Rega P10
- Thread starter PerdidoAl
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Randy Myers
Active member
It looks great and fantastic review in Stereophile. I am very happy with my RP8!
Randy Myers
Active member
The Rega does not get a ton of love in "Audiophile" forums, however it received a fantastic review in Stereophile. I really enjoy my RP8 and recently a vinylphile friend, the leader of our local audio club was over. He was very surprised by the RP8. He did not believe it could be as good as it is. He has mentioned it a couple times in phone calls since then and always says that it is a wonderful table and I would have to go at least $10k-$15k to get any other table to even consider as an upgrade, in his view. It definitely does what I need in a table, especially when matched with one of their cartridges. I agree with you on the Plannar 10. Would one of those for sure 
.
.I agree, the Rega RP8 and P8 are amazing turntables that provide sound quality that is vastly out of proportion to their cost and appearance.
I had an RP8 and an RP10 at the same time for a while, and currently have a P8. I bought my RP8 when I had the much more expensive AMG Viella, which I just wasn't enjoying. I sold the AMG and kept the Rega. I then tried the top spec Linn LP12 with Radikal, Ekos SE etc, again at about 6 times the cost of the Rega. And again I preferred the RP8.
That was when I bought the RP10 expecting it to be be much better than the RP8. In some ways it was - image size, drama, speed - but it was also bright, brittle sounding and a little fatiguing, which I ultimately attributed to the ceramic platter. I preferred the RP8 and sold the RP10.
But then I bought my final turntable, a Kuzma Stabi Ref (with a variety of arms over time, including the Kuzma Stogi Ref, Kuzma 4 Point, Audio Origami PU7 and Alphason HR100), and this was finally a noticeable step up from the Rega. But it took a while to find a turntable and arm combination to beat the humble Rega RP8, and even then with some arm and cartridge combinations the Rega could still compete in musicality and dynamics. But I was happy with the Kuzma so sold the RP8.
Recently I found myself missing the Rega sound again and bought a P8 to sit alongside my Kuzma. (I didn't buy the P10 because of the ceramic platter.) It sounds amazing. I could easily live with this as my only turntable. It is highly engaging, musical and toe-tapping. It can easily get the best out of a high end cartridge and phono stage and provides the bass depth and imaging of a much more expensive deck. My Kuzma with (currently) an Alphason arm is better still, but not by much and the margin is not as big as you might expect given the difference in cost.
The current Rega decks are bargains at their respective prices.
I had an RP8 and an RP10 at the same time for a while, and currently have a P8. I bought my RP8 when I had the much more expensive AMG Viella, which I just wasn't enjoying. I sold the AMG and kept the Rega. I then tried the top spec Linn LP12 with Radikal, Ekos SE etc, again at about 6 times the cost of the Rega. And again I preferred the RP8.
That was when I bought the RP10 expecting it to be be much better than the RP8. In some ways it was - image size, drama, speed - but it was also bright, brittle sounding and a little fatiguing, which I ultimately attributed to the ceramic platter. I preferred the RP8 and sold the RP10.
But then I bought my final turntable, a Kuzma Stabi Ref (with a variety of arms over time, including the Kuzma Stogi Ref, Kuzma 4 Point, Audio Origami PU7 and Alphason HR100), and this was finally a noticeable step up from the Rega. But it took a while to find a turntable and arm combination to beat the humble Rega RP8, and even then with some arm and cartridge combinations the Rega could still compete in musicality and dynamics. But I was happy with the Kuzma so sold the RP8.
Recently I found myself missing the Rega sound again and bought a P8 to sit alongside my Kuzma. (I didn't buy the P10 because of the ceramic platter.) It sounds amazing. I could easily live with this as my only turntable. It is highly engaging, musical and toe-tapping. It can easily get the best out of a high end cartridge and phono stage and provides the bass depth and imaging of a much more expensive deck. My Kuzma with (currently) an Alphason arm is better still, but not by much and the margin is not as big as you might expect given the difference in cost.
The current Rega decks are bargains at their respective prices.
audio.bill
Active member
Rossb - Are you using a spacer under the tonearm on the P8 with the Dynavector XX-2 MKII?
That's one limitation I find with Rega arms is that you can't make fine adjustments to VTA which some cartridges require to optimize.
That's one limitation I find with Rega arms is that you can't make fine adjustments to VTA which some cartridges require to optimize.
I'm not using a spacer, although I was expecting to. Previous Rega turntables - other than the RP10 - needed spacers for most cartridges. The RP10 didn't and now it appears the P8 doesn't. I suspect the current Rega MC cartridges are a little taller than the old ones because the upper end arms also seem to be a bit taller. The XX2 is probably at the limit and may benefit from 1mm at most, but it is close to level now and is sounding good.
Asa you point out, most other arms have VTA adjustment but not "fine" VTA adjustment, since few others use the VTA tower or micrometer approach of the Kuzma 4 Point, upper end VPI arms or Triplanar. Most arms in my experience - even quite expensive ones - use the traditional pillar and grub screw method, which does not easily give repeatable or accurate VTA settings, and are generally not much better than using spacers on Rega arms, and probably less so because you can adjust a Rega arm to 0.5mm accuracy using spacers.
