Rega Planar 6 vs Technics SL-1200GR2 – Quality of Life Differences?

I have a somewhat unique perspective here — I owned a P6 (first a Hana EL then an Ania Pro then the Hana ML) for about seven or eight years before switching to the SL-1200GR2, so I've lived with both.  But, the catch is I didn't do a clean swap. I changed my entire system simultaneously — out went a CJ tube preamp with built-in phono and CJ SS amp, in came a McIntosh integrated — so I can't give you a clean turntable-vs-turntable verdict.  Take my sonic impressions with that caveat in mind.  This isn't anything close to an A/B comparison holding everything else constant.

On sound: My partner and I both noticed the new setup sounds much worse.  Whether that's the turntable, the cartridge (I went from the Hana ML to an Ortofon 2M Black LVB 250, so MC to MM), or the built in MM only stage in the McIntosh — I genuinely don't know.  Certainly all three contribute differences.  But it's bad enough sonically that I need to change.  So, I've recently bought a Sutherland phono stage which hasn't yet arrived and am planning to put either a Hana ML or a ZYX back on the Technics (recommendations there?).  My strong suspicion is the turntable itself is fine and the rest of the chain was doing a huge amount.

On your actual questions:

Set it and forget it:  If you're using a Rega cartridge, the P6 is pretty much good to go out of the box and would win this.  With other cartridges, the Technics probably wins.  While I was getting good performance from the P6 and the Hana cartridges, I wondered about the VTA, which adjusting on the P6 would require using shims.  I never bothered and the sound was excellent so didn't fuss with that.

Stability / skipping:  Very real-world difference here.  Heavy footsteps would make the Rega skip — a teenager bounding across the room was a hazard. The Technics doesn't care at all.  I also have an album with a scratch I couldn't play on the Rega; the Technics tracks through it without issue.  For your use case (listens often, doesn't want to tinker), this might be a meaningful "quality of life" difference.  Maybe you can get more stability from the Rega with an isolation platter or wall mount, I didn't try.

Maintenance: The Rega is probably a bit more delicate.  I replaced a belt, also had to adjust the lifter at one point.  The Technics is new enough (just a couple months old) so lack of needed maintenance here is no surprise.  But it feels less delicate to use.

Bottom line:  My old system with the Rega P6 sounded much better than my new one with the Technics — but I'm convinced that's the phono stage and cartridge, not the turntable.  I don't regret switching to the Technics; I regret changing everything else at the same time.  Ask me again in a month when the Sutherland arrives and I have a better cartridge in place.

The Technics SL 1200 GR2 no longer uses a quartz-controlled motor. It is far more advanced and efficient, utilising delta-sigma modulation: the turntable employs delta-sigma modulation (familiar from the 1-bit digital-to-analogue conversion in Technics amplifiers) to generate the drive signals for the motor.

• Vibration reduction: This digital signal processing drastically reduces minute inaccuracies in motor rotation (known as cogging) as well as electromagnetic vibrations.

• Precision: The result is an extremely clean sinusoidal current flow, which drives the brushless DC motor even more smoothly than conventional analogue controls.

Complementary technology: Multi-Stage Silent Power Supply

In addition to the ΔΣ-Drive, the GR2 utilises the Multi-Stage Silent Power Supply. This is a low-noise switching power supply that employs a special noise-reduction circuit (similar to the technology found in the high-end SL-1000R model) to keep any electrical noise away from the cartridge.

@jt449

thank you very much for that thoughtful reply.  I am really zeroing in on the importance of quality of life in all this.  I would like to get a point where I am just listening to music and doing as little tinkering as possible.

Dirk, You wrote, "The Technics SL 1200 GR2 no longer uses a quartz-controlled motor. It is far more advanced and efficient, utilising delta-sigma modulation: the turntable employs delta-sigma modulation (familiar from the 1-bit digital-to-analogue conversion in Technics amplifiers) to generate the drive signals for the motor." As I understand it, delta-sigma control systems often if not usually use a quartz reference.  So it may be that Technics has added the DS system and is regulating it with a quartz oscillator.

You also wrote, "This digital signal processing drastically reduces minute inaccuracies in motor rotation (known as cogging) as well as electromagnetic vibrations."  Does the digital processing reduce cogging or does it reduce "inaccuracies in motor rotation", because cogging is one source of inaccuracy, but there are others?  Further, wouldn't the very fact that the motor of the G and G2 series is coreless be the most effective means by which cogging is reduced in this series compared to the prior SL1200 series, which used a conventional iron core motor?

I am firmly ensconced in the Rega turntable universe. My table, arm, cartridge, and phono preamp are all Rega. My main reason for going with that setup is that I have no desire to tweak and try things out. I wanted a great vinyl rig that I didn’t have to tweak to get the best out of it. It took about 10 minutes to unbox and setup, and I haven’t had to do anything to it in two years. It just plays beautifully and reliably. A lot of people like to tweak and experiment and there is nothing wrong with that, But Rega is not the best system for that. I replaced a Technics SL-1200GR2 with it. There was nothing wrong with the Technics and it sounded great. But it was a little more involved to get setup for me.