New Turntables - Bristol Show

Yes Mr Frog. I have the Neo with the RP8 and it’s a distinct improvement. Highly recommended. 

Regards

David

S3 ...... I thought that should be the case - just very odd that the guy from Rega Research gave  a completely different perspective .... though he didn’t confirm that any in-house comparison had actually taken place.

Perhaps the Neo addition to RP8 may take it too close to RP10 and Rega aren’t keen to promote that as an option... who knows!

Glad yours is sounding spot on

Yes slightly bizarre input from Rega. I’m going to the show today so I’ll try to have that discussion with him myself.

French Rooster posted:

Alba1320 posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

Funk Firm were there but I didn't venture into their room.

Best turntable I heard there today was, surprisingly, the Technics SL-10000R.  A £14k (including arm) direct drive super deck.  They were using an AT ART1000 cart, a Luxman phono stage, their own top of the range electronics (including £20k power amp) and their own concentric driver floorstanders.  What I liked most about this deck was that it didn't sound like vinyl - the timing and stability of the music is stunning.  Which probably means it won't appeal to turntable lovers, maybe. Possibly.

Turntable lovers? Well, I guess it takes all sorts...

As for a turntable that makes vinyl not sound like vinyl? Thanks, but no.

turntable ‘lovers don’t like perfect timing and stability of music?  curious conception of turntable sound love!

Aw, and I thought it was just a gentle bit of leg pulling, maybe too gentle to be obvious. Possibly. Maybe. Probably.

S3 .. that would be awesome and very much appreciated if you could.

I look forward to hearing from you, regarding what Rega say on the matter. 

Pictures of the new TT please?

Alley Cat posted:

 

Thanks - I bought a secondhand PT Anniversary many years ago and it worked fine for a few years then the PSU or motor went funny and it didn't spin well.  Wanted to chat to them to see if they could evaluate it for potential repair.  Annoyingly, last time I checked it  I think the sapphire on  the inverted bearing may have shattered which is probably a showstopper :-(

I bought a new bearing from FF some years ago but there is a company called True Point bearings in the UK that repair PT bearing shafts with a new jewel.

I think FF can do a new upgraded PSU for the Anniversary.

Definetily worth fixing. I regret selling mine...

Dave J posted:

 

The Naim demo in the cellar of doom was awful. Entirely down to the dreadful Focul loudspeakers - although there was one poor chap on the front row who nearly rocked his head off.  Fortunately Kudos saved day as far as Naim is concerned by demo-ing the new 505s with the same Naim streamer/amp/thingie. Fab.

 

Entirely in line with my thoughts Dave. Kudos room showed Nova in a totally different light. Nothing wrong with the electronics..

fordy posted:

Alley Cat posted:

 

Thanks - I bought a secondhand PT Anniversary many years ago and it worked fine for a few years then the PSU or motor went funny and it didn't spin well.  Wanted to chat to them to see if they could evaluate it for potential repair.  Annoyingly, last time I checked it  I think the sapphire on  the inverted bearing may have shattered which is probably a showstopper :-(

I bought a new bearing from FF some years ago but there is a company called True Point bearings in the UK that repair PT bearing shafts with a new jewel.

I think FF can do a new upgraded PSU for the Anniversary.

Definetily worth fixing. I regret selling mine...

Thansk fordy - I really appreciate the info, when funds allow I must look into this.

kevin J Carden posted:

Dave J posted:

 

The Naim demo in the cellar of doom was awful. Entirely down to the dreadful Focul loudspeakers - although there was one poor chap on the front row who nearly rocked his head off.  Fortunately Kudos saved day as far as Naim is concerned by demo-ing the new 505s with the same Naim streamer/amp/thingie. Fab.

 

Entirely in line with my thoughts Dave. Kudos room showed Nova in a totally different light. Nothing wrong with the electronics..

Yes, I was rather taken by the Nova/505 combo. It didn’t have the scale or detail of a bigger Naim-based system, but it made music and I hung around for a good 20 minutes enjoying what it was doing.

We were possibly there at the same time, shame we didn’t have our tags on as it would have been good to have met up.

I enjoyed this year more than last.  I thought the general standard of sound quality was good.  The music being played was more slanted to my personal taste than last year and Comfortably Numb played on Spender D9s sent shivers down my spine.  My favourite speaker was made by Fyne but at nearly £20k it should be pretty special.

Now for the shameful bit.  I'm a motorcycle/rock music loving sort of feller.  In one of the home cinema demos, a clip of opera was shown.  It looked and sounded really good and I enjoyed it.  There, I'm out of the closet and free.  The demo of Dunkirk was also special.

