have a Rega P 25 and am thinking of upgrading. Is there still no VTA adjustment on Rega TTs?
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Keep P25. Having owned P25 and P9, the higher models are a downgrade rather than an upgrade from musicality point of view.
Having owned the P25, RP6 and RP8, you will hear a significant upgrade going from the P25 to the RP8. The RP8 is really a great table and with the new plinth design and the RB808 tonearm improvements, those alone make this such a better table plus you get the speed control box, it destroys the P25.
I have used Lyra cartridges on the Rega's above to make the comparisons, if you want a great cartridge match to the RP8 the Delos is excellent. Like Rich B above, I used the 2mm machined spacer for better rigidity and it's easy to install. Good luck on your search.
Your going to hear mostly that it's a significant upgrade and from the sound point of view it is . Too me just the music went out of the window so after some years of struggles with P9 I sold it to a friend who is extremely happy with it and bought an Oracle Delphi. YMMW so best of luck.I wouldn't be myself not to point out that a properly machined table from Rega meaning good bearing ,precise aluminum machined sub platter and optimal drive system cost real money and it's not any bargain. The alternatives exist. Also what is good as a concept for a cheap budget table doesn't mean is going to work equally well in high end application. In my opinion Rega's concept doesn't.
Edits: 12/07/16
Sold my Oracle Delphi MKI several years ago and bought an RP6.
Couldn't be happier.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
You know , this hobby is full of unhappy , neurotic people who seem to buy equipment just to hurt themselves even more so it's nice to meet from time to time somebody who is happy:) I do like cheap Rega tables. Just don't like their more expensive models nearly as much.
I know that my newly acquired Oracle MKV is significantly better than Rega P9 and I can say with some dose of confidence that it is going to be better than any Rega which will be born of the old Rega concept in the future.
Warm Regards, W
Thanks.
The only thing I envy is your budget.
Cheers!
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
There is nothing to envy really. I struggle to have the ends meet like everybody else. I gave up on a better car (driving 12 years old junk) and lots of other things for that audio obsession and it doesn't pay back. I fall for that promised sound trap all the time even though I've traveled the same road many times before . Don't we all ? Or at least a big part of us?
Oracle I bought just for it's sheer beauty and because my friend really wanted the Rega P9 (having read all those great reviews ). I must be the only one in the universe who really doesn't care for it ;)
Warm regards, W
Edits: 12/08/16
While you can't go lower, I have not yet run into a cartridge that required a Rega arm to be lowered to get correct VTA... this is mainly due to the height of Rega's own cartridges being so low that to mount just about any non rega cartridge on a Rega table requires VTA spacer installed under the arm to raise it up to get correct (or more accurately- correct approximate) VTA.
FWIW, I prefer Rega machined aluminum spacer on the better Rega tables (does a better job than the plastic spacer in firmly securing the arm to the plinth) and I think there are one or two other folks out there making VTA spacers for the 3 point arm mount on the RP8.
Also, having used a RP8 (and all the other Rega tables), the package Rega offers with the revised Apheta2 is a great deal.... the Apheta2 is much improved over the original version IMO. It would be a pretty significant jump over a P25.
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
" While you can't go lower, I have not yet run into a cartridge that required a Rega arm to be lowered to get correct VTA... this is mainly due to the height of Rega's own cartridges being so low that to mount just about any non rega cartridge on a Rega table requires VTA spacer installed under the arm to raise it up to get correct (or more accurately- correct approximate) VTA."
This is only correct if you believe that cartridge height is the most significant consideration i.e. having the cartridge body level in relation to the disc surface (presumably using the mounting surface of the cart as the datum).
However having the cartridge level is not sufficient to set VTA or, more importantly, SRA.
The best Japanese suppliers of cantilever/stylus combinations can only offer an accuracy at best of mounting stylii to cantilevers of + or - 2 degrees. A 9 inch arm requires a variation of 4mm in height to change SRA by 1 degree. As you can deduce, given the range of adjustment necessary, it is unlikely that by merely setting the cartridge body level can correct alignment of the stylus in the groove be attained nor can adjustment upwards only always give the correct result.
Of course this is of academic interest only given conical or simple elliptical stylii. However it has significance with fine line profiles which I would imagine purchasers of top end Rega tables may be interested in using.
It is therefore also not necessarily the case that using a Rega cartridge in a Rega turntable will give the best results in regard to correct alignment due to manufacturing variations in the accuracy of mounting of stylus to cantilver.
Your right and I agree PAR.... but I was (I thought) talking about approximate VTA (and hence SRA) settings. Note I made no mention in my post about leveling the arm... my use/recommendation of spacers on Rega tables is in terms of trying to get VTA/SRA as reasonably near were it should be for the cartridge in use (which in my experience has meant getting the arm up higher than as it comes).
Because of the approximate adjustability (or lack of, or fixed adjustment levels) of Rega tables, I generally do not recommend (sell) cartridges that use line contact type styli on Rega tables (preferring good sounding cartridges with elpitical styli which are more forgiving to the crude adjustability offered with Rega tables and deliver very good sounding results).
Then there is the impact of tracking force on VTA/SRA, thickness of the TT mat and its impact, thickness of the LP to be played... etc. :-)
Happy Listening,
Rich Brkich
Retailer & Audio Asylum Industry Liaison
" Then there is the impact of tracking force on VTA/SRA, thickness of the TT mat and its impact, thickness of the LP to be played... etc. :-)"Indeed, indeed...
I have to say that I am sceptical enough to believe that Roy Gandy's mantra of rigidity over all resulting in no VTA adjustment ( beyond using shims - which is not greatly practical given that the arm has to be demounted to fit them), stems not from engineering theory but from economic necessity.
Given that the original Rega arm was very much built to a price I believe that Gandy simply could not figure how to make VTA adjustment that retained a realistic degree of rigidity at the pillar for the money. So rather than say that he couldn't do it he decided that it wasn't necessary. Believe me, a very British trait :-).
Edits: 12/08/16
The RP8 still has no VTA adjustment. Yes, there are aftermarket gadgets you can buy to add this but most ( all?) rely upon fitting a kind of adjustable collar to the arm pillar which, in turn, requires boring out the arm mounting hole. OK for non Rega setups with a separate armboard but less attractive for 'tables such as the Rega range where the plinth is also the mounting for the arm as routing out the hole would be irreversible.
Of course the external plinth on a P8 is decorative only and the arm is mounted directly to the "spider" chassis which also holds the turntable bearing and the structural stiffening plate. The latter would also have to be routed out if you were to do this. I wouldn't attempt it myself as I think it would incur too much structural compromise.
My view is that you either go along with Roy Gandy's view that maintaining structural stiffness trumps any advantages VTA adjustment can bring or you look elsewhere.
My RP6 required no boring out the arm mounting hole. My Rega dealer set the table up for me.
"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
Looking at your picture the "stressed beam" assembly doesn't appear to make intimate contact with the plinth. Can you measure a gap with feeler gauge?Ken
Edits: 12/07/16 12/07/16
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"If people don't want to come, nothing will stop them" - Sol Hurok
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I've never seen one of those.
Opus 33 1/3
raise/lower a Rega arm, even on the fly, courtesy of Pete Riggle.
Opus 33 1/3
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