Asa you point out, most other arms have VTA adjustment but not "fine" VTA adjustment, since few others use the VTA tower or micrometer approach of the Kuzma 4 Point, upper end VPI arms or Triplanar. Most arms in my experience - even quite expensive ones - use the traditional pillar and grub screw method, which does not easily give repeatable or accurate VTA settings, and are generally not much better than using spacers on Rega arms, and probably less so because you can adjust a Rega arm to 0.5mm accuracy using spacers.
Coppy
New member
Decided to upgrade my vinyl rig. Everyone waxes poetic on how good vinyl can sound today. I have probably 200 LPs that haven’t been played in almost ten years. My 23 year old Sota Comet, even with a similar age Ortofon Kontaplunc B cart was nice but not excellent. I also know I’m sick of 100 lb. audio equipment and certainly don’t need a never ending project to tweak. The Rega Planar 10 with an installed Apheta cartridge seemed to answer the bill on paper. Good reviews and a fair price for the performance. Easy to set up. I‘m now a week into the new rig and very pleased. My vinyl has never sounded so good. The fun of this that I’m discovering that I own some really good recordings long forgotten. Great quality and sound.
puroagave
Active member
the highest spec Rega I've had here was the P9. I never found it "bright" or "brittle" maybe my platter was of the warmer variety of ceramic I also have 3 LP12s in different states of tune, including a full-klimax kit and I would never rank the RP8 above a full spec or even Akurate level LP12. but hey, we all have different levels of experience and ears. The most glaring fault of any Rega is lack of VTA or SRA adjustment. the 3rd party solutions arent really a solution altho' Pete Riggle's contraption does seem to work. And then there is its founder, Roy Gandy who doesn't believe in cleaning records--at all--instead he insists the stylus should do the work:weird:
I also have 3 LP12s in different states of tune, including a full-klimax kit and I would never rank the RP8 above a full spec or even Akurate level LP12. but hey, we all have different levels of experience and ears. The most glaring fault of any Rega is lack of VTA or SRA adjustment. the 3rd party solutions arent really a solution altho' Pete Riggle's contraption does seem to work. And then there is its founder, Roy Gandy who doesn't believe in cleaning records--at all--instead he insists the stylus should do the work:weird:
Watchdog507
New member
After years of not having a turntable, I went back to vinyl. I looked at the P10 and the P8. The P10 with the Apheta 3 works out to almost twice the money but it wasn't twice the return to my ears. I went with the P8 with the Apheta 2 cartridge. I liked the idea of a turn-key simplified solution. I didn't want to get on the expensive Analogue merry go round. The P8 is a perfect for a return to Vinyl when I'm in the mood. Digital spoils you with not having to clean and flip every 15 minutes or so but vinyl on the P8 sure sounds good.
Randy Myers
Active member
There has been a discussion on the Rega forums about various methods, enhancements, etc. for Rega tables. Various belts, platter mats, weights, etc., but the one thing that we all agree on, or should I say disagree on is their saying to not clean records. It is the one single thing about their design and recommendations that make no sense what so ever. We all pretty much agree that he is trying to wear out stylus's faster to sell more
.I have never seen any logical explanation for this... but everything else about my table I absolutely love!
CPP
Active member
There has been a discussion on the Rega forums about various methods, enhancements, etc. for Rega tables. Various belts, platter mats, weights, etc., but the one thing that we all agree on, or should I say disagree on is their saying to not clean records. It is the one single thing about their design and recommendations that make no sense what so ever. We all pretty much agree that he is trying to wear out stylus's faster to sell more
I have never seen any logical explanation for this... but everything else about my table I absolutely love!
seriously !. So the REGA forum thinks its ok to have a clump of dust ride around on your stylus , WOW!
Randy Myers
Active member
puroagave
Active member
There has been a discussion on the Rega forums about various methods, enhancements, etc. for Rega tables. Various belts, platter mats, weights, etc., but the one thing that we all agree on, or should I say disagree on is their saying to not clean records. It is the one single thing about their design and recommendations that make no sense what so ever. We all pretty much agree that he is trying to wear out stylus's faster to sell more
I have never seen any logical explanation for this... but everything else about my table I absolutely love!
I honestly don't think he knows better, same with the lack of VTA adjust-ability. Alan Shaw takes the cake for admonishing his own customers, his rants on HUG are legendary. In simplest terms he's basically saying anyone that uses vinyl playback and tube amplification inst deserving of Harbeth speakers.
CPP
Active member
Got ya. Cleaning is essential .
To be clear, Rega has never said don't clean your records. Roy Gandy has said not to worry too much about "visible dust" on records. He has also said that record cleaning in accordance with recommendations of RCM manufacturers - who used to advocate vacuum cleaning your records every time you played them - was overdoing it. I think he is right
Jerome W
Active member
I used various cleaning machines and got tired of them.
Now all my turntables have a Transrotor brush. 80 euros. And my styluses only see a clean groove.
No more surface noise due to dust.
Simple. Efficient. Costless. Silent.
Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
Now all my turntables have a Transrotor brush. 80 euros. And my styluses only see a clean groove.
No more surface noise due to dust.
Simple. Efficient. Costless. Silent.
Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
Randy Myers
Active member
I do agree that vacuum cleaning every play is over the top. Most every vinyl person I know who own a RCM believes prior to first play and when necessary there after. I do a cleaning using the disk doctor brush, slightly dampened with de-ionized water, then a disk washer brush to dry and an AQ carbon brush to eliminate any static before every record is played however.