Audophile upgrade options

[MikeManchester]

I currently have a humble Rega Planer 3 with Ortofon Rohman, MF NuVista M3 and Kef 201 References.

I've been wanting to upgrade my turntable for some time. Unlike others budget is not my primary concern - quality is. Should I opt for an Orbe or SME? Or would I be best trying a clearaudio reference or something completely different like a Verdier?

If you have experience please help. I crave neutrality, 3D soundstage and above all a smug smille on my face...

Mike

[DMK]

I currently have a humble Rega Planer 3 with Ortofon Rohman, MF NuVista M3 and Kef 201 References.

I've been wanting to upgrade my turntable for some time. Unlike others budget is not my primary concern - quality is. Should I opt for an Orbe or SME? Or would I be best trying a clearaudio reference or something completely different like a Verdier?

If you have experience please help. I crave neutrality, 3D soundstage and above all a smug smille on my face...

Mike

Get the best you can comfortably afford. I haven't heard the top of the line SME but I have heard Verdier (can't remember the model) and it was a better table than the Michell (of course, it was also twice as expensive). No experience with Clearaudio tables, either but I'm familiar with their cartridges and I would assume their tables are in the same league, which is topnotch. Any of these tables will be essentially "neutral".

You'll then need to decide on a suitable tonearm. Graham and Triplanar are excellent tonearms as are SME's. As I recall, the Verdier came with its own proprietary arm.

If I had funds I didn't know what to do with, I'd get either a Sota Cosmos or Millenium with a Graham 2.2 arm. It'll set you back around $8-9K or so but analog is the closest thing to "you get what you pay for" in audio. I've heard some $3K analog rigs that I thought were better than some twice that amount but those are exceptions. Of course, if I REALLY had money to burn, I'd go with the Rockport Sirius setup - about $70K without cartridge.

[Chas Underhay]

I currently have a humble Rega Planer 3 with Ortofon Rohman, MF NuVista M3 and Kef 201 References.

I've been wanting to upgrade my turntable for some time. Unlike others budget is not my primary concern - quality is. Should I opt for an Orbe or SME? Or would I be best trying a clearaudio reference or something completely different like a Verdier?

If you have experience please help. I crave neutrality, 3D soundstage and above all a smug smille on my face...

Mike

I think you need to do your homework very carefully, what you require is a good combination of turntable, pickup arm, cartridge, phono pre amp, turntable support and accurate set-up.

It is not even as clear as a make of break situation as no component on its own, will make it, but a deficiency in any component will break it.

Most modern turntables from the Michell Gyro Dec upwards are very good indeed and after that, you are probably listening more to differences than real measurable improvements not to mention at how pretty the thing is and how much it may impress your friends. I'm not saying that they don't get better but it is often easy to mistake different or more impressive for better.

I don't know where you live, but there are certian (long term) advantages in going "home grown" in order that equipment may be serviced at the factory. I live approximately 1 hour from Michell's factory and 1 hour from SME's factory so no points for guessing what I use.

What do you propose standing he turntable on? mine sits on a big lump of granite securely fixed into a dis-used chimney breast, so nothing moves or vibrates and this probably negates some of the advantage of the secondary isolation system of the Orbe turntable.

It sounds as if you already have a good cartridge but what about your phono stage? That is just s important as the rest of the equation.

At the end of the day, consider the whole equation and be very careful, otherwise the only man who will have smug smile on his face will be the dealer who sold it to you