New Rega Planer 8 (P8) Turntable - Apheta 2 Cartridge Combo - Thoughts

What was the prior setup that was too finicky/tweaky for you (let me hazard a guess with VPI)? Either way, Regas have a reputation for being very clean plug & play platforms, so this seems like a solid choice. Your stereo setup is all such extremely high quality gear, and a new P8 could be a fine match for it - but certainly no lower, or it may risk turning you off vinyl again.

I think the new P8 happens to look really sweet. If you want to step it up from there, look at Clearaudio's Performance DC Wood and Ovation lines (stick with good rigid bearing gimbal arms like the Satisfy, Tracer, and Universal). And bear in mind that both of these brands require excellent isolation for their decks.

Wow @fsmithjack ! Wonderful detail. The Aries 3 was actually one VPI table I really liked the look of, and had strongly considered for a time. But I wouldn’t have gotten a VPI arm mounted onto it. I feel that such unipivots are not a good starter arms - and I wouldn’t want anything to do with one even today. The Graham Phantom "unipivot" is an exception to this (it sets up like an absolute dream), but it’s really much more of a refined hybrid than a true unipivot.

I think the P8 is a good idea...I’m excited and hopeful you can come into the "vinyl first" (or at least 50/50) fold with us, from that model. The only issue is that if you stray from Rega cartridges you’ll possibly need to get shims/spacers to roughly adjust for VTA/SRA - but I don’t think that’s an insurmountable issue. I think the plug & play Rega cart bundled with the P8 is a good start, to see where your chips lie on this go-round. Phono stage choice looks solid, too, though I’m definitely a fan of tubed MM stage plus SUT. At this level a good solid-state MM/MC stage will give you best flexibility and low noise floor plus good resistive & capacitative loading adjustments to match your chosen cartridge.

AQ Fire cables - man, those are wonderful sounding cables! I sold off a couple pairs of those, and miss them. Happy new year, and fingers crossed for ya!

It’s definitely OK to play a new record before a cleaning, now and then (dry-brush off all the loose debris). Especially with a good stylus cleaning regimen based on the Magic Eraser and a dry brush. I’m of the camp that the M.E. needs to actually "scrub" something to be effective. I did the simple dip/lift for a while without satisfaction. Now I dip in a corner and *carefully* rotate around the stylus for a proper clean. But it can take some time to work up confidence for this (safe as long as you do no sudden movements; only use one-finger at a time for rotating). I even do this on my Koetsu Coralstone; the diamond still gleams like it’s never been played.

Got to say I’m not a huge fan of the MOFI pressings. I’ve gotten a real expensive dud or two (e.g. Megadeth "Countdown to Extinction" MOFI 2006) that turned me off. I think it’s a good idea and diversify; pick up some good original/vintage pressings too - often that’s where the vinyl magic can be found. Even the cheap stuff can be amazing! E.g. Al Stewart’s "Year of the Cat" can be found in $1-$4 bins and it’s excellent (I don’t even have the MOFI).

Excited for you to be getting your P8 setup together! Crossing fingers that it meets or exceeds your expectations.

It’s good that you’re getting glimpses of excellence, but to be fair that "Brothers in Arms" album is long known for getting the best out of systems, even when most other other rock albums fall flat. I’d keep letting the system burn/settle in for at least 30-50 hours, and get the VTF dialed in as soon as possible.

As for vinyl quality - I’m commonly disappointed by the SQ of reissues and Record Store Day issues. New music on vinyl can sometimes be quite good. Vintage can be great or terrible, but is often cheap enough to experiment. Sorry to hear you’re having struggles with some of your other vinyl purchases.

Off the top of my head, here’s a few of my favorites for sound quality & music quality:

Nirvana "Unplugged" (ORG best, but any is good)
Alice In Chains "Unplugged" (MOV)
Alice in Chains "Jar of Flies" (MOV)
War on Drugs "A Deeper Understanding"
A-Ha "Hunting High and Low" (original press)
A-Ha "Unplugged (Summer Sessions)"
Ten Years After "A Space In Time"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magic"
Al Stewart "Year of the Cat"
Wild Nothing "Nocturne"
Fleetwood Mac "Rumors"
Daft Punk "Random Access Memories"
Miami Horror "All Possible Futures"
Tracy Chapman "Tracy Chapman"
Klaatu "Klaatu", "Hope"
Edguy - "Monuments" box set (if you like Euro power metal)

@fsmithjack 
Well your situation certainly is interesting. I'm surprised the Rega didn't do better; you must (as you say) have one hell of a digital rig! I'm on the very opposite side of the spectrum - HUGE investment in 2 turntable rig(s), with almost nothing by comparison into digital. The most I stretched there was a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC (2.3K), Audiophilleo 2 w/ PP USB converter ($1K), and decent Audioquest USB cable ($500), driven from various audiophile players (Amarra, Audirvana) on my iMac. Good quality FLAC files, some high-res. And I had a similar end result here, but flipped: vinyl sounds as if it's from another world than digital.

As for your new proposal, I think the move to a tube phono stage is a great idea. Note the Chinook is technically a hybrid (FET stage for MC), and may or may not be enough performance to satisfy your very, very high requirements. Also my experience with hybrid stages like that (gain around say 64dB) is that they do best with cartridges around 0.5mV or higher output, and not so much the super low output MCs less than 0.3mV. I have a Herron VTPH-2A (hybrid) and it is absolutely fantastic with both Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (0.45mV) and Shelter Accord (0.5mV). I'd recommend a look at that stage too; it's wonderful and might just make your cut.

I'm much more skeptical that the Hana, while well reviewed, would meet your high standards. The carts I've heard or owned between 1K and low-2Ks can be extremely nice listens, but all were quite notably flawed compared to the higher tier of carts. At your level, this will matter.

No ideas on the table, but that one looks nice!

Cartridge break-in is very real, but real-er for some brands & models than others. Ortofon Cadenza Bronze is an example that sounds great out of the box, right from hour #1 (and pairs great with the hybrid JFET/tube stages). Whereas Koetsu stones can take some mileage to get where they’re going (and tends to want an MC Step-Up Transformer to shine). You need at least 24 - 40 hours of playtime to see what’s up. Then there’s the issue of running in the phono stage itself. Ugh I hate components with long run-in times. I'm so impatient there, and what with the added difficulty of sending a reverse-RIAA signal via DAC/CD to the phono...

Definitely agree with the discussion on flooring and isolation. If I didn’t have a great rack and somewhat rigid flooring, my main table would be a SOTA (or SME, etc) for its built-in suspension system. I had a Clearaudio Innovation that struggled on an inadequate (not even that cheap) rack - the Rega would be just as bad if not worse in that context.

Well I once owned an Ortofon Windfeld MC, and to me it sounded more like really really good digital with a touch of analogness, which may be your jam :) Very very good technical cartridge. I’m sure it’s well ahead of the Rega you had. The new Ti version (which I’ve not heard) should be even better. I’m now firmly of the Koetsu stone camp myself, since I love its sweet/romantic/technicolor midrange. But I also really like the top Shelter Harmony, which I think blends in both camps.

Chinook should be nice, and the Rogue Ares sounds good and can do well in a budget pinch (especially with Blue-label CineMags). But really call Keith Herron up and get a better reading on price lol.

Wish you had some high-end analog junkies in your local area. THAT is the way to catch the bug and learn from others’ experience hands-on! It only took one guy in my case, to get me hooked. "Thanks", Tom H...