The Rel room was fun.  I'm not sure if it's really true to the sound musicians make at a live performance and it took a while for my ears to retune to normal sound balance but I was entertained by the experience in general.

sunbeamgls posted:

What I liked most about this deck was that it didn't sound like vinyl - the timing and stability of the music is stunning.  Which probably means it won't appeal to turntable lovers, maybe. Possibly.

 

I'm slightly puzzled by your remark which Im assuming is the result of either "mild trolling" or complete lack of experience of hearing any competent TT from £400 upwards.

Mr Frog posted:

S3 .. that would be awesome and very much appreciated if you could.

I look forward to hearing from you, regarding what Rega say on the matter. 

So I spoke at length to Phil Freeman at the show this morning. I asked him whether the Neo would improve the RP8’s performance over the stock TTPS. His response was thorough and informative. Bottom line - it is a significant upgrade over the stock TTPS. Many reasons but most important was the reduction in vibration transferred to the motor. He used the motor in the hand example which Richard articulated.

Hope that helps with your decision.

Regards

David

Alba1320 posted:

bluedog posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

What I liked most about this deck was that it didn't sound like vinyl - the timing and stability of the music is stunning.  Which probably means it won't appeal to turntable lovers, maybe. Possibly.

 

I'm slightly puzzled by your remark which Im assuming is the result of either "mild trolling" or complete lack of experience of hearing any competent TT from £400 upwards.

 

I think he's one of those strange individuals who prefers digital to analogue, so likes his vinyl to sound like CD!

 

(And, BTW, people do realise that emoticons are there for a reason, right? )

I'm aware that the youngsters have adopted emojis as a substitute for the subtleties of the English language - but Ill manage without them at my somewhat advanced age 

bluedog posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

What I liked most about this deck was that it didn't sound like vinyl - the timing and stability of the music is stunning.  Which probably means it won't appeal to turntable lovers, maybe. Possibly.

 

I'm slightly puzzled by your remark which Im assuming is the result of either "mild trolling" or complete lack of experience of hearing any competent TT from £400 upwards.

 

Keep reading the thread and you'll find that the subtleties of the English language can be too subtle for some. Probably. Maybe. Possibly.

(More subtle clues to the subtle clues there for you).

Alba1320 posted:

bluedog posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

What I liked most about this deck was that it didn't sound like vinyl - the timing and stability of the music is stunning.  Which probably means it won't appeal to turntable lovers, maybe. Possibly.

 

I'm slightly puzzled by your remark which Im assuming is the result of either "mild trolling" or complete lack of experience of hearing any competent TT from £400 upwards.

 

I think he's one of those strange individuals who prefers digital to analogue, so likes his vinyl to sound like CD!

 

(And, BTW, people do realise that emoticons are there for a reason, right? )

emotion with bad timing and not stable sound?   curious point of view from a vinyl lover

S3 posted:

Mr Frog posted:

S3 .. that would be awesome and very much appreciated if you could.

I look forward to hearing from you, regarding what Rega say on the matter. 

So I spoke at length to Phil Freeman at the show this morning. I asked him whether the Neo would improve the RP8’s performance over the stock TTPS. His response was thorough and informative. Bottom line - it is a significant upgrade over the stock TTPS. Many reasons but most important was the reduction in vibration transferred to the motor. He used the motor in the hand example which Richard articulated.

Hope that helps with your decision.

Regards

David

Hi David

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with Rega (Phil Freeman) regarding the Neo with RP8.

This is really helpful and corroborates exactly what you have found with yours and also the findings of Jason Kennedy (The Ear) - plus Richard Dane's comment about the significant reduction in motor vibration, which he personally experienced at the Rega factory.

Based on this, I believe that the Neo is definitely the way to go (in spite of what the other Rega Research guy directed .... ). Again, this may be down to the fact that the Neo closes the gap between the RP8 and RP10, which may be something that Rega don't want to promote .... which may be for sound business reasons.

It's a shame that Rega don't now supply the RP8 from new with the Neo included ... though I guess they may have existing stocks remaining of the original (dedicated) TT-PSU.

Looks as if I'll need to buy the Neo separately and immediately consign the supplied turntable PSU into its box ... being redundant and surplus to requirements!

Thanks again for your kind support - which is very much appreciated. Enjoy the rest of your weekend 

Pleasure Mr. Frog. Enjoy. You won’t be disappointed. It’s a smart and compelling vinyl solution which will give you many years of pleasure.

Regards

David

Mr Frog posted:

S3 posted:

Mr Frog posted:

S3 .. that would be awesome and very much appreciated if you could.

