That's really interesting, I am planning on buying a Rega Planar 1 next month, and having seen many videos about making improvements I came to the conclusion that a AT-VM95EN would be the way to go without breaking the bank or going overboard for a budget deck ! Did you replace just the stylus or the whole cartridge ? as the cartridge body on all the AT95 range uses the same body ! But was wondering also if it's possible to be able to do that with the Rega Carbon cartridge (acka AT-4600)
Thanks Philip for another great video that is full of common sense! Glad I am not alone in liking the Elys 2. I am currently using a AT -VM95e in my P3 and although I suspect it is objectively more accurate than the Elys 2 it seems to lack its ability to communicate the emotion of the music a little. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for your advice which I followed to upgrade my P1. I picked up a cheap second-hand P2 platter and then added the VM95EN and the Rega reference belt. My deck sounds infinitely better.
I've had an RP-3 for quite some time and have updated the sub platter with a tango aluminum one and a thick acrylic platter with a speed box as well. I've had the Nagoka MP110 with a Herbies platter mat for quite a while and have been happy with the sound, that said I'm going to send my old Denon DL301mkII in for retipping, that was a sweet sounding cart. Recently I bought a new welded steel turntable stand for Amazon and that rigidity improved the sound over the oak record cabinet it had been sitting on - different strokes for different folks.
Hi Philip really enjoyed this video I've put washing machine isolating pads underneath my 40 year old planar 3 to isolate it from my Target hifi unit ,just a few £s checked it was OK with a spirit level. Seems good to me.
Hi Phil, I’ve just subscribed as I love your take on audio equipment. I’m often completely bogged down by the utter snobbery and “I know more than you” attitude that I see peddled on audio forums all the time, and this is probably one of the only channels that I’ve come across that actually offers sensible consumer advice. I was a Rega Planar 2 owner and upgraded to the Elys 2 and found it to be an utterly fantastic sounding cartridge (as you say, the Carbon is perfectly fine, but the Elys had a sparkle to it, and really clear definition), but honestly I found it tracked like a pig as I found that the fixed bias on the RB220 tonearm was too calibrated to the weight of the carbon. Luckily I found myself in a position to upgrade to a Planar 3 with an Exact, which is a lovely thing to behold and works like a dream. But yes, according to forums most Rega MM cartridges are terrible and we should all be buying Nagoaka cartridges. My take is simple - Roy Gandy is a hero of the people and I love that all of Rega’s line is bespoke until itself. And, personally, I love it. Again, thank you for your sensible and completely neutral videos, they are a joy to watch and learn from.
Interesting advice about where to place the turntable, I plan on buying a RP1 soon, at the moment I have a Pro-ject Debut, but faced the very same problem you refer to regarding resonance from standing the player on a wooden piece of furniture, so I got over that problem by buying a 1.5 cm thick granite chopping block off Ebay for £16, very heavy, so stuck on three small rubber feet (2cm wide) onto the base, placed that on the wooden TV unit, then placed the turntable on top of the granite block, and wow, has reduced resonance by a huge amount, so a cheap fix and works a treat !
First, thank you for the video and advice. Very simple to understand and down to earth. Really enjoyable content overall. I have a Rega Planar 1 Plus, a gift from my wife a couple of years ago, and have taken a couple of bits of advice from this video. So I made some of the changes on my turntable, add to the fact I'd also purchased some second hand floor standing speakers, and listened to War of the World's, an album which I know inside out and have listened to on most formats. I really am not interested if this is not an audiophile friendly album (I know some have their go to's) but I have loved this album since I first saw the artwork in my early years. Anyway, I digress.... The glass platter - has made a significant improvement actually, I was surprised how much more detail I could hear. The narration was clearer and even the sustain of some notes were a lot noticeable. It was lovely to hear "new" bits I'd never heard. I was a little nervy about the weight compared to the standard platter, but as it says in the video, it's fine. It actually looks little more classy. Gone is the cork mat and back to the felt mat - again, it actually looks better to be honest, and I noted previous cork mat was thicker than the felt mat (which came with the new platter) Whilst I may be inclined to change the cartridge, I think I will continue to ride this one out for a bit longer, but will bear in mind the advice regarding the AT-95 series. I understand what with speaker upgrade, plus the turntable improvement may have all been done too soon, I should probably have done one or the other rather than all in one go blah blah blah, I've been off sick for a week or so, I was bored and had been resting and enjoying the music I'd purchased over the past few months, yet had not actually listened to. I've read on forums people bashing the Rega Planar 1, and the fact it's plug n play, but it suits me fine for now. I sold my music collection years ago as we were on our bums financially and expecting a baby. Now, we are little more comfortable and I can now try and recoup that collection albeit in a different format and indulge in my love of music once again. **UPDATE** Whilst off sick, a mixture of meds and a little tipple I ordered the AT-VM95EN and installed it as per the video on this channel (when I was a little more sober, I must say)... It's made everything so much clearer on all levels. The soundstage is bigger, the detail is amazing. The upgrades have worked really well together. Thank you for all your advice and help.
