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Nottingham Spacedeck vs Rega Planar 8 vs Technics SL1200G

Hey Everyone,

An analogue newbie needs your advice.

Firstly I am not looking for any TT recommendations other than these 3.

My system is Devore O96, and the amplification would be either Lyngdorf 3400/Coincident Frankenstein combo or a Shindo pre/amp combo (forthcoming). The phono stage is TBD.

The sound I like is rich, full-bodied, with a good bass (I love percussion, and the double-bass instrument and  Mingus is my fav jazz artist). I am very sensitive to even a hint of brightness. I don't care about the typical audiophile presentation -- gobs of detail and soundstage but no soul.

My music of choice is jazz, vocals and small-scale instrumentals. No rock, no pop, no western classical.

Would love your thoughts on these 3 choices.

Since I am a newbie, easy setup is big win, which might tilt me towards the Rega or Technics, but with Nottingham I have a great dealer support that I would completely miss out on if I went with Technics (no Technics dealer in a 5000 mile radius).

I used to own a Rega RP6, so am familiar with Rega sound, and like it. But my RP6 was bested by my DAC (AMR DP-777) so sold it a few years ago. So I want a TT that will compete with any sub-10000$ DAC.

Looking forward to your thoughts that will help me scratch my analog itch.


essrand
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,762 posts
 
However, since the AP LP was an order of magnitude quieter than the other LP at all frequencies, and only somewhat more audible at 400Hz than at other frequencies, does this not suggest that the coupling is pretty good? Agreed that 400Hz seems less good... The graphite platter has a natural resonance of 2KHz, the cast iron subplatter of 500Hz.

Settled on this configuration after other platter pads sounded muddy by comparison.
Sounds like the platter pad is robbing energy from the platter and vice versa. That is a simple way to kill resonance. Empire used to do something like that with their two-piece platters in their 598 and 698 years ago.

do you guys ever just sit back and enjoy the music?:)
Yup! And I enjoy it more when the system is really neutral (and so does my GF). That is why getting the platter pad right is important- you can't fix things downstream if the cartridge isn't able to do its job properly!

Look at this beauty:
https://www.technics.com/us/news/20190107-sl-1500c/

Sweet- may well be the next go-to entry level machine.




cd318
2,636 posts
 
Technics seem to want the whole of the turntable market. Fair enough, but it was the stalwarts such as Pro-ject that kept the faith during the darkest days of vinyl. 

This really is quickly becoming a golden age of vinyl playback. Seriously, who saw this coming 20 years ago?
joegator81
108 posts
 
FYI, just put the pre owned Soundsmith zephyr Star on my notts 294 and it sounds fantastic through 3 tracks of Hugh masakalas hope. 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Good to hear Joe.

Debating my next cart and so far it's down to a Soundsmith or Kiseki for the Nottingham.
joegator81
108 posts
 
Uber, 

my my dad has a friend who has a notts, either space with heavy kit or hyperspace fitted with a purple heart. The rest of the system is close to what hwd has set up in their listening room. I really need to go listen and report back. I will give updates as I learn more about the zephyrs sound as well. 
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