Rega Planar 3 Vs. Linn Sondek LP12! Tango Spinner Upgrades a Winner? Pt.2

It's wonderful that you had a reference that you could go back to and listen and compare to, because hearing and memory together is a fickle combination. Many feel that upgrades don't make any difference, and that we 'hear what we want to hear', but you have clearly quantified your findings in describing differences in relation to a reference. I find this video very well done, and your experiment will help many in their quest to upgrade the sound of their turntable, spending a little at a time, having fun while doing it, and achieving something over time that is rewarding. Like you I have owned a Linn LP12 of similar vintage, with all the upgrades except the power supply, and today I use a 2016 Rega P3 that has had similar upgrades to yours, and I do prefer the Rega sound myself, but I did not prior to the upgrades.

My Canaro kit just came in a couple of days back and I am looking forward to implementing the upgrades over the weekend. The Delrin platter and Boca feet might be next on the list. Thank you for these videos -Highly informative and instructive.

I have the Rega p3 . My experience is that I love it with some recordings and hate it with others. I am apt to agree with commenters here that suggest that different is different.that may simply because I do not have a reference for what is better. And, really, that could be enough to satisfy the need for something better. What puzzles me is why the upgrade path that is available for my Rega seems to suggest that I would have been wiser to have gone with a non Rega option to begin with. And also- as noted below, that the upgrades are corrections for what seems to be gaps in the lighter is better theory that produced the table to begin with. So, I'm puzzled..maybe wrong, but not critical . The p3 has offered me a lot & I'm happy to have it.

Love these mod videos. Keep them coming!

This was very interesting, thanks for taking the time.

What a great review!! Thank you máster!!

In 1984, I got a Planar 3 blank and had a Linn tonearm and cartridge installed. It was really good!

This is a great comparison! You are a man very much as I! I still love the classic vintage audio and enjoy putting system together! Matter of fact I especially love turntables and would love to have as many as possible since back in the '90's-2000"s I expected all turntable manufacturing to evaporate! At one point I had 8 turntables with half of them being Bang & Olufsen!

The Planar3 was my first turntable and I got to meet Roy Gandy a number of times. He’s a very good engineer and listens intently when you speak to him. The fact that the Planar3 is such a long-lived touchstone product is that it is a case of simplicity hiding good engineering. He made it that you get it out of the box, place it on the level surface, plug it in and play with minimal fuss. I think you would probably get more mileage on your P3 with a power supply. I bet it sounds excellent as it stands with the Tango Spinner parts but, adding a power supply will lower the noise floor even more and increase separation and resolution. I would be interested to see what mileage you could get from Funk Firm upgrades too.

I have been working on a Rega upgrade based on the P3 plinth, I have an RB250 arm that has been stripped and rebuilt with better bearings a fitted with a metal stub and counterweight, and then it was rewired with Litz silver wire and foam filled with Van Dam RCA cables, The main bearing and holder is ceramic, and the sub-platter is a 3 spoke machined alloy, I am running a twin belt pully and a 24v DC motor with a TTPSU to control the speed, the platter is a 22mm acrylic, and it sits on Sorobothane feet, I have fitted an AT VM95ML cartridge. I kept the smoked glass cover as I like it, I have 2 others that I am working on as well, I also own a Kenwood KD990, a Thorens TD160 mk1, And a Garrard 401.

Great video!

I was amazed at the improvements to my Project Carbon Debut DC after getting the aluminium sub platter and acrylic platter upgrade. It went from a great for a $400 table to a spectacular $600 one. It was definitely worth what I spent and then some.

I remember there used to be a legend in the ether that there were Connoisseur BD1 turntables out there that sounded as good as a Linn Sondek. My friend had one back in the 70’s and it did sound really very good with a humble Shure M75EJ2 cartridge fitted. This went into a 5 watts per channel Teleton amplifier playing through Celestion Ditton 15 speakers. Not having a Linn Sondek to compare it to I couldn’t be sure he had one of the fabled Connoisseurs because only some of them were blessed with the Linn sound quality so the legend went.

"the tables have turned..." - Brilliant! :)

The Linn deserves a better cartridge, a moving coil one would make it shine.

Really enjoyed that video think I might do the same but I've upgraded my power supply and motor already

Yes I enjoyed you video very much. Cheers

Top tip. The Rega planar is very sensitive to the platform it sits on. A proper dedicated stand like a Sound Organisation table. Ie. A rigid, lightweight metal frame table with spiked feet and supporting a chipboard shelf. The fundamental improvement in performance is massive to this deck.

I got my Rega Planar 3 in 1979. I bought it second hand from a guy who was upgrading to an LP 12. In the 90's the S shaped tonearm developed an annoying mains hum and after failing to get it repaired I replaced it with an identical S shaped tonearm that I managed to find. As a matter of interest the rest of the system was bought at the time and comprises Quad 33/405 and Leak 2075 speakers.

Get a Hana cart for a RP8 I did and it blew my mind - the difference was remarkable 😊