| augerpro |
| I'm looking at two Rega's on ebay. One is the newer P3 and the other says Planar 3. Any differences? |
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| woodturner-fran |
I think there are some differences. The first one that I'm aware of is that the finish on the plinth is a painted one with the P3 compared to the melamine one on the planar 3. I have an inkling that the plinth on the planar 3 was chipboard with melamine whereas the plinth on a P3 is HDF (or MDF, not sure).
There may have been a change to the motor and I think there was one to the motor pulley - I think some of the planar 3's ran about 1% too fast.
Other than that, I'm not too sure. Anyone here know more?
Fran
Ps. I have a planar 3 here that I do intend to rehouse in a new plinth, just reuse the bearing and subplatter, but make a new platter/arm and drive it with a floppy motor. |
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| mpmarino |
| quote: |
Ps. I have a planar 3 here that I do intend to rehouse in a new plinth, just reuse the bearing and subplatter, but make a new platter/arm and drive it with a floppy motor. |
Me too - I hate looking at the thing - knowing it's just a 49 cent piece of particalboard. I think the bearing and glass platter deserve better.
Oh well, I guess it's about 20 projects away:)
My opinion is to look at another deck - I don't know what - just a different one!:D |
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| augerpro |
| Are replacement plinths expensive? And how hard is it to make your own? |
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| woodturner-fran |
Well I don't know of anywhere other than Rega to buy a new one so I'd end up making one. I'd probably do a Teres "lite" and go the wooden route I think. Or maybe a MDF base and sit the original glass platter on that. Another thing I'd like to try is ala Redpoint and do an aluminium one with teflon to see how that sounds.
So many things to try. When they bring in the metric week I'll get to them all....
:D
Fran
EDIT: Just reread your post - I thought you said replacement platter. But the same goes for the plinth. You'd have to make one up yourself.
BTW as far as I know the bearing can be purchased from Rega for small change. Its a very good bearing for upto 4kg or so platter, or so I've read.
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| tubenut |
Hi all
Not too sure of plinth construction differences but you could be right. There is certainly a different looking finnish to new and old.
If MDF painted is better then laminated chipboard I dunno. The old version with softer chip and laminates would seem ore of a constrained layer damping plinth ;)
A rather big difference is that the motor drive circuits and motor mounting are different.
On a Planar, the motor is decoupled from the plinth by hanging from a rega drive belt...
On the P version, the motor drive circuit is claimed to reduce motor vibes to a level such that the motor can be hard mounted on to the plint with space age material. (Looks like foamy 3M double sided tape to me but hey if Nasa uses it to hang a photo in a space shuttle, I guess that makes it space age....)
Hard mounting the motor improves pitch stability, makes startup quicker and no more motor clonks when starting up it is claimed. |
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| augerpro |
| Do you guys know if the NAD C555 is a Planar2 or P2 clone? I found one on ebay and a new one from soundcity for $359. both come with a Goldring Elektra cart. |
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| tubenut |
| P2 clone, though there are cosmetic differences |
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| augerpro |
| Hmmm so $359 for new one with the Goldring Elektra is probably a pretty good deal? |
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| woodturner-fran |
mmmm this thread is making me want to have a go at my old planar 3....
mmuuusst rrreessissst urge to mod......
planar 3 bearing/subplatter with new platter, floppy drive motor and plinth.
Have to finish teres first!
Fran |
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| zacster |
The newer motor is also available as an upgrade to the planar3 to replace the suspended motor. It has detailed instructions to mount it.
I've been tempted to try it on mine as mine is basically shot anyway. But then I'd also be tempted to build a new plinth. Somebody on AudioCircle (SET Man?) took the old motor and mounted it separately and ran a long belt and he claims it improved it immensely. He also used a heavy wood cutting board as the plinth I think. I tend to believe him. After over 20 years with mine I'm ready for something else. It's far and away my oldest piece of gear.
Also, make sure whatever you buy has the RB300 tone arm. Mine doesn't, it has a Grace 707 which was the usual choice back in the day before Rega put their own arm on it. |
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| FastEddy |
FYI: There is a newer model of the Rega P3 ... soon in the high end stores (ship dates vary from yesterday to next week). I have one on order and will attempt to perform a (newbe) review soon ... but for comparison my current TT / tone arm is an Edison Upright ( example: http://images.craigslist.org/010212...f3e74000430.jpg )
... anyway, this may explain the emergence of the older version of the P3 on eBay, etc ...
:D |
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| augerpro |
| Well I'm leaning towards teh NAD since it's an P2 clone for $359. I just can't beat that, even used. I'm also looking at the Marantz PM7001 for the frontend. I ordered about $200 in albums last night! So this should be pretty fun. Only problem is the speakers are OB dipoles using PA drivers that's being built by myself, and I don't see that being finished for 2 months. |
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| FastEddy |
The newest P3 is supposed to top out above US$600 ... with cartridge.
