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Rega P6 vs P8

H

HifiDan

pfm Member
I currently have a Rega P6 with an Ania cart, that I purchased new to dip my toes into vinyl, to kind of see how I got on (I’m an avid streaming fan)!!!

I really love it’s sound, so much so that after only a few months of owning from new, I’m looking at moving up the chain to a Rega P8.

has anyone compared the 2??? Would love to know your thoughts!

Thanks,

Dan.
 
Yes, a decent and worthy upgrade if you're a fan, better transparency (lower noise floor), better arm, also IMO - and most importantly - looks cooler.

That said, your P6 is already very good.
 
How many records have you got?

If you’ve just got into vinyl this is where you might want to think to think things through, you potentially need quite deep pockets to build a decent record collection these days.

The p6 is gorgeous and more record player than most people will ever need.
 
So far, I’ve built up a collection of around 50 vinyl albums. I tend to listen to albums on Tidal snd buy what I like.

The P6 for me was somewhere to start after I’d accidentally gate crashed a dem of a P3 at a HiFi shop one day, absolutely loved it (more so then the perspective customer).

Now I’m hooked and the upgrade bug causes a constant itch I need to scratch!
 
What is the rest of your system? I'm a very happy owner of a P6. I did find adding a separate phono stage a big improvement (a Fono MC). I would be interested in your impressions of the P8 if you do upgrade.
 
HifiDan said:
So far, I’ve built up a collection of around 50 vinyl albums. I tend to listen to albums on Tidal snd buy what I like.

Now I’m hooked and the upgrade bug causes a constant itch I need to scratch!
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There’ll be plenty of people on here happy to spend your money for you.

Seriously though, consider getting hooked on searching for decent pressings of classic records.

Chasing the music rather than the hifi is much more satisfying (I would say cheaper, but starting a record collection from scratch today is sheer madness).
 
ossy said:
Chasing the music rather than the hifi is much more satisfying (I would say cheaper, but starting a record collection from scratch today is sheer madness).
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Nonsense. There are millions of vinyl records out there, they are making more, and buying them is easy. Two LPs arrived from eBay today, both in great condition and about £15 delivered for them both. Records are more fun, more interesting and cooler than downloads will ever be.
 
Records are a pain in the arse, TT’s are a bother, don’t bother. Look at all the mithering on these boards, most of it is related to cartridge, set up etc.

Enjoying & appreciating music is ‘cool’ regardless of format.

An alternative view;)
 
Mr Pig said:
Nonsense. There are millions of vinyl records out there, they are making more, and buying them is easy. Two LPs arrived from eBay today, both in great condition and about £15 delivered for them both. Records are more fun, more interesting and cooler than downloads will ever be.
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Agreed. However, I’ve been sucked into perusing the rega appreciation thread on Facebook recently (slaps forehead) and am feeling cynical.

It’s a combination of mostly free for all crap advice, people being egged on to spend a fortune on gear having bought a few lp’s and a weird compulsion to measure your t/table speed using your phone and then complain about the £15 you’ve spent on a new belt.
 
I swapped from P6 to P8 at the end of last year. The 8 is significantly better; much more communicative and enjoyable. Not everyone likes the look of the 8 but I think it’s lovely. If you can afford it, go for it.
 
ossy said:
Agreed. However, I’ve been sucked into perusing the rega appreciation thread on Facebook recently (slaps forehead) and am feeling cynical.
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I understand what you're saying and I'm not disagreeing with the idea that buying a top turntable for fifty records is a little nuts but it's his money. Vinyl is not my primary source these days but I have an RP10. Technically, I think you're right though. A P6 is going to be a good record player and unless the system is fairly revealing the subjective difference between it and a P8 might not be huge.

But I totally disagree that starting collecting records today is madness. Lots of kids are getting into vinyl these days and good for them.
 
It is good. But not at £25 a pop. I suppose if you can’t (never going to be able to?) afford a house deposit then a reassuringly priced lp is a no brainer.
 
I get the cost of buying vinyl is expensive, and I’ve paid silly money for rare pressings of albums that I like, but the analogue sound is definitely my preference now. Is sounds more live and natural to me, like I’m there with the musicians and artists. So to me, it’s well worth the effort with vinyl, so much so that my Naim NDX has only been used a handful of times since buying the P6, and that could not be more simple and quick to use.

I have found that starting a record collection can be as cheap or expensive as you like!!! Some old albums can be picked up on eBay for a few quid and are in perfect condition, I’ve also been lucky and picked up good quality vinyl from charity shops and they sound fantastic too. I’ve invested into a decent record cleaner so that’s helped me out, never play a record before cleaning it first (both new or used).

Ultimately, no audiophile will ever like exactly the same thing and that’s something I enjoy the most, the difference in opinions. If we did, there would be very few manufacturers for the audiophile industry.
 
The P8 is definitely a better deck than the P6. The P10 is better again (although some people have negative things to say about the sound of the ceramic platter).

If you have only recently got into vinyl with the P6 it may be worthwhile considering where you want to be in the longer term - if it is at the P10 level I would hang on to the P6 longer and save up rather than step through the P8.

Having said that the P6 is more than enough for some people and depending on the rest of your system you may not hear sufficient benefit from better decks.

You can also get better outcomes with the P6. There are better cartridges than the Ania and the P6 can handle them. Apheta 3 if you want to stick with Rega or something like a Dynavector XX2 or Hana ML (I have run the latter 2 on a P6 and been happy). Also what phono stage are you using? Improving this can do wonders for your P6 and be there for your future step to P8 or P10.

But I do understand the desire to move up - and the P8 is a nice looking deck
 
I certainly noticed a jump from RP6 to RP8 (older models), more space, detail and definition across the range.
 
I have P6 with exact and really like it. Have been debating whether to add Ania pro or go P8. Swaying towards adding the Ania pro purely as I prefer the look of the P6, although haven’t yet spent much time next to an actual P8 which may change my mind.

I really like vinyl but mostly listen via streaming for convenience but when I feel like being active there is nothing better than spinning some records.
 
It's been asked about the phonostage in post 6 and post 15..
My take on it is that I experience the differences to be had from phonostages and also carts as massive.
The differences from decks and arms are also ranging from fine but not unimportant ..to great,
but in average and my view - not in the same dimension as carts and their stages.

Thus, I'd possibly start with the stage..and here, probably the cart..and the deck last.

What's the phonostage, by the way..? :)
 
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