Review: Rega Planar 8 turntable

 

I've owned a half-dozen turntables in my time.  Starting with an old Technics direct driver with a p-mount cartridge and working through two VPIs, a long running Dual CS5000, and two Thorens of varying vintages.  Except for some experimentation with the Denon DL-103R MC, it has mostly been MM cartridges of different expenses.  I thought, for example that the Thorens TD309 and Ortofon Bronze cartridge was very good - especially for the price - combination.

Well the past few months living with a new Rega RP8 and Ania Pro MC cartridge has been a real eye-opener.  Gone is the fuzziness and opaqueness of the MM sound, replaced by more detail and a bigger soundstage.  The experience has changed my mind about the moving magnet.  Though the Rega Ania Pro MC needs a step-up transformer  - in my case Cinemag 1254s - the speed and transparency has brought everything up to a much higher level of refinement.

Since there are already several reviews of the 'table I will keep it short.

The biggest surprise with the Rega combination is the bass and dynamics.  It was always my belief that a "real" turntable required a gagillion pound platter and base.  Instead the RP8 is decidedly unimpressive - at least visually - compared to something like a VPI Aries.  How did Rega do it?  I have no idea about the mechanical engineering behind this table, but, to my ears, is just works.  Perhaps it is the turntable acting as a whole system with a cartridge, arm, and everything else like the included speed controller working together.

Soundstaging, like on several original Dead Can Dance LPs, is superlative.  We are talking a rounded arc left-to-right that goes beyond the edges of the speaker, along with exceptional depth.  The coloration and clarity of something like Lonnie Liston Smith's Visions of a New World comes through much better than my now-departed Thorens TD309/Ortofon 2M Bronze.  This is also a big sound turntable with excellent resolution and separation of instruments; exceeding any front end I've ever had before.

Yes the Rega RP8 is much more expensive than my previous turntable but, at least in this case, the cost was worth the sonic upgrade.  Not only does my whole system sound that much better, but everything from the preamp to the amplifier and even the speakers sound way better than their price point. 

Very, very recommended.

System:

• Audio Research SP8
• modified Eico ST70 with 6AR6 tubes
• Cardas Neutral Reference interconnects
• KEF R500 speakers with Mogami stranded wiring
  
• Dual CS5000 turntable with an Ortofon OM20 cart, aftermarket Shibata Stylus

Review: Denon DCD-600NE CD player

 (image from the Denon website)

I still remember the first time I heard a CD player - this was at some teenage party back in the mid-1980s and I was rather impressed how loud it played.  Hey this was before I knew what being an audiophile was.  It was a year later when my dad bought a Magnavox player for his system.  I spent a mighty chunk of change - $22 - buying a Misfits compilation that, sadly, ended up sounding very bright, thin, and irritating to the point where a headache soon came on.  Later, in college, when I got into tube gear, I owned a Theta Basic DAC.   However I still thought my Thorens TD-166 turntable with a $20 Grado Black cartridge served the soul of music much better.

Years later there was a time that I was into digital.  By then vinyl was getting harder to get a hold of and the CD re-issues were pumping out some excellent compilations of rarer groups.  I started experimenting with several DIY modifications and designs.  For example, the transformer-coupled RAKK DAC was one of the better iterations of digital I have ever heard.  But in the end it was analog that won my heart.  Over the years my CD collection continued to shrink while my passion for vinyl increased and became the focal point of my system.

Time marched on - CDs are now ridiculously cheap.  From a purely music lovers point-of-view, they are an easy way to build a music collection, especially compared to the now high price of vinyl.  I decided once again to buy a CD player, hoping that technology has improved the Red Book standard.

But what to get?  I searched through Ebay and Audiogon, looking at several vintage models.  Ideally I wanted something with a digital out so I could experiment with DACs in the future.  Accessories 4 Less came to the rescue with a refurbished Denon DCD-600NE player that featured a 32 bit DAC and AL32 processing that - to quote their website - "expands audio data to 32 bits and uses a proprietary algorithm to interpolate the data and perform up-conversion and sampling, achieving a playback sound that is close to the original source."  So, as my friend likes to joke, "Perfect Sound Forever just got MORE perfect."

The Denon DCD-600NE is a stripped down player and - shockingly - has a metal enclosure.  If you want to use the full functions - random play, direct mode, track programming, etc, - this is where the rather large remote comes into play.  Digital out is via Optical - not ideal - but this may point to a future Schiit Bifrost 2 DAC upgrade.

So how does this little beast sound?  Initial impressions weren't the best.  There was a forwardness to the sound that was tiring, along with a sense that, compared to even my lowly Dual CS5000 turntable, that 20% of the musical information was just missing.  What I mean are the spatial cues were gone, rendering the voice and instruments as very two-dimensional.  A good reproduction system should have depth along with breadth, transporting the listener to the mind of the producer, or with some classical recordings, to the venue itself.  Instead the Denon reminded me once again why I prefer vinyl for home listening.

After a few days of break-in I decided it was time for some comparisons against two different turntables along with some general impressions.

