MMF 2.1 vs. GR 1.2 vs Debut lll

[Sweet Spot]

Thank you very much Slate, I will definitely call tomorrow and press the issue with them. I'll also take Larry's and Bill's numbers and call them, should MD give me the run around. This was a great help, and I hope I can make the purchase tomorrow on my lunch break.

Slate, I'm sending you a PM with a related question....

Also, thanks John, for the confirmation.

Doug.

[Sweet Spot]

Ok, just got off the phone with Music Direct, and my total SANS cartridge, is $445 including shipping of course. I wasn't aware that it came without a cartridge though.. Also, the guy didn't guarantee the deck was new or demo, nor that it was with the glass platter, though the guy the other day said he only had one left, and it was the one with the glass platter so... Something there smells a bit...

Cartridge time. I was thinking about the Ortofon 10 or the Sure M97xE. Any other thoughts on cartridges, especially one to compliment the P2 ?

Oh, and thanks guys for putting me over my budget (you know, the gun to the head thing and all ! )

It should arrive in 3-5 days...I'm very excited !

Doug

[JohnMichael]

Ok, just got off the phone with Music Direct, and my total SANS cartridge, is $445 including shipping of course. I wasn't aware that it came without a cartridge though.. Also, the guy didn't guarantee the deck was new or demo, nor that it was with the glass platter, though the guy the other day said he only had one left, and it was the one with the glass platter so... Something there smells a bit...

Cartridge time. I was thinking about the Ortofon 10 or the Sure M97xE. Any other thoughts on cartridges, especially one to compliment the P2 ?

Oh, and thanks guys for putting me over my budget (you know, the gun to the head thing and all ! )

It should arrive in 3-5 days...I'm very excited !

Doug

Doug I use the Ortofon 20 with my Planar 2. I found it a little tall for the arm without a 2mm spacer. Of course that may not be the same for you since I installed an aftermarket subplatter. The Shure should be the right height without the need for a spacer. Congrats on the new table.

[Sweet Spot]

Thank you John Out of curiosity, which aftermarket platter did you buy, and from where ? I take it that your P2 had the MDF platter upon purchase ?

Next stop: Furniture. (And to buy the currently out of stock Outlaw Audio RR 2150)

[JohnMichael]

Thank you John Out of curiosity, which aftermarket platter did you buy, and from where ? I take it that your P2 had the MDF platter upon purchase ?

Next stop: Furniture. (And to buy the currently out of stock Outlaw Audio RR 2150)

My Planar 2 is about seven years old and has the glass platter. I replaced the subplatter on which the glass platter rests. I purchased it from Music Direct and it is called the Deep Groove subplatter. I have also rewired the tonearm. None of these things were needed to enjoy the turntable. I have just modified it for slight improvements in sound quality. The table has served me well and I just wanted to hotrod it a little. Rega's are the Honda Civics of turntables. People make aftermarket tweaks to push the performance of the original.

[slate1]

Ok, just got off the phone with Music Direct, and my total SANS cartridge, is $445 including shipping of course. I wasn't aware that it came without a cartridge though.. Also, the guy didn't guarantee the deck was new or demo, nor that it was with the glass platter, though the guy the other day said he only had one left, and it was the one with the glass platter so... Something there smells a bit...

Cartridge time. I was thinking about the Ortofon 10 or the Sure M97xE. Any other thoughts on cartridges, especially one to compliment the P2 ?

Oh, and thanks guys for putting me over my budget (you know, the gun to the head thing and all ! )

It should arrive in 3-5 days...I'm very excited !

Doug

Hello Doug -

I've got to tell you - that really just surprises the hell out of me concerning Music Direct... they've always been fairly good to deal with. I'm sure it will all work out just fine though - and I'd be VERY surprised if it had the MDF platter - all the ones that have come into the US in the last 9 months or so have had the glass.

The glass platter on the P2 isn't quite as thick as the one on the P3 so you shouldn't have any problems with VTA using either the Ortofon or the Shure. If it ends up being a tad "tail-down" the spacers are only $15 (you're so over budget at this point - what's another few bucks! )

What kind of music do you listen to? The Shure is a VERY neutral cartridge - I found it to sound great with jazz and classical but to be a bit laid back with rock. It will track any damned thing you throw at it though.

The Ortofon, on the other hand, has a good bit more "oooomph" to it and it sounds fantastic with rock, jazz, and classical; not quite the trackers the Shure is but still quite good. Some have claimed they find the Ortofons to be a bit bright - I've never found that to be the case with regards to the OM-10 and OM-20 although the OM-30 and 40 can get a tad bright with the wrong equipment. This is true with just about every fine-line stylus I've heard though. I'm a big fan of eliptical styli like those found on the OM-10/20 and Shure - they just seem to give a better, more even-handed musical presentation. I'm sure you'd be happy with either.

Keep us informed as to how it all turns out. I'm sure this will be just the beginning... heh, you think you're over-budget now... give it a month or two! The great thing about the P2 is that if you decide you love vinyl (and I'm sure you will...) you've got a great base to build upon. A nice Dynavector 10x5 will be every bit as much at home on that table as the Shure or Ortofon will be.

[Sweet Spot]

Thanks so much for all of your input and help Slate1, I always enjoy great feedback such as yours to get me going in the right direction. Musically speaking, I enjoy a wide range of genres. I am a musician of sorts myself (playing guitar for around 15 years, and have played trombone a bit too), and so I tend to keep an open mind about things. I've been enjoying Classical, blues and jazz since I was about 17 (33 now) and really enjoy bands like say:

Radiohead; Interpol; Metric; Sneaker Pimps and a lot of other bands of that nature. When I think of vinyl, I think, Jeff Buckley, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Miles Davis, Byrd, Trane etc..

