Hi Guys. So I am a very happy owner of a new model Rega Planar 2. A very good table but with its limitations. Biggest issue being the lack of bias adjustment. There is a very easy free mod for this but Not everyone is keen on that and mine is still as is from the dealer. I started of on the Carbon, then the new At vm95 E, Ortofon red, and I had the opportunity to test the blue on it for a week. All good but with the Vm and red being my least favorite.
I then upgraded the Carbons stylus to the LP Gear elliptical which is an after market stylus made by Jico. To my ears the best if the bunch- but even with the massive improvement the table lacked refinement. About 3 weeks ago I bought the new Sumiko Rainier from Croak on G?s recommendation. The cartridge is around a gram heavier and ideal tracking weight is 2 grams. Which is a perfect drop in replacement for the At3600 that was on the table. Croak offered me a week demo before purchase. I paid him that same afternoon.
I can certainly recommend the Sumiko Rainier for that level table. It is much warmer than the other cartridges but after about 40 hours it settles and honestly the best I have heard upto the Ortofon bronze- which I have only heard on a P3. But its is exceptional.
I ran that for a few weeks and decided to throw the dice on the Croak stub and underslung counterweight- it takes the 220 arm from ok to great. It is a no brainer upgrade for any rega table with a plastic end stub- the nice part is it can be moved to the P3 if one feels the need to upgrade tables. The weak points on the P2 and 3 are the stubs and sub platters. Upgrading the stub is cost effective and something that will stay with you on your Rega journey upto the new Planar 6. The stub separated the instruments and cleaned up the base- dynamics is much improved as well as tracking. The Sumiko now really shines and the table in its stock form did not really do it justice.
This should keep me happy and I can later if I feel the need go to the Olympia stylus. After that we are well into P3 territory but all of these parts can easily be moved to a new table and addresses the P3?s plastic parts.
Thanks Croak
I then upgraded the Carbons stylus to the LP Gear elliptical which is an after market stylus made by Jico. To my ears the best if the bunch- but even with the massive improvement the table lacked refinement. About 3 weeks ago I bought the new Sumiko Rainier from Croak on G?s recommendation. The cartridge is around a gram heavier and ideal tracking weight is 2 grams. Which is a perfect drop in replacement for the At3600 that was on the table. Croak offered me a week demo before purchase. I paid him that same afternoon.
I can certainly recommend the Sumiko Rainier for that level table. It is much warmer than the other cartridges but after about 40 hours it settles and honestly the best I have heard upto the Ortofon bronze- which I have only heard on a P3. But its is exceptional.
I ran that for a few weeks and decided to throw the dice on the Croak stub and underslung counterweight- it takes the 220 arm from ok to great. It is a no brainer upgrade for any rega table with a plastic end stub- the nice part is it can be moved to the P3 if one feels the need to upgrade tables. The weak points on the P2 and 3 are the stubs and sub platters. Upgrading the stub is cost effective and something that will stay with you on your Rega journey upto the new Planar 6. The stub separated the instruments and cleaned up the base- dynamics is much improved as well as tracking. The Sumiko now really shines and the table in its stock form did not really do it justice.
This should keep me happy and I can later if I feel the need go to the Olympia stylus. After that we are well into P3 territory but all of these parts can easily be moved to a new table and addresses the P3?s plastic parts.
Thanks Croak