The forwardness was reduced but there is no other way to say this - this budget Denon still sounds like digital.  Compared to the same LP, the CD is missing reverb cues; either the room or artificial.  An example of this is Willie Nelson's Stardust.  The body of the acoustic guitar is gone, leaving just the top layer of the guitar notes.  The "black background" sounds uncanny but not in a good way.  It's like a black hole of information - nothing is there! - compared to the warmth and fullness of analog which captures the space of the room and the size of the instruments.  It feels as if the music has gone through some kind of horrible clinical ward, stripping off the flesh of the music and leaving only the bones.

Now that does sound like a harsh review.  To be fair some CDs were better than others, like a few Chet Baker albums in my collection that sounded quite good.  Jazz is usually well-recorded but I still preferred my LP versions - even with my second turntable, a budget Dual CS5000.  At least with analog my brain connects to the music and I can relax.  With digital I am still gritting my teeth and feel uncomfortable with the overall presentation.

Maybe a DAC will bring some improvements.  We shall see!

System:

• Audio Research SP8
• modified Eico ST70 with 6AR6 tubes
• Cardas Neutral Reference interconnects
• KEF R500 speakers
• Dual CS5000 turntable with an Ortofon OM20 cart, aftermarket Shibata Stylus
• Thorens TD309 with Ortofon 2M Bronze
  

Turntable Basics and Buyers Guide

 Here is a short video I made about buying turntables; geared toward beginners or anyone looking to upgrade to a new record player.

Review: Nagaoka MP-110 phono cartridge

Since my Audio Technica AT95E phono cartridge mysteriously suffered a cantilever bend, and, even after adjusting for this minor metal tweak, began to suffer from bothersome inner-groove distortion, I thought it was time for something new.  With the B&W speakers and the very nice (for the price) performance of the Nakamichi SR-3A receiver, I wanted a decent jump up in sound quality.  In the sub-$100 category, there are several popular choices - the Ortofon OM10 and 2M Red, the Audio Technica AT-100E and AT-110E, the Shure 97xE, the Sumiko Oyster, and two Grado cartridges.

One brand, however, begin to stick out, Nagaoka.  They offer several models ranging from the $80 MP-100 to the $655 MP-500.  Since this is a budget rig, I decided on the MP-110 with its strong 5mV output, a reputation for tracking and low noise, and the replaceable stylus.  The cartridge came in a funky little UFO-shaped container along with screws and even a little screwdriver.

A quick visual inspection showed a cantilever that was mounted straight without any slop to the left or right.  Construction quality was high - it felt more substantial than the budget Audio Technica AT95E - though some threaded holes would be nice instead of juggling with tiny nuts and screws (please no sexual jokes).  Installation on my Dual CS5000 removable headshell wasn't too bad, provided my big Norgie cat stopped getting in the way.  Apparently she likes shiny things.  After that a protractor was used for alignment and digital gauge to determine the stylus force, which was set at 1.8g.

With no break-in, the sound was a little strange - diffuse and with some minor midrange suckout.  Tracking, however, was very, very good.  With some cartridges, the MFSL re-issue of Frank Sinatra - Nice 'n' Easy, the last track could start to show some serious inner-groove distortion.  Listening intently with the Nagaoka I had a hard time hearing any mistracking or added grittiness to the vocals.  Very impressive considering the low price point of this cartridge.

A few hours and many records later it was time to do some serious listening.

Listening to the re-issue of Dead Can Dance - The Serpent's Egg revealed a cartridge that sounded surprisingly refined for this price level.  The midrange was on the warm sound of neutrality and the treble was slightly forward with a bit of a metallic sheen, but the music was reproduced without any of the roughness or congestion that I normally associate with cheap cartridges.  Bass definition - at least through the small woofers of the B&W Matrix 805s - was very good.  It was also easy to pick out the different instruments in the mix. 

One of my rarer records is the album Turquoise Fields from the French Coldwave act Little Nemo.  My copy isn't exactly mint and normally has some offending ticks and pops that distract from the music.  The Nagaoka MP-110, however really reduces this noise quite a bit.  I also found this to be true with my beat up Japanese copy of This Mortal Coil - It'll End In Tears.   In short, the cartridge is a godsend for vinyl collectors of obscure music who can't always find the cleanest copy.

My second system is mainly used for background - not for serious listening.  The speakers are too far apart and too close to the wall for good imaging.  The soundstaging, therefore, is not a strong point.  I can't comment too much on the Nagaoka MP-110 here, but the imaging is a bit diffuse and a little less solid than my CD player.  I am, however, too lazy to install this cartridge in my main system, replacing the Dynavector 10X5.  Maybe someday once the Dynavector needs to be re-tipped.

Nonetheless, I can highly recommend the Nagaoka MP-110 within the confines of a budget system.  That refinement I mentioned earlier gives a real "taste of the high-end".  In comparison, my memory of the Ortofon 2M Red (on a different table, mind you) was of a rougher sound.  This finesses of the MP-110, and the ability to reduce vinyl noise while tracking the inner groove makes it a budget winner.

Second System:

Dual CS5000 turntable

Pioneer DVD-V7400

Nakamichi SR-3A receiver

B&W Matrix 805s on stands

Wire: Various brands