Rega P3 Turntable...
TroyD
Posts: 13,077
So, I picked up a Rega P3 a few months back for the living room SDA rig.
Associated gear: Cambridge phono stage, Adcom GFP-750, Sunfire 300 amp, SDA 2.3tl's.
The short answer is that it's a great table. Vastly different from my VPI Scoutmaster....which I think is better, overall, but it was also 3x the price.
The Rega in inherently musical. If I had to sum it up, it makes great music. It is detailed without sounding etched. The midrange is absolutely to die for. Female vocals...well recorded ones, are simply amazing. The overall presentation is light and airy. Again, musical. LP's that aren't so well recorded....Boston's eponymous LP and Bat Out of Hell coming to mind....while not totally redeemed....are listenable if not outright enjoyable.
High Frequencies are airy and extended. Perhaps not the last word in detail......and if you really get on the volume, violin strings get a wee bit screechy (but again, I'm talking about listening levels that I don't really enjoy).
Low frequency extension is adequate.....but this is where the VPI has it all over the Rega. Again, the VPI was 3x the price 15 years ago...so there is that to consider.....but while extension was decent and definition was good, the P3 just doesn't give bass notes the weight that the VPI does. It's kind of the same issue that I always had with the Quad 988's. The sound was musical and amazing but the bass just never had the weight to be convincing. While I'm not a bass fanatic it's certainly something to consider.
Overall, it's a great table and for the money, it's a no-brainer. It's simple and unfussy and plug and play. It's sins, few they may be, are sins of omission rather than commission......if you are looking for a great table that will keep the upgrade bug at bay, this is probably one to consider.
BDT
Associated gear: Cambridge phono stage, Adcom GFP-750, Sunfire 300 amp, SDA 2.3tl's.
The short answer is that it's a great table. Vastly different from my VPI Scoutmaster....which I think is better, overall, but it was also 3x the price.
The Rega in inherently musical. If I had to sum it up, it makes great music. It is detailed without sounding etched. The midrange is absolutely to die for. Female vocals...well recorded ones, are simply amazing. The overall presentation is light and airy. Again, musical. LP's that aren't so well recorded....Boston's eponymous LP and Bat Out of Hell coming to mind....while not totally redeemed....are listenable if not outright enjoyable.
High Frequencies are airy and extended. Perhaps not the last word in detail......and if you really get on the volume, violin strings get a wee bit screechy (but again, I'm talking about listening levels that I don't really enjoy).
Low frequency extension is adequate.....but this is where the VPI has it all over the Rega. Again, the VPI was 3x the price 15 years ago...so there is that to consider.....but while extension was decent and definition was good, the P3 just doesn't give bass notes the weight that the VPI does. It's kind of the same issue that I always had with the Quad 988's. The sound was musical and amazing but the bass just never had the weight to be convincing. While I'm not a bass fanatic it's certainly something to consider.
Overall, it's a great table and for the money, it's a no-brainer. It's simple and unfussy and plug and play. It's sins, few they may be, are sins of omission rather than commission......if you are looking for a great table that will keep the upgrade bug at bay, this is probably one to consider.
BDT
I plan for the future. - F1Nut
Comments
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Nice write up. I’m thinking about getting back into vinyl again and I’m been looking at turntables that are in the P3 price range. I don’t think that you mentioned it but I’m curious as to which cartridge was installed in your P3.
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I reckon much of the described differences come down to cartridge.
If it's the same cartridge -- well -- the arms of the REGA & VPI are quite different in concept and execution.
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The cart has as much, if not more, to do with performance. What's on each table?
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is there an echo in here?
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On the Rega it’s their Elys 2 and the VPI is a Dynavector 20xl.....
I think more than anything it’s different design philosophy. The VPI is all about mass and isolation to eliminate vibration. Rega seems to embrace the liveliness......as such, the VPI is much more deliberate, IMO.
BDTI plan for the future. - F1Nut -
We're comparing an MM with bonded tip to an MC with nudie tip.
Nice write-up, though
"This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
I think it is more of an overall design philosophy that is the biggest factor....I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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It is impossible to judge given the massive difference in construction, philosophy, and operational prinicples between the two cartridges -- as well as the interaction of the arm/cartridge pairings (primarily, but not limited to, behavior at resonance).
