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Nottingham Spacedeck vs Rega Planar 8 vs Technics SL1200G

Hey Everyone,

An analogue newbie needs your advice.

Firstly I am not looking for any TT recommendations other than these 3.

My system is Devore O96, and the amplification would be either Lyngdorf 3400/Coincident Frankenstein combo or a Shindo pre/amp combo (forthcoming). The phono stage is TBD.

The sound I like is rich, full-bodied, with a good bass (I love percussion, and the double-bass instrument and  Mingus is my fav jazz artist). I am very sensitive to even a hint of brightness. I don't care about the typical audiophile presentation -- gobs of detail and soundstage but no soul.

My music of choice is jazz, vocals and small-scale instrumentals. No rock, no pop, no western classical.

Would love your thoughts on these 3 choices.

Since I am a newbie, easy setup is big win, which might tilt me towards the Rega or Technics, but with Nottingham I have a great dealer support that I would completely miss out on if I went with Technics (no Technics dealer in a 5000 mile radius).

I used to own a Rega RP6, so am familiar with Rega sound, and like it. But my RP6 was bested by my DAC (AMR DP-777) so sold it a few years ago. So I want a TT that will compete with any sub-10000$ DAC.

Looking forward to your thoughts that will help me scratch my analog itch.


essrand
joegator81
108 posts
 
Uber, 

i was hesitent myself but this agon member has done a lot of deals on agon and his reviews are 100% positive. Figured it was worth a shot. I’ll be putting my Concept Mc cart up at a very nice price if all goes well. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
Mat doesn’t have to be the same hardness as vinyl.
Many people don't understand that the mat can have a big effect on the sound of the turntable.
The function of the mat is two-fold: first to damp the LP, and second to damp the platter. Both are important.
To damp the LP, this means that vibration from the LP must be absorbed and converted to heat. To do this without reflecting any of the vibration back to the LP, it must be the same durometer reading as the LP (the same hardness).

To this end you might use a stack of LPs but they aren't the right shape. Most LPs have a lip on the edge and a raised label. That is where a proper platter design pays off.

If the LP is properly damped you won't hear much sound coming from the LP surface (with the volume turned down) although this is not a 100% best way to know. To do that, a 20Hz-20Khz sweep tone does the job- it should play back nice and flat but distortion should be lower as well, since the LP talking back to the stylus will be creating distortion.
terry9
931 posts
 
@atmasphere 

Interesting test, Ralph. Just did it with two test LP's.

The first was a 20-20K sweep on a highly dished test LP. The sound was audible with no amplification from the seating position.

But, with the Analogue Productions test LP, in new condition, bands 6 and 7 generated almost no audible sound, peaking at about 400Hz (Side 1, band 6 is 1K to 20K sweep, band 7 is 1K to 20). This would appear to indicate a good coupling between the record and platter.

But the upper platter is isomolded graphite (GM-10), with a listed hardness of 65psi. This would seem to be notably harder than the vinyl used in LP's - but my interpretation of the data I could find, may be wrong.

What are your views?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
I take it you were not able to do distortion tests also?
The 400Hz peak seems to suggest that the platter pad is reflecting energy around that frequency. But on one test I would be hesitant to call it good- can you test other platter pads?
inna
5,245 posts
 
People understand. Record mat is also a tuning mat, which means that there is no one universal solution for any set-up and preference. As for the physics of platter/mat/record/cartridge interaction, it is so complex that even highly qualified mechanical engineers might struggle. And then there are ears and brains that are the most qualified of all.
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