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I need TT Help: Please advise

I am looking for a good starter turntable for a newbie who is coming back to vinyl after a 15 year break. I bought a used Rega Planar 9 with the old "S" shaped tonearm on Ebay for $300.00 and am not happy with the performance. I think I should have spent a little more money and bought a better table. I will list my present system so you can help me choose the best TT to fit my system and my budget. I also bought a Grado Signature Platinum 1.5mV low output cartridge for $125.00 that I didn,t bother to mount since I plan on getting a different table. I don't mind buying used, in fact I prefer it. My system is as follows:
Rega Planer 9 described above, Conrad Johnson Sonograph CD player, Pioneer TX-5500 II Sterio Analog Tuner, Conrad Johnson PV-8 tube preamp, Two Golden Tube Audio SE-40's Bridged mono and running the top end of a pair of Snell AIII's and an Adcom GFA-555 running the bottom end of the Snells, I plan on adding a second Adcom so I can bridge them for mono setup on the bottom end of the Snells. I have a Creek OBH-11 headphone amp and a pair of Sennheiser HD570 Symphony headphones. For connectors I'm using 2 pair of Goertz M-I's, 5 pair of MIT's, 3 pair of DIY braided silver interconnects throughout the system. Speaker cables are MIt on the top and Straight Wire on the bottom. So far I'm running the bi-amp configuration without an active crossover but am currently looking for one. Now I would like the help of all of you more experienced Analog folks out there with advice on selecting a new turntable for under $1000.00. I would also welcome and advice about possible changes that may need to be made in my system. I kinda put it together over the past 3 months based on what I could find and afford at the time. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Rick Zerambo
richardzerambo
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
The Planar 9 is a great table. You might try getting the current arm and make sure the cartridge is installed correctly. I have a planar 25 (which is a step below yours) in a 40K system and I love it.

Also, maybe you don't like the grado sound, try something like a Lyra Lydian ...
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
The Planar 9 is a fine TT. What arm is it? Rega has not
used an s-shaped arm in over a decade. See about replacing the arm.
pug
34 posts
 
Try swapping out the arm for a different one, i.e., an Origin Live modded Rega 250. Make sure your VTA, tracking, anti-skate, etc. are set up properly -- these may have an impact on the sound. Also, like someone else said, you may want to try a different cartridge as well.
musikdok
120 posts
 
I kinda doubt it's a Planar 9 with the S tonearm. Probably an older P-3, as the P-9 came standard with the RB-900 arm which has a different mounting scheme from the older Rega arms. If it is a P-3, you could pursue Origin Live updates for the arm (per above), motor/power supply, and acrylic platter. Or you could dump it altogether, and get a newer Rega (P25), Linn, or VPI used. I'd suggest the VPI or Linn for ~1K, then work on updates as finances allow.
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