Rega P1 TurnTables

Rega P1 TurnTables 

DESCRIPTION

Turntable

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-5 of 5  
[Oct 25, 2023]
davidson02


Strength:

This is a must-buy! Our drywall installer recommends it.

Weakness:

None so far.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Aug 23, 2022]
joeanderson


Strength:

The overall sound of the table is decent enough for https://www.sandyspringsfencepros

Weakness:

None so far.

Purchased:
Used  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jul 30, 2022]
highfalutin


Strength:

The sound was very good but for some reason when I put my record player to the phono input it sounded horrible. By the way, do you know a tree service near me?

Weakness:

Love it have no complaints

Purchased:
New  
OVERALL
RATING
5
[Jun 12, 2010]
frankhjb
AudioPhile

Very much in agreement with jeffczar about this turntable. Bought this at the advise of STEREOPHILE and it was a mistake. First, the unit arrived and I had immediate problems. Heat from the UPS truck had melted the "glue" that held the motor in place on the plinth. This caused the belt pulley to be out of alignment (causing noise) and would not allow the platter to be played at 45rpm speed. The dealer (Audible Elegance) was great about replacing and supplied an extra glue thing should this ever happen again (it has not)
Next: set up - If you follow the instructions as published by REGA, the cartridge force will not even be close to correct! After doing the CORRECT set-up, I started to audition lp's. The ORTOFON OM5e sounds like a screech owl and I decided that sooner or later, it would have to go. But before that, other tweeks needed to happen. THe MDF platter with the cheese felt pad (ya, don't let your stylus accidently hit this - it will be a goner!) with a glass platter and a recycled rubber mat. The next item was the installation of viscoelastic damping sheets around the motor, platter support, and tone arm attachment on the underside of the plinth. This helped to reduce most of the noise, but not all. Next; the cartridge. Not wanting to keep pouring a lot of money into this "money pit" I decided to install a GRADO PRESTIGE Black; the low end of that series. Without going into a lot of detail (maybe a further review of only the Grado), I can report that this is an excellent cartridge. Don't let the low price tag fool you; this unit preforms very well. While installing the Grado, I accidently snagged one of the lead wires from the cartridge to the tonearm cables. There I discovered that the connections of the lead wires to the tonearm cable wires were just crimped together and separated by some cheap foam so that they would not touch. I removed the entire tonearm and lugged it to my audio repair guru since he had wires, soldering equipment and a lot more patience than me. He did a repair and put a spritz of superglue in the foam area to keep things more structurally fit. Also had him loosely mount the Grado and I did the final alignments when I reinstalled the tonearm to the plinth. I should have followed my first instincts when deciding to purchase a new turntable; look for a nice THORNES or DUAL unit. There has to be better performing and constructed turntables for this dollar amount. $400.00 for this table is very much a waste of money.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
1
[Feb 14, 2009]
jeffczar
AudioPhile

I hate to rain on everyones parade but I don't agree with the universal good reviews this product has been getting. Let me just begin by stating I was a young audiophile in the days just before CD's hit the market. I have owned a lot of turntables including a Thorens TD160, Dual 1229, Ariston RD40, and a few other very good but not high end tables. I decided to get back into records a few years back and bought this table. I still have a lot of nearly new cartridges around so I mounted a Denon DL110 on it and started listening. The overall sound of the table is decent enough, albeit quite veiled. However, the real problem it has it appears is arm design. This thing has trouble tracking almost anything I threw at it. There is significant mistracking and distortion with almost every cartridge I mounted on it. I tried a Stanton 881S Stereohedron which fared the best, the Denon I mentioned, a Shure M97HE, and an Ortofon OM40. I thought maybe my memory just has faded and I have forgotten about some of the problems associated with vinyl reproduction. So I unpacked my Dual 1229 which is in mint condition and which I completely restored in the late 90's. My memory was not failing me but the Rega table was. I mounted the Denon DL110 on the Dual and fired up dozens of the same albums I tried on the Rega. The Dual sails through nearly everything like it was gliding through silk. No mistracking, no distortion, unbelievably quiet surfaces. It was like night and day. THAT is the way vinyl magic should sound! I aligned the cartridges on the Rega with a Rega protractor so I know they were properly aligned, I tried everything to get this table to sound as good as a mid-fi table from the 60's or 70's. This level of mistracking will destroy a record in only a few passes. I am quite frankly shocked by the inability of the P1 to properly track a record and equally shocked at the unbelievably transparent quality of the Dual 1229. It's very hard to tell the difference between the inner and outer grooves for god sake, where the Rega balked like crazy as it approached the inner grooves on nearly anything. The Dual was a good table in its day but certainly couldn't be considered high end. So my advise to anyone looking for an entry level table is stay away from these modern budget units (I tried the Project Debut and if you can believe it was not even as good as the P1). Get a good used vintage table and a good cartridge. I had very high hopes when I bought the Rega but I am sad to report it doesn't live up to the billing. I have heard enough good and bad tables where I know poor arm design when I hear it and folks this is subpar. Perhaps the P3 is a much better unit, I don't know. But don't be fooled by the sycophants at Stereophile, perhaps their memories are failing them, they should break out their old TD160's and then tell me what you think of this table. if you are going to try this unit, just be sure you can get a 30 day trial period to be sure it is for you. Meanwhile the Dual 1229 has assumed its rightful place back in my system next to the mint restored Heathkit W5's and I am really enjoying my huge vinyl collection again and even buying a lot of new albums. It's hard to believe the high level of sound reproduction that was available 30 or 40 years ago.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
Showing 1-5 of 5  

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