Roy Gandy’s original RB300 was a game changer when it arrived as the new arm for the Planar3. It appeared at £90 on its own or as part of the £188 Rega Planar3. It was revolutionary for being a one piece injection casting from headshell to bearing. It had a tungsten counterweight and fine tolerance bearings. The wiring was a little less exciting but was continuous from headshell to phono plugs. The Planar3 was quite a zen thing. Very clever engineering and use of materials. The main bearing has excellent precision and runs quietly. The bearing was moulded into a low mass precision injection moulded subplatter. The plinth was made of machined particle board (an MDF or fibreboard?) skinned with a high quality brushed, black laminate. The plinth was low-mass, non-resonant, self-damping and stiff. The power supply was simple, a phase capacitor and a resistor to drive the Airpax synchronous motor. This motor was decoupled from the plinth on stretched ‘o’ rings. The motor was mounted behind the main bearing with two pulley diameters. The belt was also an “o” ring and speed change involved removing the platter and moving the belt between the smaller diameter pulley down onto the larger diameter one. The platter was a thick piece of float glass machined and edge ground. A black lambs wool felt mat was used. The feet were large sculpted Sorbothane pucks sitting in moulded cups screwed to the plinth. The engineering decisions were amazing. The parts could all be mass produced by local firms in Essex in scalable quantities and used to make two models, the Planar2 and the planar3 and the quality control was high. The engineering was clever. Tolerances were very tight where they needed to be, there was very little self noise. There was precision. It was minimalist and sounded alive and dynamic. Records sounded fantastic. The turntable may have looked simple but the engineering led design was perfect. You opened the box, put the platter on, the dealer often fitted the cartridge. You just plugged in and played records. It’s no surprise that it has lasted so long and is still a reference for how to make a turntable. The engineering of the plinth and motor does allow Arthur Khoubessarian to think outside the box. He knows good engineering when he sees it. I bet that Rage kit sounds astonishingly good. Rega’s genius was to reduce the fiddling around to the on off switch and moving the belt to change speed. It sounded better on a wall shelf, you could upgrade the cartridge, you could get a set of spacers to vary the VTA. But, in general, it was a set it and forget it Zen record player that made records fun. It hides its cleverness in plain sight. The Rega Arms escaped into the wild as challengers to many of the expensive alternatives. When I saw your review I knew that the Planar3 could stand it. I first met Roy Gandy at The Cornflake Shop in London. I had made my first interconnects out of Klotz microphone cable the guys at the Cornflake shop liked them. He liked them and that was one thing he adopted for Rega. Great review!
Very interesting. 👍 As an constant modification addict of my two older Rega planer 3 Turntables (see my channel 😉) this would probably be a better bangs per buck modification but... I've really enjoyed my beer money/night out money modifications and, even bought the Origin live cartridge enabler using your link, after seeing your review video. I will be purchasing another soon using your link, I was that impressed after buying the first one! 😉
TIP!: This kit offers great sound quality for the initial outlay but if you are careful with that budget of yours and especially if you don't actually own a Rega 3, I would grab a second-hand, older *RP3* from eBay for £300 or much less if you're lucky (make sure you have your wits about you on there - if you need advice on buying a second-hand turntable, give me a shout). This will half (or more) the initial outlay for a new base turntable but the end result (RP3 plus kit) will challenge turntables at twice the final, overall price.
@@JohnDoe-np3zk I like the sound of the Elys2 Cartridge too, especially after it’s been broken in. I’d like to upgrade to a Hana moving coil cartridge in the future.
After VAT, the price of the Kit 11 for the SL-1200GR is nearly $1200 USD. Fk that. After reading other people's comments, if you own a SL-1200GR or SL-1200G, all you really need is a head-shell and cartridge upgrade, and a good plinth for about the same money. I almost got the Kit 11, but $1200 USD for what you get is insane. Just my opinion.
This was an eye opener for me. I have posted before that I had a Pink Triangle turntable with Linn Ittok arm and K9 cartridge that started to sound slow and flat. No one could hear this but me including my hifi shop. I bought the Revolver turntable to play older second hand records and this sounded great. So one afternoon I put the Ittok and K9 on the Revolver and wow it was everything that I was looking for. I am still using this 30 years later. I do have a nagging voice in my head that I should have bought the Linn LP12 Sondek instead of the Triangle but back then the Pink sounded more exciting with a better sound stage. The Revolver was definitely better than my previous Rega Planner 3 that I sold on. So in a round about way I have done what you have done with the Funk putting a very good arm onto a turntable that in theory should be inferior but in reality some sort of synergy has happened and the sound actually achieved is tremendous. I hope that this makes sense. On another note I now have a Systemdek IIX 900 with Moth badged Rega RB250 and Audio Technica AT110e that is used for old second hand records and I have read that the Origin Live structural upgrade for the arm stub and weight is a good improvement . Do you have any experience of it?