I thought it might be interesting to install it in that Edison Upright = a combination antique restoration and DIY upgrade ... I have Bottlehead tube phono pre-amp for it as well plus about 100 pounds of the fat platters for ballast in the base. ... Any other suggestions? |
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| augerpro |
| The NAD I'm looking at has an MDF platter. How does that compare with the acrylic and glass? Do you need the anti static pad for all of them? |
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| tubenut |
The MDF is a cost saver. It sounds fruity and less focussed then either glass or acrylic. Note that the Rege P2 has gone from glass to MDF as well. It used to be the same MDF platter as NAD and Moth units but they now machine a 45 deg contour on to it and it rides just above the plinth on the perimeter. I suppose it is a little heavier then the older medite platters used by NAD and Moth.
The extra clams needed for this appear to have come from changing the motor to a 12V unit. This does making a special PSU easier....
WRT to the motor upgrade pack, I think it is a dear solution. You repurchase the same motor with new electronics (not a lot actually) with some mounting block and double sided tape. The kit costs 40% of the deck......
I suppose it has to be easy to fit out in the field, even DIY, but I would have liked Rega to supply a mounting kit with new electronics. This should be possible for 20% at most.
| quote: | | I've been tempted to try it on mine as mine is basically shot anyway. |
What makes you say it is shot. My guess would be to look and see if the phase cap(s) depending on model and 110/220V operation has gone west or perhaps the pulley is loose on the motor shaft. A common failure. Re affix to shaft with a drop of crazy glue....
The motors are really quite rugged and hardly fail. |
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| augerpro |
I went and bought this: http://www.soundcity.com/index.asp?...ProdID=688&HS=1
I think this will be good enough for now. And at that price I should be able to sell it easy enough. I just watched one on ebay finish for like $455 today!
I'm looking at getting either a glass or acrylic platter. Any thoughts? |
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| tubenut |
I think glass or acrylic pricing would be close. Check Decibel Hifi for the Moth SRM made acrylic ones in aus.
Acrylic I feel has the edge over glass but to really be blown away see the Funk Firm Achroplat http://www.thefunkfirm.co.uk/plat.htm |
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| lordvader |
Well I recently installed the motor upgrade, and it makes a WORLD of difference !
The old decoupled motor had worn elastics, causing the motor to wobble violently while playing at 33rpm. With the new motor, everything is stable, and the sound seems more focused, with a stronger impact.
It may seem pricey relative to the price, but since a Planar 3 may be had quite cheaply, I think it's a worthwhile investment. |
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| augerpro |
| Well I got the NAD C555 (P2 clone) for $359 brand new. has anyone tried the AT 440mla on this or the P2? Do I have to get one of those spacers to adjust the arm height? If so, 2mm or 4mm? |
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| zacster |
| quote: | Originally posted by tubenut
What makes you say it is shot. My guess would be to look and see if the phase cap(s) depending on model and 110/220V operation has gone west or perhaps the pulley is loose on the motor shaft. A common failure. Re affix to shaft with a drop of crazy glue....
The motors are really quite rugged and hardly fail. [/B] |
It still works, but the motor is very slow to come to speed now and it doesn't sound stable. It is over 20 years old at this point, so maybe it is just time for an upgrade. I'm in no rush obviously to replace it. |
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| tubenut |
Give the pulley a pull upwards, the motor will push up against the plinth. If the pulley is loose, it generally plops of with a little force.
Or you can hold the pulley between your fingers with the motor switched on (only couple of seconds though) but allow some slip. If pulley is good, you will feel a constant pressure/slip , if it is loose you can typically feel movement from the motor but the pulley is stationary in your hands.
You may even be able to see inconsistent spinning of the pulley on start up through the glass platter. On a good pulley the belt slips, the motor/pulley is up to speed quickly/instantly.
When last did you change a belt? It has the same effect as well..... Clean everything with some isopropyl alcohol...
Else check the caps, the symptoms of failure of pulley or caps are similar. |
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| augerpro |
| quote: | Originally posted by augerpro
Well I got the NAD C555 (P2 clone) for $359 brand new. has anyone tried the AT 440mla on this or the P2? Do I have to get one of those spacers to adjust the arm height? If so, 2mm or 4mm? |
Anyone? |
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| planarboy |
whats a floppy drive motor?
is it a floppy drive motor, is that all it is?
i know nothing |
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| FastEddy |
| ... the new Rega P3 is shipping today ... I expect mine in about 5 days ... :hypno2: |
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| Stuey |
| quote: | Originally posted by planarboy
whats a floppy drive motor?
is it a floppy drive motor, is that all it is?
i know nothing |
A motor from a computer floppy disk drive. |
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| planarboy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Stuey
A motor from a computer floppy disk drive. |
right, so people just use these with batteries? |
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| Nanook |
a correct voltage power supply. Batteries work well.
look here .
The details are all there.:) |
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| FastEddy |
| mmmm ... I would have tried to use the 8 inch floppy drive motors rather than the 3.5 or 5.25 motors ... 12 VDC, chopper stabilized (pulse width modulation), precise RPM control is same, same as the smaller motors ... 8" drive torque and moment of enertia is better ... :apathic: |
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| Nanook |
yup, I agree a bigger drive motor is better, but audio oragami has stated that the 3.5" floppy drives are tougher to stop than one might think. Hmmm... do as Audio Note did and use multiple motors on a lightweight platter---huge interia possible.
Fast Eddy... you got a little Clampet genes in your pool? (being from californie and all....) |
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