Bought my In November,not impressed, Tried the Vm95e,Grado Black,AT95e All set with correct overhang and tracking force,the bass is good but no air feel that details missing ,my Old Technics Sl 3310 is back on the Livingroom Thanks for a great channel
recently bought a P1 for my niece (she has discovered vinyl!), and set it up for her. I measured the tracking force with a digital scale, with the counterweight all the way in ,as was suggested by the dealer, and it was 3.8 gms!!!. I adjusted it to 2 gms , a more reasonable weight. Trust but verify , as an infamous US president used to say!
Just come across this video and very much enjoyed it. I've had the entry level Planar 1 (with the under plinth power switch) since just after they came out. I have had a problem with the fixed bias in that I was getting many (both new and used) records that would skip. Always backwards. I thought this was how it was with an "audiophile-esque" deck (having been away from vinyl for many years). that they were ultra delicate, very choosey and I just had to live with it. In the end I began to investigate. I checked VTF on a VTF guage. I checked the deck was level, I cleaned the records and stylus, I got a protractor on to check alignment, everything was fine. But I noticed the arm would move towards the outer edge of the deck when I used the VTF guage. In the end I removed the arm and pulled out the bias magnet and set it so more was protruding (to around the same as a recently viewed video for fitting the mp110 cart.to the RB110 arm). That same day I played 3 records through (1 new, 2 second hand) that had always skipped at the same point and they all played beautifully. The deck very nearly put me off vinyl (having been in "CD land" with a Rega Apollo for many years). I am now starting to enjoy vinyl again and the nervous wait for the skips, whenever I spun a newly purchased record, are starting to fade. Has it put me off Rega? No, I have several other pieces of Rega kit. But, in the future, I will neve purchase any deck that doesn't allow for bias adjust. Best wishes from a new viewer (subscribed also), Isle of Skye, Scotland.....Richard.
yes, my problem is similar except i replaced the carbon with a rega bias 2, sounds wonderful till i get to the center of the vinyl, then comes the skips and looping. very frustrating.
@@damienlahoz I know your pain! However, an update from my P1 is that, since re-setting the bias myself (removing the arm etc) Every record except 1 (which has some small damage when I look closely)has played all the way through, both sides, no skipping. It is a fix I should not have needed to do. Also I noticed that on the newer P2's rega has re-introduce the bias control, so it is no longer fixed like the P1. So there is some hope for us all :) Happy listening.
@@damienlahoz from what I can recall, I managed to pull the bias magnet free with a set of needle nosed pliers. I then set the end of the magnet 27mm in from the end of the arm base (you can use a ruler or, as I did, a pair of vernier callipers) and fixed the weight in place with some bluetack. VTF I then set a little under the 2g that, IIRC, the carbon is supposed to be. probably around 1.8g. As the results were fine with all of the above I did not try any other variants. Although, when I get some time, I will play with the VTF a little to see if it alters things at all. Basically I was just so relieved that I could play records on my P1 without any angst and nervously awaiting the skipping/looping on the records!
Thank you for the video(s). I have been perusing them for the last few days and have gained a great deal of knowledge. I purchased the P1 two years ago and have loved listening to records again. I think I will hang on to the P1 for a little longer, maybe 5 years. Do you recommend the 10mm glass or 12mm glass platter? Keep up the great videos - helpful for us newbies.
Agree but gone SME acrylic platter for it with Audio-technica AT-VM95E and is brilliant but would like to upgrade eventually to P3 once got even more albums. I had a NAD back in the day and the Raga knocks the socks off that .