I look forward to hearing from you, regarding what Rega say on the matter. 

So I spoke at length to Phil Freeman at the show this morning. I asked him whether the Neo would improve the RP8’s performance over the stock TTPS. His response was thorough and informative. Bottom line - it is a significant upgrade over the stock TTPS. Many reasons but most important was the reduction in vibration transferred to the motor. He used the motor in the hand example which Richard articulated.

Hope that helps with your decision.

Regards

David

Hi David

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with Rega (Phil Freeman) regarding the Neo with RP8.

This is really helpful and corroborates exactly what you have found with yours and also the findings of Jason Kennedy (The Ear) - plus Richard Dane's comment about the significant reduction in motor vibration, which he personally experienced at the Rega factory.

Based on this, I believe that the Neo is definitely the way to go (in spite of what the other Rega Research guy directed .... ). Again, this may be down to the fact that the Neo closes the gap between the RP8 and RP10, which may be something that Rega don't want to promote .... which may be for sound business reasons.

It's a shame that Rega don't now supply the RP8 from new with the Neo included ... though I guess they may have existing stocks remaining of the original (dedicated) TT-PSU.

Looks as if I'll need to buy the Neo separately and immediately consign the supplied turntable PSU into its box ... being redundant and surplus to requirements!

Thanks again for your kind support - which is very much appreciated. Enjoy the rest of your weekend 

about 200 GBP for the neo psu option.  As you said, the gap vs the rp10 must be closer, but how closer ?   the platter and arm of the rp10 is still better, but maybe the gap is little.

Even with the Neo I think the gap between the 8 and 10 is actually still pretty significant. The tonearm, platter and the PSU are quite a bit better than the 8’s equivalents and so they should be given the price difference.

I went to Bristol today and wholeheartedly agree with those who say it was, with a few exceptions, poor.  Naim was among the worst: no engagement with the punters, continuous high levels of background noise, no new products to hear and no music that I liked (I went in 3 times, hoping). I asked about the change of format compared with recent years and was told it   was to give more people the chance to listen......but to what? Very disappointing indeed. One of the better, more engaging exhibits was Neat, where a former Naim employee (I will name no names) was 'hosting'! 

AndrewG posted:

I went to Bristol today and wholeheartedly agree with those who say it was, with a few exceptions, poor.  Naim was among the worst: no engagement with the punters, continuous high levels of background noise, no new products to hear and no music that I liked (I went in 3 times, hoping). I asked about the change of format compared with recent years and was told it   was to give more people the chance to listen......but to what? Very disappointing indeed. One of the better, more engaging exhibits was Neat, where a former Naim employee (I will name no names) was 'hosting'! 

I just can’t bare those ghastly Focal speakers that Naim are now compelled to use when demoing their fabulous electronics. Such a shame. Contrast that with the Dynaudio room which, as always, was the best sound at the show and used pretty much the same system as Naim did in the Terrace area. 

Dave J posted:

kevin J Carden posted:

Dave J posted:

 

The Naim demo in the cellar of doom was awful. Entirely down to the dreadful Focul loudspeakers - although there was one poor chap on the front row who nearly rocked his head off.  Fortunately Kudos saved day as far as Naim is concerned by demo-ing the new 505s with the same Naim streamer/amp/thingie. Fab.

 

Entirely in line with my thoughts Dave. Kudos room showed Nova in a totally different light. Nothing wrong with the electronics..

Yes, I was rather taken by the Nova/505 combo. It didn’t have the scale or detail of a bigger Naim-based system, but it made music and I hung around for a good 20 minutes enjoying what it was doing.

We were possibly there at the same time, shame we didn’t have our tags on as it would have been good to have met up.

Yes, shame nobody knows who’s who! I thought the music Kudos played while I was in the room very iffy which didn’t help, but again fully concur. It was easy to imagine how much more the 505’s are capable of, but nothing much wrong with a Nova in control either. 

Focal do look pretty shocking and I’ve no idea what they sound like......

I’ll stick to my active ATC’s any day ????

I went up to the Naim stand in the terrace to ask about the Yazz Ahmed CD, 4 staff, all 'checking their mobiles', ended up buying a copy at HMV in town on the way home. The big room seemed dire, punters sitting around, staff milling around, tannoy-like noises from those big plastic horrors. Rega were a delight, staff delighted to talk and chat, was introduced to Terry Bateman, their CD and amp creator, what a nice guy. Those 'baby' Titans did sound interesting, as usual though, concrete hotel rooms less than ideal. ATC making some nice noises too. My business attends consumer shows, I learnt a lot on friday and not much of it about hifi.