Old B&O vs. new Rega P1

Thanks for the responses. Johnnyb53, your description of the B&O is fairly accurate. The main problem I have with the B&O is being limited to their cartridges which aren't made anymore. There is a shop called the Soundsmith which makes replicas but they're very expensive. I really appreciate the advice given so far.

As some have mentioned, the B&Os are limited to using their own cartridges. However, keep in mind that the tonearm was specifically designed for those cartridges. The tonearms are NOT flimsy, they are, however, exceptionally lightweight. This, combined with the incredibly low effective tip mass of the B&O carts makes for a very good tracking turntable.

Your best bet would be to find a good condition MMC2 or MMC1 cart for that table. Or, step up to a B&O tangential tracking turntable with an MMC2 or MMC1. I currently have a B&O 9000 with both MMC1 and MMC2 and I can tell you, without a doubt, that it is a very fine combo.

-RW-

Yes.Rega and nice $300 cart will lead you unto path of Hell.Be forewarned!!!!!Abandon all hope.Might as well sell you car now and get hat $10K deck with three arms and $7K tube be phono stage and save yourself the in between models.Hope yours is strong marriage as well.No seriosly if you can find shop with Rega AND VPI check out he Scout.New or used it's a killer diller though you may not be enough into it/have enough Lp's etc to wan to go hat out.But I had the B&O RX in HS and 15 years latter got NAD (Rega cheapie) and went down the road.Another cheaper deck maybe in between are some of the Music Hall models.Call Bes Nivera who has wide selection at Music Direct and tell him Chazz said he's "treat you right".His catalogue has Rega,VPI and Music Hall and others so if you can wait order catalogue
Chazz

Here's another thought:

Get a Technics SL1210 Mk2 from Musicians Friend for a mere $399.99. It has a lot going for it--build quality, speed accuracy, low noise, close tolerances, durability, and slick controls and ergonomics. You will get an increase in transients, bass, and slam. You will no longer be limited in available range of cartridges. In fact, with the TT's included second counterweight and headshell weight, you have a decent range of cartridge weights and compliances that will work.

A removable headshell is nice for learning to mount cartridges and keeping it from being too frustrating. Upgrade to a nice $40 Sumiko headshell.

If you decide to upgrade, you can get an outboard power supply, threaded clamp and spindle, fancy footers, strobe light disable, tonearm rewire, and tonearm fluid damper from KABUSA.com. The fluid damper further improves the range of compatible tonearm/cartridge combinations.

If that's not enough, you can get a Rega-adaptor armboard and tonearm from Origin Live. Origin offers compatible tonearms from $240 to $everal thousand. In other words, you can buy the Technics and modify it to have an RB250 arm for about the same price as a Rega P3.

If you leave it stock and decide to sell, you can probably get within $100 of what you paid for it.

I'm a Rega dealer and I don't consider the P1 to be anything other than a cheap way to get in the door. It may compete well with other entry level (meaning nothing cheaper out there worth considering) tables but you need to stretch a bit higher to get something special. As ususal, you get what you pay for. Except for the cartridge issue, I wouldn't bother "upgrading" to a P1; a P2 perhaps, or better.