Opinions about an upgrade to Rega Planar 6

Hi all!
A few months back I felt like going back to vinyl after decades of CD's and spotify. Not being sure if vinyl could give me the exciting experience I hoped, I purchased a not too expensive Pro-ject Debut Carbon Esprit SB which now runs through a Yaqin MS-23b and Shiit Saga/Vidar. What can I say, I'm definitely back into vinyl. Haven't touched my spotify account for months and absolutely love to play records instead of streaming. I can't really complain about the SQ of the Pro-Ject, mostly because I don't have any other TTs to compare with. But I do feel, that there could be improvements. Well, there is always a possible improvement. But I like the idea of playing my growing vinyl collection on a "grown-up" system which I don't feel to upgrade for the upcoming years.

I read some raving reviews about the Rega P6 with Ania MC. There are Bundles being sold, which include the TT, the Ania MC, Neo PSU and the Fono MC preamp. The pricetag is something around 2.5K, which is quite an investment for me. On the other hand, now I could sell my current gear in mint condition, so the price would drop under 2K.

I have no way to test the Rega. Therefore I'd like to hear some opinions about my idea. Is the P6/Ania worth the upgrade/money? I guess it is, but there would also would be a P3 as a cheaper option. Or even something completely different? In the end, only I can and will decide, but maybe somebody here feels like sharing his/her thoughts with me. Thanks!

 

Not sure what my opinion is worth but I'll give it a go..

I've owned a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon, Well Tempered Simplex, Groovetracer modded Rega RP3 and now a VPI Classic. I have also spent considerable time with the new Rega models and the RP8 and have heard/owned various mid-high end MM, HOMC and LOMC carts. After all that I have decided that I love the simplicity of Rega tables. My RP3 worked perfectly for years with various carts and absolutely no issues. No hum, no sibilance, no weird shit caused by poor setup, no nothing.. I attribute this to the fact that the arm has minimal adjustment options (no VTA, no azimuth) so there's less to go wrong. Some may see this as a down side but after owning some very fiddly tables like the Well Tempered and VPI (which I'm still not completely happy with) I see it as an advantage. The electronic speed control is extremely convenient and now that they have fine speed adjustment you can dial the speed in at exactly 33.3 which is awesome since Rega tables typically run a bit fast (so does my VPI FYI). So for me, the simplicity of Rega tables is hard to go past. If you don't want to spend hours f'ing around with anti-skate, VTA, azimuth and just want something that sounds good then Rega is a good option. You can play with different platter mats to tame the lively sound from the glass platter and add spacers for VTA if required but that's as far as you need to go with tinkering. I know the guys on here love VPI so my opinion probably isn't shared but it is what it is..

 

Thank you. I don't really care if MM or MC as long as it sounds good. But from what I read, the MC ania is not considered a cheap MC and def. better than my actual ortofon red. Which to me sounds great already. And that's why i struggle to spend another 2K and more. In the end, knowing myself too good, I will purchase the rega in a moment of weakness.... It always works like this....

 

I had both and yes the yaqin was better.

I hear great things about the regas but I'm just put off by their looks which I know is part of the low mass design but they just look flimsy. I personally would go for a kuzma stabi that's in budget or get techniqs sl 1200 and get it upgraded by inspire hifi or origin live. I think the British hifi world mag use one of these upgraded ones for their reference system.

There's also this shockingly good deal on a linn by inspire hifi, might be worth a cheap flight to the uk.

I wouldn't worry so much about warrantys with turntables even though their fragile generally more repairable then say a DAC or streamer.