I just couldn't get the funk firm mat to work for me, it removed all the richness, tonal quality in sound and I felt I was listening to a cd.. (ive stuck with the felt mat as Roy Gandy intended!)
Never forget that every aspect of a turntable - especially budget - is a compromise. Hence, the felt mat is useful because it has next to no height which is great because the arm can't be changed in VTA terms which means Rega can get away with selling its own low-slung carts, keeping you in the Rega barn for future upgrades :)
@@TheAudiophileMan I couldn't disagree more! The felt matt is a tried and tested piece of kit which rega has engineered. It has nothing to do with suppressing the option to upgrade...upgrading and modding will always be an option to some.
Hi Paul bless you . Very interesting having been smitten by your audiolab 6000 combo recommendation , which I now have thanks to your enthusiast review I’m totally onboard with the prospect of upgrading my new rega P3 deck . But do I need to consider a new cartridge to do justice to such an upgrade . Because obviously this will push the overall outlay beyond the £700 plus you have eluded to from the funk firm company Best wishes and kind regards to your good self Paul as always 😀👍👍👍
I'm surprised that this upgrade doesn't do anything for the older Planar 3 deck itself. It's a simple job to replace the platter drive belt and the motor suspension bands and then move on to putting in a new platter bearing (e.g. sapphire bearing vs. steel) and new bearing oil. This costs a fraction of this tonearm upgrade and is where I started on upgrading an old Planar 3 before replacing the Rega arm with an SME 3009 MK2 arm. Seems a lot to spend on an upgrade without spending at least a little on the base deck.
Project are also firm believers of better tonearms. I have a Linn Basik with Akito Tonearm and K5 Cartridge/Audio Technica replacement Stylus. The Akito is a well respected Tonearm. I wish to replace the complete turntable with something more modern as I believe the plinth is the weak point due to the rigid feet.
Tango Spinner out of Argentina has Rega upgrade kits for less than half the price of this one, and seems better. It replaces the sub platter, pulley, and belts with actual upgrades on parts that are actually deficient on the stock model. The tonearm has never been a problem on Rega turntables, so I don't know why you'd mess with it.
Could this upgrade be done on an NAD Turntable from about 20 years ago. I'm not talking about the ancient one with the flat tonearm but rather the one that was based on a Rega Planar 3. I can't remember if it had an RB 330 arm but think it possibly did. And is this mod kit available in the U.S.?
Are you sure it's a Rega 3? I have one bought in 1993 that is a re-badged Planar 2 with a RB250 tonearm. I don't recall NAD selling a Rega 3 variant, although it could easily be something that they did purely for the North American market, I'm not an expert.
@@Grrrr3FKAGrrrrGrrrrGrrrr Yes, the NAD 533 was a rebadged Planar 2, identifiable by the RB250 arm and it looks just like a grey Planar 2. The NAD C555 had the RB251 arm and was a rebadged P2. The later NAD C556 was a rebadged RP1 with RB101 arm. The NAD C552 also had the RB101 arm, I think.
What of this upgrade makes the Rega better? The tonearm? If it's the tonearm, wouldn't this be a good upgrade to the 6 as well?. I don't have a Rega deck, just curious.
UPDATE: There's been some confusion as to the current pricing of the Rage 1 upgrade kit. The Funk Firm website appeared to change its page and pricing information (and the kit's arm) right after this review was posted. So I was confused too :) I think this video and the response to it caught the company on the hop a bit. In a nice way of course, but still. I've just talked to the company itself and it appears that the website has been undergoing a redesign. Hence, some channel viewers have probably been looking at the Funk site during those very changes. Because the website is/was in a state of flux, it wasn't too clear on several matters. Of course, it would have been better for the site to have closed for 48 hours and changes to have occurred behind closed doors to be published later on when they were complete but hey, it is what it is. I hope that the final Rage 1/website changes will be implemented during the next 48 hours. When I initially reviewed the Rage 1, it featured a FXR tonearm, Bo!ng feet and Achromat. That was over two years ago and that's what you see in this archive video. Since then, the final tonearm has changed to an equally nice, equally top-performing FX5. I don't think the original FXR is made any more. The feet and mat remain the same. The price should still be around the figure stated in the video but it might be slightly different now. I hope to confirm that price but, if there are any changes, then I think we're talking in tens of pounds. That kind of ball park. When I receive confirmation I may post the news on my site so I'll then add a link here. [Apologies for the length of this update] PRICE UPDATE: What I now have from Funk as of 11/8/21 is an update price for the kit. So that's a FX5G tonearm, Bo!ng feet and Achromat platter mat for £674.50. You can further upgrade the arm and you can also add the new Houdini (not sure if you've seen that) but that adds to the price. If the website doesn't reflect this info and you're interested in grabbing one, I'd call direct for now until the website shows the new info.
