Rega P25 (vs Naim CDX...)

Hi Alco

I had a P25 (still have actually) and a CDX for at about a couple years and IMHO they're basically on a par. The CDX was the first CD player that really sounded "right" musically for me, but the 25 has it in spades right from the off.

Jay

Yeah...well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

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Originally posted by Alco:
Hi Y'all,

About 1 hour ago I received an email from (probably) one of the most well respected analog-experts in Holland.
He owns a very nice HiFi-store and is specialized in selling, demoing and setting up TT's. (http://www.audioselectief.nl)
Now, he offered me a mint 5 months(!) old Rega P25 (cherry) with a Benz Micro 20 MC (High-output) for only 650,- Euro!
(457,- UKP/728,- USDollar)

I'm not able to demo it in the shop first (no car, no time) and there is already another guy interested, but he's still in doubt of buying the TT, because he has to travel too far to pick it up.

Now, I do have a Naim CDX which I love very much.

Whatta ya guys think... ? How would a P25/Benz Micro 20e compare to my CDX ?

A mint P25 like this one, only 5 months old, for this kinda money does seem like quite a baragin to me...

Anybody out there who heard/ownes a P25 next to a CDX ?

Any advise would be appreciated.

regards,
Alco

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When you buy a source (like a CD player or a turn table, the first question is how big is the collection (CDs or LPs) that you have to play using that source. If you have only few LPs then the answer is NOT to buy.

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If you have only few LPs then the answer is NOT to buy.

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Killjoy

Yeah...well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I owned a P25/Elys and sold it to Stevie Dempster.

The Elys was worn so perhaps the comparison wasn't a fair one, but the CDX sounded more involving to my ears. Stephen has since changed the cart to a Linn, and swears tht it is now more musical than his CDX/XPS.



Regards,

Steve.

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If you have only few LPs then the answer is NOT to buy.

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I do only have about 15 LP's left...
When I get on the train and travel 20 minutes to the nearest town called Groningen, I can get plenty s/h vinyl though.
It's the few new releases in the music I like most, that bothers me more. (Americana, singer-songwriter, blues)

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You may want to consider paying a little more for a used Linn LP12 with an Ittock instead.

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That's not realy an option for me Mark.
A s/h LP12 very rarely comes along in Holland.
A s/h LP12/Ittock often costs 2 or 3 times the price I have to pay for this P25.
The LP12 is a pain to set up properly, and there's hardly any store in Holland that sells the LP12 anymore, and so hardly any specialized left to do a proper setup.
(there are a few, but they live miles away from me)

There is this store in Holland called Audio Exellence. They do sell mint s/h LP12's, every once in a while, but for an LP12/Akito they already ask 1750,- fu..ing Euro

regards,
Alco

[This message was edited by Alco on SUNDAY 20 July 2003 at 12:44.]

Currently I own a Nait-2 and a 72/180 combo.

Would the phonostage in the Nait-2 be better/worse/equal compared to NAC72 phonoboards ?
What would be a decent price for some s/h phonoboards for the NAC72 ?

Hi Alco,
IMHO, the P25 you are offered seems to be a good bargain. (650 euros is the price of a new P3, and you can have a P25+cart).
You will be able to re-sell for about the same price if ever it doesn't suit you!

Now, be careful, buying vinyl, doing the round of record fairs and thrift shops can become a very addictive hobby

Cheers
Jean-Marc

I miss Tuan's reasoning.

As far as I can see, Tuan is right a) only for listeners who want only the newest recordings or b) only if the used record market is ignored.

I've bought a LOT of used vinyl, and even with the junk, the average cost of a very clean LP of a great performance is $3-4 - and it's that high only if Ivalue the cleanable vinyl at 0 (zero). If I put a value on the LPs I celan, the average cost of a good LP drops to about $1.50.

(Sure, if I were interested in vintage jazz my cost would go up.)

Fortunately Alco understands the value of the used record market.

Alco, you already have a CDX for the music you buy on CD. An LP spinner might be a good choice - but really need a hicap on that 72 :-).

Regards.

Phil

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Don't bother with Naim phono boards, unless money is a concern!

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Well,...then I guess it's not gonna happen, cause money is a concern to me!
I do think and understand that a mint P25 for 650,- is kind of a bargain, but if I'd have to lay down another 300,- to 400,- UKP (bout 500,- Euro) to get it on a 'whipe the floor with the CDX' level, then I'm not interested anymore...

regards,
Alco

I've been using P9 with in-built phono stages since my Exposure days till now. Of course there are better phono amps out there but the fact that the in-built ones still manage to show me how much better the P9 is compared to my previous P25 goes to show that the in-builts boards is still something to be reckoned with. To add on, the quality of built-in phono just gets better as the cap on the pre goes higher.

Thanx for al the replies so far guys!

I'm gonna think it over now, and look at the other offerings I also came across, which are:

A (demo) Rega P9 (previous model) for 2270,- Euro, at the same dealer I bought my NAC72 from.
(I probably could trade in my 72/180 on it,and keep using my Nait-2, but even then I'd probably have to pay another 1000,- euro's at least to get it.)

A s/h absolute mint NAC102 for 975,- (always nice to have a remote )

I'll post my decision...

regards,
Alco

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It's the few new releases in the music I like most, that bothers me more. (Americana, singer-songwriter, blues)

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Alco, If by "Americana" you mean the alt-country type stuff, then there are many new releases available on vinyl; likewise for new singer-songwriter releases. Blues, on the other hand, seems to have largely died on vinyl.

As you can see from looking in the music room at what people are buying, there is an enormous amount of new material available on vinyl in a variety of genres.

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Alco, If by "Americana" you mean the alt-country type stuff, then there are many new releases available on vinyl

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O, that's kinda surprising then...

