The Rega has been OEM for many decks and has formed the basis of: Townshend; Origin Live; Audio Note; Funk Firm; Audiomods and I’m sure others too. It’s for good reason - a fundamentally excellent design where the economies of scale bring about high manufacturing quality - like current IKEA kitchens - not the last word by any means but fundamentally very consistent build due to the fact when you manufacture in large numbers you simply can’t get away with mistakes and flaws. I am told they don’t go with Linns for some reason though.
Direct Drive
I am firmly in the digital camp, but I’ve dabbled in vinyl. Back in the day I was fascinated by Technics Direct Drive tt, but couldn’t afford them. I was stuck with my entry level Gerrard. I have been sans turntable for about 5 years now but the new gear bug is biting. I am interested in the Technics 1500 which comes with an Ortofon Red and included pre amp. I have owned Rega P5 which I hated for its speed instability and a Clearaudio Concept which was boring as hell.
Direct Drive was an anathema to audiophiles in the nineties but every time I heard one it knocked my socks off. What do the analogers here think of Direct Drive? I listen to Classical Music exclusively
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@dover The OL's use gimbal bearings. OL incorporates a floating bearing design but I don't believe they're loose. My thought is that one would have to do a side by side comparison to determine which arms sounds better. I'd expect to see comparisons of Rega and OL reviewed online but oddly I cannot find any. The Rega price tag is enticing. Out of curiosity, are there certain stereo and/or mono cartridge that match up especially well with the Rega arms? |
I use to sell a lot of Audio Technica OC9's which worked particularly well with the Rega arms. The early Rega moving coils for me we're a bit "hard" sounding - partly I suspect because they had unusual impedance requirements and really sounded best with the Rega phono which used input transformers matched to the cartridge. However I know someone who has run Shelters & Benz's with the Rega arms with good results and has just taken delivery of the top 2 Rega MC cartridges and is really impressed - they are way better than the older models and ahead of the Benz/Shelter's Since VTA is not adjustable easily on the Rega arms going with the latest Rega MC's has a big advantage with ease of set up. |
@dover Threaded VTA adjusters are available for any Rega mount. https://soundsupports.co.uk/Rega%20Related%20Products/ Of course Rega wants their customers to buy Rega cartridges but to me that seems limiting. I do believe in the compatibility factor, meaning certain cartridges perform better with certain tonearms. But Clearaudio cartridges with Clearaudio tables and Rega cartridges with Rega tables; on that I'm not yet sold. |
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