This is what I had from funk firm a few days ago Hi Martin, Please ignore the website. It is a mess. We still do the upgrade kit and the price remains unchanged. £1150 for a Rage 1 with us modifying an existing arm (RB300) / 5mm Achromat and Bo!ngs £1450 for us to supply the arm complete. Add £300 for Houdini. So equipped, although you will transfer the whole kit over, you will see no benefit upgrading the deck itself. Have a read of the Houdini documentation and you’ll see why. Hope that answers and helps. Arthur Khoubesserian
the FX5 tonearm isn't anywhere near the performance level FXR tonearm. completely different animal. thus the price disparity of £900 between the two kits
Great review and I was very interested until... clicking on the link I see that the FX2 upgrade is £1650 and presumably the equivalently priced upgrade to what you initially reviewed is now for a far inferior FX5G tonearm when compared to the FX2? I wonder if you would have been quite so impressed if you had reviewed the upgrade with that tonearm? I don't know, maybe? It would be interesting, thanks Paul
Are you looking at the Rage 3? The site seems to have changed since this review was posted but it’s not very clear what price applies to what kit. The £670 price should still apply to the Rage 1.
@@TheAudiophileMan The website has changed again over night! Rage 1 and Rage 2 now can't be selected. Rage 3 is listed at £1138. Suspect they may have got their pricing mixed up and have just realised.
@@markhadley9805 Indeed - I get the impression they sort the website design and content during a spare coffee break. I with they'd get a 'pro' to sort it for them :)
In the original planar 3 there was a metal bridge connecting the bearing housings of platter and tonearm. I see none anymore. That is "downgrading" I think. 😁
The metal brace is present on at least the current P3 and the previous model, the RP3. Rega turntables have a significant step up in quality each generation, they don't do downgrading! The current P3 is more comparable to the old RP6 rather than the RP3. The Planar 3 in the photos is an older, 80s model
To be honest I see lots of people swapping out the original tonearm on thier plinths and putting more expensive ones in place with s good cartridge I’m even thinking of swapping out my tonearm on the p2 for rb330,I’m not sure though if it will go straight on with existing holes but I’m going to find out,if anyone knows for sure if it can be done I’d appreciate the info
I tested the Rega cart on the Rage 1 to review the kit exclusively. Then with the ART9 to confirm the Rega cart bottleneck and how far the kit could stretch. Then the Rage 1 and ART9 with the default Rega package to confirm that the plinth wouldn't 'break'
Nice video.....thank you, however, I should disagree about the isolation feet. Rega claims exactly the opposite to the feet design showed in this video which use springs and Rega always argued that the rigidity is the most important thing for a Turnatble design. If you want an excellente isolation which will bring an astonish sound improvement ( keeping the Rega's sound caracteristic ) goes to the Rega Wall Bracket. I should also disagree about changing the original mat felt. I have tested many and the original brings you the best sound performance. There is an hysteria about changing the Rega's original design thinking you can improve the sound. Few I think can bring some improving without changing the original sound caracteristic . In my opinion, this crazieness is more related to the desire of having a custom made turntable than improving the sound indeed. I am a Rega's owener for more than 20 years and I have spent a lot of money on the acessories parts from other aftermarket companies and at the end I realized the original ones are the best concerning the sound perspective . Rega knows how to design turntables !!!!!
Shouldn’t you be calling the plinth the actual turntable which includes the main bearing and platter? Re the P3’s, I imagine this would also suit the Technics 1200 decks.
Hi Tony, the 'plinth' is generally know to be the turntable's base, feet and the container for the motor. The 'platter' is the rotating piece that supports the vinyl record. The plinth/platter/tonearm/cartridge as a package in toto, is sometimes referred to as a record player but more commonly here as the turntable.
No. The 6 doesn’t solve the problems that the Funk kit solves. Indeed I compared a P1 with Funk Rage kit to a brand new P8, with same carts on both, the P1 / Rage sounded better. I fed this back to Arthur who then demonstrated this comparison live at the Bristol HiFi show in Feb 2020 to astonished rooms of people!
