Well first off neither one of these is gonna disappoint, both will easily take you places never dreamed of by B&O. That said my turntable philosophy tends to favor mass. In this case though the mass is low-tech MDF. And they can say what they want about it being ultra-high density, whatever, its still compressed wood particles in a glue bound matrix. So they cover it with carbon fiber. Big deal. I've worked with carbon fiber. My whole turntable is made out of it. Did I mention I built my own turntable? So I know. Carbon fiber is great but not sufficient in itself.
The thing about the Rega, its a filter-down of technology from a much more expensive higher performance table. EAT is pretty good but it will be years, if ever, by the time they have high tech like that to filter down. They are still trying to figure out what exactly the appropriate high tech is. Rega has decades on them.
Okay so its a stretch. Big deal. Unlike most of the other audio gear you could buy with that money the Rega is one you can run for years. I've got 15 years on my table.
That's about the only other thing you might want to consider, longevity and future upgrades. You're at a price point where I usually recommend staying away from packages and buying turntable, arm, and cartridge separately. Even if bought all together. What I mean is stay away from either of these and look for a really good table with an arm you like and a decent cartridge, in that order. Because this makes it so much easier down the road to upgrade just the arm, or even just the table. This is a lot harder with package tables like Rega, EAT, VPI, etc. Also because when upgrading its a whole lot easier to save up $5k for a killer arm than $20k for a killer turntable package. Plus you get way more performance for your money.
But that's about it. Separates are the ultimate, but if you can't see yourself going that way then it doesn't matter. Go with the Rega, and never look back.
The thing about the Rega, its a filter-down of technology from a much more expensive higher performance table. EAT is pretty good but it will be years, if ever, by the time they have high tech like that to filter down. They are still trying to figure out what exactly the appropriate high tech is. Rega has decades on them.
Okay so its a stretch. Big deal. Unlike most of the other audio gear you could buy with that money the Rega is one you can run for years. I've got 15 years on my table.
That's about the only other thing you might want to consider, longevity and future upgrades. You're at a price point where I usually recommend staying away from packages and buying turntable, arm, and cartridge separately. Even if bought all together. What I mean is stay away from either of these and look for a really good table with an arm you like and a decent cartridge, in that order. Because this makes it so much easier down the road to upgrade just the arm, or even just the table. This is a lot harder with package tables like Rega, EAT, VPI, etc. Also because when upgrading its a whole lot easier to save up $5k for a killer arm than $20k for a killer turntable package. Plus you get way more performance for your money.
But that's about it. Separates are the ultimate, but if you can't see yourself going that way then it doesn't matter. Go with the Rega, and never look back.