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I want to move from Rega Planar 6 help me to pick a new turntable

Hi Folks,

About couple of years ago I got Rega Planar 6. Now since I got more experience with turntables and know what I want from it I am looking for a new one. 

There is nothing wrong with Rega Planar 6. In fact I enjoy it and if asked I would recommend it to other people. As long as they don't care about VTA and Azimuth. And this is the main reason I want a different table. I somewhat agree that VTA is not a huge deal and on Rega you can get a spacers, not too convenient, but not too bad either. But Azimuth for me is crucial. My experience with lots of different cartridges - most of them don't have stylus perfectly perpendicular to the surface.

I don't necessarily looking to upgrade to something much better. I want a turntable that has adjustable Azimuth. I may consider an upgrade but want to stay below 3k.

Also I don't want anything with suspension, my floors are too resonant and believe me my kids could jump upstairs so hard I sometimes have recessed ceiling lights falling off :) And for some reason I don't care about ProJect.

There is also a limiting factor of availability. Because of COVID production stopped and wait times are months in some cases.

So far I have identified the following options (based on my preferences and availability).

Technics SL-1200GR - $1.7k
VPI Prime Scout - $1.9k
EAT B-Sharp - $2k
VPI - Scout 21  - $2.8k
Music Hall - MMF-9.3 Turntable - $2.7k
EAT C-Major - $3k 

The only table outside of my price range that I might consider is Technics SL-1200G for which I've heard extremely good reviews.

The rest of the system
Cartridge - temporarily DL-103. (before I had Ortofon Quintet Black S and Audio-Technica ART9XA)
Phono stage - Parasound zphono xrm
Amp - PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium
Speakers - Martin Logan Motion 60XTi 


Thanks,
Alex 

adrobitko
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,926 posts
 

My $$$ would go for a VPI. I have had 2 different ScoutMasters and was well pleased with them. The Teres that I now have was a TT I had been wanting for a long time previous. But I liked the VPI and recommend them. They have a good upgrade path and had excellent customer service

adrobitko OP
23 posts
 

VPI definitely matches my requirements and I do like the look of it. My only concern is unipivot arm, which I never dealt with.

artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5
1,926 posts
 

My only concern is unipivot arm, which I never dealt with.

I think it gets a bad rap. But they do also make a gimbal arm in the fatboy.

cd318
2,636 posts
 

The Technics SL-1200G might give you a worthwhile improvement over the Rega 6.

I'm not at all certain whether any of the others will.

As you said, "There is nothing wrong with Rega Planar 6. In fact I enjoy it and if asked I would recommend it to other people."

jerryg123's avatar
jerryg123
3,429 posts
 

If you do not care for Pro-Ject then you may want to rethink the EAT table, made in the same factory. They are partners.

I would look at Clearaudio I have been using their tables for years. The Concept is in your range.

Or better yet save up a little and get a vintage Thorens. The new 1600 is very nice.

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