Please tell me if this FUNK FIRM tone arm has a tone arm height adjustment at the base of the arm ? IF not, I '' ll be completely shocked to know that a tone arm at this price will omit this important feature. In other words, in my opinion, a tone arm at this price range without the tone arm height adjustment capability is a joke. Can the tone arm base accept the REGA 2 mm plate to raise the arm ?? We are here talking about raising the tone arm. What will happen if I use a cartridge requiring to lowering the tone arm ???
Ok to me the biggest improvement in this kit will be the tone arm. However I have the P3 which uses the newer RB330, the same as in the P6. The older RP3 has the previous gen RB300 tone arm. So the question becomes…how much better is the FXR tone arm than the RB330?? Because if its only slightly better…then this kit is not that great a bargain as the bits n bobs can be had else where for a better deal. So does anyone know anything abt RB330 vs Funkfirms alternative??
Afraid not, Kevin. As I say, this is a 3-part kit that needs its own cart. If cash is tight, I recommend starting with a good quality cartridge, a Goldring E3 or better, 1042. Then upgrading when you can.
Good review. I just wanted to say that I think the golden 'rule of thirds' that you mentioned fails in the specific price bracket you're discussing. To explain: When people start spending more on a cartridge, most audiophiles will opt for a moving coil when they hit the $500+ range. In this event, the consumer does so with the knowledge that within 3 to 4 years (or sooner), they'll be spending another $500+ on a replacement cartridge, as moving coils cant interchange a stylus. Therefore for people in the Rega Planar 3 price bracket, Id say that the rule of thirds is a highly debatable rule: I can imagine a lot of enthusiasts saving their pennies to pay $2,000 for a turntable and tonearm (perhaps the Planar 3 plus Rage kit), but would not opt for an ongoing cartridge expense of $1,000 every few years.
Look, it's a choice. Not everyone will be interested or want anything to do with my thoughts on the matter and will be happy with their private status quo, upgrade path. And that's fine. I did this to show that there is another way. The reason I bring up the whole theory of mine is because of the lop-sided upgrade route that most people use. You never hear the full potential of the hifi 'in situ' if you never maximise the design to the full. And budget has nothing to do with it. We're 'trained' to think that way. (Unless the inherent design precludes tonearm upgrades, for example then sure, the user has no choice.) Otherwise, there's no actual reason to think like that. Why buy Component X in the first place if you never intend to actually hear it's entire performance capability? It's like buying a plate of food and only eating 40% of it before handing it back and paying yet more money for yet another plate of food. What's the point? It's a waste of your time and money (not to mention resources). I did mention this in the video when I stated that most people's systems (hifi reviewers included) are skewed away from my own preferred balance. The system ratio I offer is there for those who might want to break out of the traditional and - in my opinion - inefficient loop, basically. As I say, the upgrade option is often not there in the first place for budget kit but, when it is present, I'd like to see more people take advantage. Who know? It might even encourage more kit upgrades if manufacturers saw a sales potential. Bottom line? I can hear a big difference when a rule of thirds is exploited. But hey, like I say. Most people will ignore that. I get it :)
@@TheAudiophileMan I dont think you're wrong in 70% of cases (+/-) . The point I made was specifically in this price bracket these ratios/choices are problematic. I personally use the rule of thirds in my vinyl playback system and it works great. I also agree that people do shy away (inappropriately) from spending more on a cartridge. My cartridge costs as much as a small car and I think its worth every penny, I also know of people who have spent too much on a cartridge only to be disappointed that its overkill on the tonearm-turntable combo. Mileage will always vary.
As a service tech I think the best thing to do with rega’s is take them apart and sell the parts (parts worth more than the whole) then buy a real turntable.
I think you need to have a chat with The Funk Firm to be sure of that. They might even have a new spin on the P6 that I'm not aware of: thefunkfirm.co.uk/pages/contact
You miss the whole point of the Rega offerings and that is price point. Why buy a Rega arm that has been bastardized and pay more? These up grade kits cost more than I paid for my Rega Planar 3 cartridge included.
Talk about over complicating such simple things. Most men over 50 start losing upper frequencies within their ears so this continual pursuite of unsolvable sound purity is completely useless and never achievable. Even so called audiophiles can't tell differences when properly blind tested between different bits of kit.