I don't want to attempt changing the cart myself so I bought a better stylus from LP gear in the states. I've also purchased a acrylic platter, neither items have arrived yet. The stock rp1 sounds great to my ears so I'm looking forward to testing the platter and stylus. I plan to keep the rp1 for a couple of years then buy a rp3, for now I'm happy.
I put an Elys 2 on a Planar 1, it was a bit of a no brainier really as I got the Elys 2 boxed and sealed for £52. I was really pleased with it, put it in a Linn system on my dining room. I made the mistake of not even listening to the Carbon though, I took it straight off, so I don’t actually have any reference for what level of improvement the Elys 2 actually gave.
Thank you very much for the information! I've been using Planar 1 for a couple of months now and noticed that I can hear detonation on sustained piano chords. I can't tell by ear whether it's wow or flutter. Also sometimes there are single rotation slowdowns in random places. The bearing is fine, everything is new. There's the question: is this common for this turntable, or is it a defect? Will replacement the platter with a Planar 2 glass platter would help in my case? Cheers, Art
What would you suggest about upgrading a (20+ year old) RP2? What would be the furthest you\d go cartridge wise? Anything else I could do without going to an RP3 / 6 ?
I replaced the Plinth of my RP1 with a RP6 plinth. Replaced the tonearm with a RP3 tonearm. Replaced the cartridge with a Sumiko pearl. Replaced the sub platter, with an aluminum one. Replaced the platter with a RP3 platter. Replaced the motor with the 24v motor. Added the TTPSU, Replaced the the pully with a double pully. Now I have 2 Rega's... One RP1, and one Frankestine RP3/6. I Just need another dust cover. And the turntable sounds great! Was it worth all the money I spent? Probably not. But it sure was fun chasing that dragon.
Can I ask why you’d not recommend any of the Ortofon cartridges? I’ve been using a 2M Red for years and I’ve always stood behind the brand, thinking about upgrading to either this or the P2 and I was going to upgrade to the 2M Blue cartridge once I do so, but if there’s something better out there, or something that suits the table a bit better, for the same money I’d love to know!
I’m dithering between the Planar 6 and the Project X8. Different approaches i know. I like the separate motor on the Rega and the MC Anita option. For comparable money the Project comes with the Sumiko Moonstone, which is also provided with the X2 which is $600 less. 🤨
Great video, thank you. I have a p1 plus and I would like to get the glass platter. At the moment the only one I can find that will ship to ireland is a 12mm. Do you think that would be too heavy/high for the P1? I’d love to buy one from you but I’m outside the UK.
Good afternoon Phil I installed the glass platter on my P1 off my P2 for testing purposes, you were right.the sound opened up and there was an improvement in sound separation. I found your video very informative. If in the future you could have an upgrade tutorial video that would be helpful for the vinyl enthusiasts out there.
Glass is not good for the turn table it has far more vibration. The only reason a glass platter would sound better is if you had a cheap and nasty one before that created distortion. You cannot get a better sound out of a platter unless there was a fault with your old one. The heavier platters cause strain on your turntable which might cause noisier motor noise over time. Your far better of get a alloy platter . I find glass platters ugly . But all that matters is your platter is turning at the correct speed.
What utter bullshit mate . Separation cannot sound better because you changed your platter. The only thing that can change your sound quality is a better cartridge .
@@xtraspecial4677 I tend to disagree. I have a 10mm thick glass platter with a thin wool mat my 2018 Rega planar 2 , no rumble extremely quiet and sounds great. The aluminum plater is on my Pioneer PL 518 and that has a thick rubber mat with that said aluminum platters create more resonance.
I personally dislike the felt turntable mats, because of all the dust ect, they transfer onto my records.😉 I have tried a few mats as can be seen on my wee channel for anyone who fancies a look. I also use IKEA bamboo chopping boards with Sorbothane feet +other things, for isolation on my Rega turntable /s as you can also see. 😉 If you open the descriptions on each video you can see the many, many tweaks/modifications/upgrades or waste of time and money, used on each turntable, depending on your point of view. 😉 Please think about subscribing, thanks a million 👍. Happy listening. Jim 🏴 ☺
Love my Rega RP1 (comparable to the Planar 1 discussed here?) ... I also have, but am not currently using, a Nagaoka MP500 cartridge (a corporate retirement gift, believe it or not) ... I've tried it on the RP1 with a tonearm spacer, and while the sound was very good, I can tell there's a lot more the MP500 could do in a better arm/table ... Question - to get the best from the MP500, how far up the Rega line would one need to go?