So even though I've recently bought a new CD player to go along with the receiver I'm about to purchase (NAD C521BEE) (Outlaw Audio RR2150), I feel that from what I remember about vinyl (I used to hang with my aunt as a kid a lot, who had a deck, and was a hippie who played great music) there are a ton of artist's whom I'd much rather hear on vinyl than cd, which is sometimes a bit too analytical for my tastes.

I've searched this forum, and have catalogued a bunch of vinyl stores,

Elusive Disc
All vinyl records
Music direct
audiophile
themusic.com
saturday audio
mymusicfix
musicangle

Let me know if I missed any good ones.
so I'll be ready to go when the time comes. Now all I need, is a must have vinyl list !

As far as Music Direct goes, I hate to say it but, what I think is that someone was trying to get away with selling the P2 at the regular price. Because, if no one brings up the sale price, why bother selling it at that rate, right ? A bit cheesy, but that's just what I suspect at this point.

Question about housing the turntable now... Are any particular types of material not advised or visa versa ? There's this place near where I live, called Gothic Cabinet and they have this pretty nice and SOLID wood piece, which is flat on the floor, no legs and can fit a TV and TT on top. Just not sure if it will fit the receiver.

After the furniture, all I'll need is the speaker cable and interconnects. For the cable, I'm either getting the "anti-cables" or some banana plug terminated ones by Dayton. Not sure about the interconnects though....Wrong section in the forum, so I'll post another thread.

I'm going to have to start another thread concerning setting up the deck and all (adjustments etc), so let me again say thank you all very much for helping me make a decision and for helping me spend some cash.

[Sweet Spot]

Guess who received a Rega P2 today ? Guess...come on....

That's right, moi ! It's beautiful, especially with its glass platter ! It actually came yesterday, but the stupid ass UPS guy went to the wrong building with the same apt. # ! I was so pissed, when I tracked it, to find that it said first attempt failed. I was like "whaaat ?" I was home all day waiting for it !

My door guy said he went to the wrong bldg ! Aaaanyway, I was out getting something at the store just now, and on my way back in, I saw the UPS guy, and decided to have a lil' chat, and pick up my package. So here I am, hungry as hell, and only concerned with one thing... My Rega ! It's really quite nice, and I can't wait until I pick up the cartridge. Which one though, is still up for debate. I might just get the Rega Bias 2, unless someone here has something to say about that ?

Doug

[JohnMichael]

Guess who received a Rega P2 today ? Guess...come on....

That's right, moi ! It's beautiful, especially with its glass platter ! It actually came yesterday, but the stupid ass UPS guy went to the wrong building with the same apt. # ! I was so pissed, when I tracked it, to find that it said first attempt failed. I was like "whaaat ?" I was home all day waiting for it !

My door guy said he went to the wrong bldg ! Aaaanyway, I was out getting something at the store just now, and on my way back in, I saw the UPS guy, and decided to have a lil' chat, and pick up my package. So here I am, hungry as hell, and only concerned with one thing... My Rega ! It's really quite nice, and I can't wait until I pick up the cartridge. Which one though, is still up for debate. I might just get the Rega Bias 2, unless someone here has something to say about that ?

Doug

I have never owned a Rega cartridge but you will not have any vertical tracking angle problems. They should work well together since they are designed by the same company. Let us know haw they sound. I remember 7 years ago how happy I was when I picked up my Rega. Enjoy you made an excellent choice.

[Sweet Spot]

Thank you John, I'm really looking foward towards putting it together and hooking it up. The receiver STILL isn't in stock, so I have no idea how long I'll have to wait.

There's something I found to be very interesting though, as I took the deck out of the wrapping.... Seeing as how the deck comes with built in RCA connectors, I really started to wonder about the validity of using "quality" interconnects. I mean, if using these standard RCA type connectors is fine for a decent quality deck, which is made by a pretty reputable company.... see my point ?

I'm sure that someone will have some "smart" answer, but I'm still curious to hear it. Also, aside from the VTA adjustments (which I might not have to mess with should i get the rega cart), what other set up things should I look foward to doing, and where might I find a very detailed guide for noobs, to do it all ?

Regards,
Doug

[dean_martin]

Guess who received a Rega P2 today ? Guess...come on....

That's right, moi ! It's beautiful, especially with its glass platter ! It actually came yesterday, but the stupid ass UPS guy went to the wrong building with the same apt. # ! I was so pissed, when I tracked it, to find that it said first attempt failed. I was like "whaaat ?" I was home all day waiting for it !

My door guy said he went to the wrong bldg ! Aaaanyway, I was out getting something at the store just now, and on my way back in, I saw the UPS guy, and decided to have a lil' chat, and pick up my package. So here I am, hungry as hell, and only concerned with one thing... My Rega ! It's really quite nice, and I can't wait until I pick up the cartridge. Which one though, is still up for debate. I might just get the Rega Bias 2, unless someone here has something to say about that ?

Doug

Congrats, Sweet! I'm sure you did the right thing by climbing out of the muck that is the $300 price range, even if you have to eat canned tuna for a while.

Waitin' on UPS can be a scary ordeal. My old address had the same street number as the local high school two blocks up. UPS delivered my first dvd player to that jungle! I'm lucky I got it back.

[emorphien]

Damn I was almost thinking of getting the P2 but if it doesn't include a cartridge that might be stretching me too far. Even if it came with a crappy one as least I'd be able to get started and replace it later.