I know there are plenty of hifi experts on stw!
I'm looking for some advise on buying a used Rega Planar 2 turntable. It seems quite cheap but doesn't have a cartridge. Should I be worried that I can't listen to it first and any recommendations for a basic cartridge?
Cheers
Audio Technica and Ortophon cartridges have always been very good quality.
Nagaoka MP110 also wins lots of awards, I had one on an old p1 and a PL12D. Massive improvement over the stock Rega.
I have a 35 year old planar 2, it's never missed a beat apart from a new drive belt when the old one stretched and started slipping. Cost a couple of quid to replace iirc. I've had it from new, cost about £150 I think! You will know immediately if it needs a new belt.
Cartridge wise I am using a Linn K5, not sure if thats considered pants these days but it sounds lovely still
A Japanese Nagaoka cartridge will probably cost what you paid for your Rega, I had one on my Systemdek away back in the '80's but could have been a mp11 boron. I bought a Rega cartridge for a Rotel deck couple of years back £26 and it works and sounds fine
Really nice turntable, I have a 1+ but may upgrade. I like the simplicity, changing belt manually, lifting tone arm at end of LP. Fab design.
Just got the factory carbon cartridge on mine.
My planar 3 had a problem where is started playing slightly slowly. It was just the phase cap on the motor and 50p later it was right as rain. There really isn't much to go wrong with them
Other than the cost what's the difference between the 2 and the 3 and what happened to the 1
AT95e is a decent cart.
how much are they asking for it and do you know why the cartridge isn't included?
The cartridge was probably upgraded and then the owner wanted to keep it for next turntable - quite usual for decks to be sold without cartridges.
Audio technica make the cheap carbon cartridge that comes with the RP2 now I think - you can get non rega branded ones for around £15 and Rega version which they say has been tweaked for around £35. I'm not sure I'd spend more for a secondhand RP2 - next up is usually the Ortofon Red at around £100
“Other than the cost what’s the difference between the 2 and the 3 and what happened to the 1”
Everything bar the lid and the associated hinges.
Just upgraded to a Planar 3 from a 1+ which is now for sale if anyone is interested.
never missed a beat
I see what you did there
I have P3.
I recently 'upgraded' the cartridge, settled on Nagaoka. Can't remember the number but it's the purple one (edit: MP-200).
To my ears, it still isn't as natural-sounding as the cartridge that came on the P3 which was the blue one - Elys - which is cheaper.
I tried the yellow Rega one cos I liked the blue one so much, and blue replacements/refurbishment was not available during lockdown. The yellow one sounded more detailed but less realistic to me than the blue one and the bass although deeper was less well defined.
And that's the thing - there are so many reviews/views on the internet - but, to me, even if other cartridges are 'better', none has captured the sense of outright realism that the blue rega one seemed to create. Even this expensive Nagaoka one, which by all objective standards is excellent, doesn't have that 'in the room with you' feel. It feels like playing a CD on a very good CD player.
But something about the blue rega was magical. Whereas it may not have sounded quite as detailed as others, you could not just hear the note of Neil Young's guitar, but you sense feel his fingers moving over the strings as he played, if you know what I mean? Genuine hairs on the back of your neck stuff.
So I'm going to get my old Elys refurbbed and back on as soon as I don't have a million other things to do.
For context, P3 plays through Elex-R and Wharefedale Lintons via Audioquest Rocket 11. Which is an utterly gorgeous system.
^ I've got a pair of those Linton Heritages...I agree they are fantastic
… I would also add that this was my first time even considering alternative cartridges, and I would never have predicted/expected the amount of difference I felt between different ones. Obviously it is subtle, but also, significant. I found it mainly to be differences in character rather than quality (I'm a human, not a scientific listening instrument), so it probably just comes down to preference.
Hi Pete is your 1+ black? Message me price and location I m after one.
Cheerd
He is looking £100. Said the cartridge / stylus needs replaced, I'm just worried if I can't listen to anything. I'll ask him a few questions and check it over.
A wide range of cartridge prices suggested - thanks STW!
Saturn Mk3
Yup.
Local Rega pusher offered me an Apollo at a good discount before Christmas but I had to walk away 🙁
That system is awesome. Not particularly cheap, but sounds an awful lot better than many awfully more expensive setups I've heard. I'm pretty certain it's my system for life. Love it.
Just upgraded to a Planar 3 from a 1+ which is now for sale if anyone is interested.
Similarly, I just inherited/bought from my friends estate* a planar 3 & a planar 1, the planar 3 sounds great so the 1 will be up for sale at some point.
* along with 26 other items of hifi equipment going back nearly 50yrs