I would think the P6 would be a good choice and depending on how much you hate Rega cartridges you MAY be able to get one with Exact cartridge for not much more than no cartridge. The Exact is fairly well rated and the 3 point mount is nice. Or get a P6 with no cartridge if cheaper. Or get a P3 the arm on it and the P6 are the same. The Nagaoka may need a 2 mm spacer?
Since the Rega Carbon (AudioTechnica) is the standard cartridge on the P1, should we assume that we can use any Audio Technica cartridge without the need for tonearm spacers on this, or any, Rega deck?
Record cleaning, what a minefield that is - on the internet anyway. People tend to have very fixed views on how to clean records. The only way to do it is so-and-so and if you do anything else you are ruining your records - you know the kind of thing. I look forward to the comments when you release that particular video. I was interested to hear you extol the virtues of felt mats. That’s not the prevailing thinking among the all-knowing internet crowd either. I dodged that issue by not having one at all - I have an acrylic platter. The TT came with the instruction not to use a mat unless you want to “bugger up the music” ( that’s a direct quite from the instructions). You can probably guess the manufacturer.!
I have a P2 which must be 20 years old. I play mostly my original 60 soul collection, both 45s and LPs. Many are in mono. Have you any recommendations for a new cartridge?
Hey, Phil, wondering if you could answer a question for me. You mentioned that the place to put a turntable is on a table which is light in weight. Did I hear that correctly? Do you know where online I can read more about that theory? Or could you elaborate? Thank you!!!!
Agree the VM95 range are a good upgrade. Love Rega but not the Carbon unfortunately - something like the 95E is absolute borderline for me in terms of acceptable cartridge quality on any deck. Outside of the Rega glass platter and cartridge the best upgrade for a P1 is trade in for better Rega deck. Forums are full of supposed 'upgrades' for Rega decks and in nearly all cases these run counter to the design ethos of light and stiff. Avoid and stick to Rega sanctioned upgrades.
Agreed. The Carbon tracks horribly and the fact that it is supplied as standard on a P2 is unacceptable in my book. VM95e on both the P1 and P2 should be the norm. Different league.
@@CheekyFest I think either approach can work well but the design ethos needs to central to the design. Super light and stiff materials can approach the ideal of a closed energy loop, miniimising the path between stylus and platter and reducing the ability for anything within the loop to impact the performance. at the other end, extreme mass structures can be very inert ensuring that little stored energy gets back to the stylus.
I would go with a Goulding 2100 moving iron £160 can be found cheaper if you don't buy it from hi-fi retailers. how much is the P1? I think you're better off with the project primary e £200
Could you discuss if it is possible to add a switch to the P1 to bypass the built in amplifier, I purchased mine after being told by the salesperson it had one built in which of course it does not.
I enjoyed the video and I'm sure you'll disagree with me ,but in my opinion I find that the P1 is everybody is good as the P3. And let me say as well that I don't mean that literally per se I'm more mean that the P1 gives you about 97% of the sound quality that you achieve with the P3, just with it's much lower price point. I had a P1 for a long time , when they were first introduced I bought it, and just last year I upgraded to a P3. I remember taking my P1 off the rack and putting the P3 in its place and putting down a record I'm very familiar with and starting it up and thinking to myself, " this doesn't actually sound any different ". now of course that could have been due to break in but to me with their stock cartridges I didn't really notice a whole lot of difference, of course I ended up keeping the P3 but the P1 is fantastic for its price.
Can you disconnect the inbuilt phono preamp on P1 plus and use an external one? I guess at this price point you can easily spend as much as the turntable cost on upgrades. VM95E cartridge seems to be the most affordable upgrade currently, but maybe not worth spending more than that.
How does a Goldring E3 rank in your opinion; especially compared to the Carbon? The E3 seems to get a lot of praise in reviews etc. Thanks for the fascinating videos.
I have an E3 fitted on my P3 and Absolutely love it. Very well balanced Cartridge. Have the new E4 stylus coming now so can't wait to try that and see how much of an improvement it is!