I'd buy my new vinyl releases on NLstore because they're affordable, quick, and I don't have to pay by credit-card.
I did a search on some of my favorite Americana musicians but hardly found any of 'em on vinyl
(only exceptions were: Steve Earle, Ryan Adams, Alison Krauss)

Most of it was only available on CD.
You're right about blues on vinyl.
There's some Chicago and Delta blues on vinyl, but not the kind of blues/titels I like most.

I'll have a look in the music-room. Thanx!

regards,
Alco

Alco,
don't let you put off by what PR says about the Naim phono boards, they are cheap and performs quite well!

PR: though I can understand an external phono pre such as the Tom Evans is a worthwhile upgrade, I don't see your point about Naim's phono boards, would you care to explain a bit further, please?

I'm currently running my LP12/Lingo/Aro/Dyna DV20xH through boards inside my 52 and the performance is quite good IMO.
Thanks
JM

Hi Alco,

If you choose the remote, you'll get a special price ;-)

Regards, Bas

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Originally posted by PR:
The Naim phono stage in my 82 lets my Rega down big-time compared to the TE, that's all!

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Sure, but my LP12 already sounds better than my CDS2 with a MM (not MC!) phono board. And the 52 is much more revealing than the 82 (I owned a 82 before the 52).
Cheers
JM

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If it only matches, why bother? Does he already have a large vinyl collection? No! He only has 15. So why enter into vinyl below the CDX? What is he looking to gain from 15 vinyl albums? Why not spend the money on more music?

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You're right Peter. I'm not really interested in entering the vinyl zone below the CDX level.

btw. I found out that there are 3 LP/CD fairs in my neighbourhood, the upcoming 3 weeks

With this in mind I thought:'Go for it, get that P25' But then... I saw that the first 2 are on in my own town, but on a fu..ing Wednesday, from 10 o'clock in the morning till 5 o' clock in the afternoon.
(I have to work till 4:30 and I can't get a day off!)

The other LP/CD fair is on a Thursday, (jeez, why not on a Saturday!? )

So, those kinda things do piss me off!
When I want to buy a CD I just visit NLstore, fill in the title of the album I want, do a few clicks here and there, and within about 2 minutes it's ordered and it will mostly arrive within a few days.

yeah, I know... I'm probably getting a bit of a nag now, but the dates of these 3 LP/CD fairs did it

regards,
Alco

[This message was edited by Alco on SUNDAY 20 July 2003 at 21:57.]

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Originally posted by Alco:
yeah, I know... I'm probably getting a bit of a nag now

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You're making things so hard for yourself, Alco, by casting this tiny mini net. Vinyl hunting would be the ideal way for a cheapskate like you, but now you only want to hunt vinyl if they deliver the goodies at your doorstep, at your convenient hour.

I recommend you get the Rega and start working on a LP collection.

Herman

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You're making things so hard for yourself

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Hmm, ya might be right about that Herm. it's kinda like my specialty

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Vinyl hunting would be the ideal way for a cheapskate like you, but now you only want to hunt vinyl if they deliver the goodies at your doorstep, at your convenient hour

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Here I disagree, Herm!
Imo, browsing through all those music on a LP/CD fair IS one of those nice things, when hunting for some s/h vinyl!

So, I'd love to go and check out those LP/CD fairs I mentioned, but I can't! That's all! Every few months there's some LP/CD fair in my area, but if I can't go there because I have to work or whatever on that date. That's kinda frustrating.
I don't need LP's being delivered to my door, at my convinient hour.

regards,
Alco

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Originally posted by PR:
Alco, listen to what Tom said.

To clarify, the Rega 25 doesn't compare to a Meridian 206 through a standard Naim phono board.

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PR

Is this your actual experience or are you just repeating what Tom has said? It's a little unclear....

Sometimes I think you guys just confuse the hell out of people. The question is simple.

1. I have 15 LP's but plan to get more.
2. I wwant something comparable in quality to a CDX
3. I have a line on a cheap P25.

I will repeat. The 25 is on a PAR with a CDX and I think I can post with some conviction as I've lived with the exact system Alco has now for at least a couple of years (CDX/72/180) before introducing a P25 into the mix.

IME (real experience not based on 15 min dems, you know like actually living with something) the 25 is on a PAR with the CDX. Some things it does better and some it does worse, but overall a PAR.

Yes the 25 can be upgraded - but it's not immediately necessary.

If you've only got 15 LP's but plan to get more, at that price Alco a P25 is very good value. In fact, why spend any more if it's a first foray into vinyl.

Jay

Yeah...well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Ah.....thanks PR for the clarification!

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I don't see the point of being into vinyl if it only matches the CDX. Why bother?

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Well I can see the point if you've only got 15 LP's and want to get a decent TT on the cheap.

Jay

Yeah...well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So what happened Alco? Chickened out on the vinyl I assume?

Jay

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So what happened Alco? Chickened out on the vinyl I assume ?

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Well Jay,... if it wasn't for Bas V's reply in this topic, I probably would've got me a (P25) TT by now...

But, ...Bas V offered me his mint NAC102 for a very special price I just couldn't refuse, and he even proposed to deliver it personally to my home.
So, it's a pre-amp upgrade for now first.

btw: I placed a 'for sale' ad on a German site where there's a shipload of Naim/Linn and other brands.Audiomarkt.de
I also had my 72/180 for sale on 2 other HiFi- sites for more than 2 months, and not even 1 reply !!!

So, I'm gonna get me the best pre-amp for my 180 first, and finally... I've got a remote again, what a relief
(I hate the volumeknob of the 72/Nait-2 on CD)
Maybe sell/swap the 72 for a s/h HiCap at a later date, who knows...
(hell, maybe I'll even swap the 72 for a decent TT in the near future , time will tell...)

regards,
Alco