Nottingham Spacedeck vs Rega Planar 8 vs Technics SL1200G


Hey Everyone,

An analogue newbie needs your advice.

Firstly I am not looking for any TT recommendations other than these 3.

My system is Devore O96, and the amplification would be either Lyngdorf 3400/Coincident Frankenstein combo or a Shindo pre/amp combo (forthcoming). The phono stage is TBD.

The sound I like is rich, full-bodied, with a good bass (I love percussion, and the double-bass instrument and  Mingus is my fav jazz artist). I am very sensitive to even a hint of brightness. I don't care about the typical audiophile presentation -- gobs of detail and soundstage but no soul.

My music of choice is jazz, vocals and small-scale instrumentals. No rock, no pop, no western classical.

Would love your thoughts on these 3 choices.

Since I am a newbie, easy setup is big win, which might tilt me towards the Rega or Technics, but with Nottingham I have a great dealer support that I would completely miss out on if I went with Technics (no Technics dealer in a 5000 mile radius).

I used to own a Rega RP6, so am familiar with Rega sound, and like it. But my RP6 was bested by my DAC (AMR DP-777) so sold it a few years ago. So I want a TT that will compete with any sub-10000$ DAC.

Looking forward to your thoughts that will help me scratch my analog itch.


essrand

Showing 3 responses by cd318

Rega are not known for prizing a sound that majors on being "rich, full-bodied, with a good bass". Clarity, timing and precision have usually been their hallmarks. Since the Technics is known for its neutrality I suspect it to sound closer to the Rega. So I'd advise giving the Spacedeck an audition first to see if it has that analogue sound you seem to be looking for.

Given your musical tastes and system, I suspect digital recordings will sound excellent, suffering little or zero compression artefacts you inevitably find with mainstream recordings.

In other words, very hard for any vinyl playback to better.
@electo69 I never did find out which was which, but there was a difference. I'll check out the links again you've put up tonight, thanks. The fact that the Technics got close to the Caliburn is remarkable enough.

@schubert , my experiences with Nagoaka cartridges were all good. I loved that full sound, even the fairly basic MP11 outperformed all the Linn moving magnets.

I also wonder if the old drop of superglue trick on the removable stylus assembly still works? It seemed to help back in those crazy days when everything had to be bolted down with a torque wrench up to (and often beyond!) breaking point.
Technics seem to want the whole of the turntable market. Fair enough, but it was the stalwarts such as Pro-ject that kept the faith during the darkest days of vinyl. 

This really is quickly becoming a golden age of vinyl playback. Seriously, who saw this coming 20 years ago?