Hi, I have a Rega Planar 1 plus and I am having terrible trouble with dust build-up on the stylus. I have a stylus brush and cleaning fluid, but this doesn’t get rid of the debris build-up that wraps itself around the stylus, distorting the sound. This means I end up having to take off the stylus and carefully remove the debris with tweasers. Can you recommend a better way to clean the stylus that doesn’t involve removing the stylus, please?
Buy a can of two blue racketballs. Cut them into halves with box knife without hurting yourself. Place under slab of granite you get from the scrap of your local granite guy. Maybe need some cutting to size. Place ball halves under the granite and your tt on top. Level like hell with a good spirit level in several spots. You can cut your ball halves to size with some good scissors if you want lower or to shim. That's my setup and it is working great. The other thing that made a huge difference with the Rega p3 motor noise was to really isolate the tt from both speakers and both amps as in ft away 3 ft to speakers and 2 ft to amps and the amps are lower as well with cabinet in between. Also to keep tt cords and phono preamp cords above and away from the rest of the jumble of cords. Seems to be fine now with the dreaded unshielded Elys 2 and no neo unit I can tolerate it now maybe 50% of what it had been esp at higher volumes it's not as bad now. Also I screwed around with the anti skate lowered it a little and it's smooth as silk in the end groove. I think this Elys 2 is pretty damn good I mean I have some good gear but what the heck you can do worse on cartridges.
You mentioned that you've gone into the reasons why the Nagaoka MP110 doesn't need a spacer elsewhere; could anyone point me in a direction of a video where you talk about this?
Hello! Thank you for your video. I've got a RP1 and already upgrade it with a glass platter. I've read that a slipmat isn't necessary, while having a glass platter. Is it true? I don't use one for that reason.
Thank you for this excellent video! I own Rega P1. I recently bought from Polish Rega distributor new platter for Rega P3, that they had an 50% discount on. They told me that you can just change the original P1 platter with the P3 platter without any adjustments. I still have the original P1 cartridge and did not do any adjustments to the arm. I just exchanged the platters and with the P3 platter Rega P1 table sounds much worse. The sound became very bright and "metalic". It lost the analog feeling that I get with the table in the original configuration. It does not sound right, it sounds as if it is somehow "broken". Comming back to the original P1 platter brings the sound back to its original form. The P3 platter is clearly new, it came in its original package and does not have any signs of damage. I would be very thankful for any advise on what I am doing wrong. Rega P1 is my first turntable so I am not an expert. Thank you and all the best in expanding the channel. I watched already most of the videos and found them very informative. Waiting for the next chapters on audio tweaks :) Kind Regards, Marcin
Is the arm still parallel to the platter plus mat plus record? It might be that the P3 platter at 12mm is too high giving you that bright sound. If so, then you either need a Rega washer under the tonearm to raise it, or swap the P3 platter for the 10mm P2 one.
@@cheshireaudio Ok thanks. I installed a bias2 @ 1.75g on my 2018 Rega Planar 2 and had the same back skipping issue, removed the arm pulled the magnet out a bit and secured it with glue. Problem solved it now tracks an sounds great. I was thinking of installing the Bias2 to my 2020 planar1 and getting a Elys for my P2. My question is would I have to perform the same magnet adjustment on the P1?
@@cheshireaudio Phil When I had the Rega Carbon on the P2 it sounded good but when I installed the Bias2 their was a lot of distortion from the middle to the end of a record and on some it would skip back or get stuck in the groove. Once I pulled the magnet out about halfway, the music sounded clear with definition. Since the Bias 2 tracks at 1.75 and the Carbon at 2.3G the magnet was set for the Carbon or any cart that would track above 2. That’s my 2 cents worth.
@@lawrencecabrera5937 Certainly an odd one. The fixed bias arms are set to 2g, but bias is a really subtle force, it can't make an arm stick .... most manufacturers only give 1/2g or 1g increments of adjustment, some no bias at all ... 0.25 shouldn't have any effect at all ... glad it's working now anyway
Light tables don't absorbe vibration ..what total ridiculous advice Choosing your playing surface Setting your turntable on a heavy, stable piece of furniture will help isolate your turntable from all kinds of vibrations. The furniture's extra mass will absorb vibration so that your turntable doesn't have to.
