Rega P8 with Alpheta 2?

any one can help me out as i wanna use a non rega cartridge for my p8 without using spacers. any cart recommendations

I wen`t from RP8/Ania combo, with the FONOMC III in place, to now own the P8/Apheta II and is about to purchase another phono stage. Tried both the Aria V2, Exposure 3010 & Lehmann BC SE II, and though they are very different indeed these stages, i think i go for the Lehmann? The Lehmann is without any doubt the most silent of the three. Not that this alone will decide it, but i`m having some trouble with the Aria in terms of hum/noise, and way too much than i can live with. The Aria is not defect by any means, but in my house (installing), there is way too much noise when using specific phono stages. The Exposure is not suitable for the Apheta in my opinion, as the lack of gain for that combo annoys me. But you won`t go wrong with that combo (P8/Apheta 2), or the new Apheta 3, which i haven`t heard yet? For the price, you can`t find anything better out there (imo)? 5 minutes and your up & running, and never have to think about settings (VTA, Azimuth, etc.)! Just plug & Play, and a very involving sounding set-up. Hope you choice will make u happy :-) 

I really think this combination of the P8 with the Alpheta 2 is an outstanding value with sound of a much higher end rig. Glad I made the purchase.

 So, i think my cartridge is starting to break in. Listened  to two of my all time favorite albums tonight and I’ve never heard them sound better. The Marshall Tucker Band’s “Carolina Dreaming” was outstanding!

Dave and Troy I completely agree with your assessment of the P8. It’s a great turntable and a great value with the Alpheta 2.

Gphill,

The Alphetta will smooth out after really about 20 hours of use and get a bit better after that.

The speed, articulation and sheer musicality of this combination and ease of setup and use makes the P8/Alphetta 2 such a fantastic package.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Rega dealers

Pedal steel guitar sounds heavenly.

I don’t have a 60 ohm option. May try it at 50 though. Great detail on this combination. I realize a lot of people are put off by the looks of this table, but the looks are one of the reasons I bought it. It’s meeting every expectation that I had and is sounding very nice. 

gphill,
Mine smoothed out at 45 hours through about 75 hours.  
I find a 60 Ohm load to work much better than 100.  50 Ohms is too low.

Got my P8 a few minutes ago and already have it set up playing music. This thing is tiny compared to my td124 in that big plinth. I’m listening to Gram Parsons, “ Grievous Angel “, and it sounds really nice. It’s plugged in to the MC section of my Mac C47 and loaded at 100 ohms. 60 dB of gain is plenty. Just changed the record to a QRP version of “Tea for the  Tillerman “. This turntable sounds really big for for such a small footprint. The highs may be a little etched but overall it’s impressive. Heard the Alpheta can take up to 100 hours to break in, so I guess I’ve got some listening to do in the next couple of weeks.

My P8 has been shipped and should be here on Thursday. Looking forward to getting it hooked up and listening.

Well I went ahead and bought one. Got a bit of a deal by asking. Should be here in 7-10 days. Looking forward to hearing it.

Thanks uberwaltz.

You should be fine.
i ran an xyz cart with just 0.24mv output with 60db of gain quite happily

My Art 9 is .5 mv sounds good with 60 dB of gain.

I’m still thinking about whether .35 Mv is enough output for 60 dB of gain.

Audiojedi, 

Great point, we are enamoured with the ease you can get a Rega P8 playing music with no muss no fuss.

Many people here talk about a very popular turntable that uses a heavy plinith and a unipivot tonearm as being a great table.

Many people don't understand the supremely elegant concept of a low mass table, the less mass you have the less energy storage you will have, and the light weight stiff plinth will actively dissipate incomming energy.

One of the reasons the Rega sound is so fast, clean, and articulate, is this concept and the ulta ridgid bearings of the Rega tonearm which act as direct drain of the incomming grove reflected energy which can be feed into the plinth. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Rega dealers

If it helps I'm running an RP10 with an Apheta 2 and they work extremely well together.  

I honestly still miss my Lyra Delos which my now ex girlfriend busted the cantilever off of so there are other great options out there but I have no real desire to change the Apheta 2 it is a really solid cartridge.

The biggest win is that you can set it up in like 5 minutes which is a huge convenience - with the jig I have it takes a lot of time and patience to get it dialed in but the Apheta was a breeze to get on and spinning vinyl.

You won't be disappointed at all go for it!

We use the Alpheta 2 with our demo P8 and the cartridge is just fantastic, Fast, clean, big soundstage, great bass. The Alpheta 2 is a huge step up from the older Alpheta 1.

Hence we tend to recommend the P8/Alpheta combo a lot amazing sound for a $4k package.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor Rega dealers

Do you know the input sensitivity of your preamp? This should help!
http://www.kabusa.com/pregain.htm

Thanks donvito.  I wonder if 60 dB of gain would be enough for this cart?

Here ya go!
The Apheta 2 is the perfect partner for the RP8 and RP10 turntables which can be supplied factory fitted at a discounted package rate if requested. Please ask your retailer for details.A Unique DesignConventional MC cartridges utilize a steel suspension system (tie wire) which creates a high amplitude H.F. resonance (normally around 8-12kHz). Such resonance is unacceptable and is usually damped by a rudimentary piece of foam rubber.

However, the foam rubber deteriorates with age and cannot prevent the complete structure from vibrating and "ringing".

The specifics and adjustment of the tie wire and damping determine whether the cartridge is under damped (bright) or over damped (warm and bass heavy), a happy medium is rarely achieved.

This encouraged Rega to pursue a new direction inspired by modern materials and the basic laws of magnetism. The Apheta 2 contains neither a tie wire nor a foam damper.

Moving coil aficionados will all recognize the long search for super clear, high frequency combined with firm, tight bass. Features:

Iron cross & coil assembly 50% smaller than the original Apheta

One of the worlds smallest MC generator

Cutting edge neodymium magnet

Vital profile nude diamond stylus

High specification fine wire

Technical Data:

Tracking Pressure 1.75 - 2.00g

Input load impedance 100 ohms

Output impedance 10 ohms

Nominal output voltage 350μV

Channel Balance : ≥ 20μV

Separation : ≥ -29dB

The output is .035 mv! 
https://www.needledoctor.com/Rega-Apheta-2-Phono-Cartridge

So, does no one have this turntable/ cartridge combination? I’m really wanting to pull the trigger on this, but I would like to hear some feedback from someone who owns one. Can’t find out what the output of the cart is to see if my phono stage will work with it.

The newer table is a complete redesign or the RP8 and is based more along the lines of Roy Gandys $40k uber table design.

The concepts are the same the implementation is better with the P8 so it takes all the same qualities of the P8 and extend it.

So you have a few options buy a brand new table for $4k or dealers such as ourselves are selling the older table at a steep discount.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Rega dealer

whats the difference between the rp8 and the p8? they look the same.

Rega dealer here***

The P8 is a fantastic table.  I've been extremely impressed with it since it was released.

The Apheta 2 is also a nice cart.  At it's retail price point of $1900, it has quite a few contenders that many think are just as good.  However, when purchased in combo with the P8, the retail pricing drops to $1200....at that price point, I don't think there are many (any) carts that will match it.