Yeah, no thanks. If I want a logical upgrade to my P3, I will get a P6. If I wanna upgrade my P6, I will get a state-of-the-art P8. This way, all parts of my turntable will be "cut from the same cloth" and work in an already perfectly thought-out harmony and synergy. Rega has left nothing on the table (at each model's price-point) in both aesthetics, or sound quality. I wouldn't butcher my Planar with some unsightly red armwands (that resemble the ever so badly designed clearaudio verify), or some chinese sprung feet I can get on amazon for 5 dollars. Plus I like to keep my Rega's warranty, and resale value intact.
You may be confusing the price with the Rage 3. The site has been tweaked since this review was posted. It’s not very clear. I'm going to talk to the company today to see what's going on.
I really hope these upgrades improved the sound immensely, because they look terrible, and it would b e a shame to outlay all that hard earned money for nothing...
UPDATE: This video has now been updated with 'live' chapter headings, accessible within the Description.
Roy Gandy’s original RB300 was a game changer when it arrived as the new arm for the Planar3. It appeared at £90 on its own or as part of the £188 Rega Planar3. It was revolutionary for being a one piece injection casting from headshell to bearing. It had a tungsten counterweight and fine tolerance bearings. The wiring was a little less exciting but was continuous from headshell to phono plugs. The Planar3 was quite a zen thing. Very clever engineering and use of materials. The main bearing has excellent precision and runs quietly. The bearing was moulded into a low mass precision injection moulded subplatter. The plinth was made of machined particle board (an MDF or fibreboard?) skinned with a high quality brushed, black laminate. The plinth was low-mass, non-resonant, self-damping and stiff. The power supply was simple, a phase capacitor and a resistor to drive the Airpax synchronous motor. This motor was decoupled from the plinth on stretched ‘o’ rings. The motor was mounted behind the main bearing with two pulley diameters. The belt was also an “o” ring and speed change involved removing the platter and moving the belt between the smaller diameter pulley down onto the larger diameter one. The platter was a thick piece of float glass machined and edge ground. A black lambs wool felt mat was used. The feet were large sculpted Sorbothane pucks sitting in moulded cups screwed to the plinth. The engineering decisions were amazing. The parts could all be mass produced by local firms in Essex in scalable quantities and used to make two models, the Planar2 and the planar3 and the quality control was high. The engineering was clever. Tolerances were very tight where they needed to be, there was very little self noise. There was precision. It was minimalist and sounded alive and dynamic. Records sounded fantastic. The turntable may have looked simple but the engineering led design was perfect. You opened the box, put the platter on, the dealer often fitted the cartridge. You just plugged in and played records. It’s no surprise that it has lasted so long and is still a reference for how to make a turntable. The engineering of the plinth and motor does allow Arthur Khoubessarian to think outside the box. He knows good engineering when he sees it. I bet that Rage kit sounds astonishingly good.
Rega’s genius was to reduce the fiddling around to the on off switch and moving the belt to change speed. It sounded better on a wall shelf, you could upgrade the cartridge, you could get a set of spacers to vary the VTA. But, in general, it was a set it and forget it Zen record player that made records fun. It hides its cleverness in plain sight. The Rega Arms escaped into the wild as challengers to many of the expensive alternatives. When I saw your review I knew that the Planar3 could stand it. I first met Roy Gandy at The Cornflake Shop in London. I had made my first interconnects out of Klotz microphone cable the guys at the Cornflake shop liked them. He liked them and that was one thing he adopted for Rega. Great review!
Thanks for the review, will definitely be considering this upgrade for my 1980's rega planar 3 , keep up the good work
Are you sure, for this money you can almost get a new RP3 or at least excellent cartridge!
You should buy a good turntable instead.
I think if I was going to spend almost £700 on a tonearm for a Rega P3-I’d be more likely to spend that money upgrading to a P6
Amen!
Its the same tonearm on the P6 as on the P3 but a totally different plinth material, lighter, less mass, more expensove. P6 is where the magic starts.
Why rega? Get a good turntable instead.
@@keithb6717 Such as?
Very interesting. 👍 As an constant modification addict of my two older Rega planer 3 Turntables (see my channel 😉) this would probably be a better bangs per buck modification but... I've really enjoyed my beer money/night out money modifications and, even bought the Origin live cartridge enabler using your link, after seeing your review video. I will be purchasing another soon using your link, I was that impressed after buying the first one! 😉
TIP!: This kit offers great sound quality for the initial outlay but if you are careful with that budget of yours and especially if you don't actually own a Rega 3, I would grab a second-hand, older *RP3* from eBay for £300 or much less if you're lucky (make sure you have your wits about you on there - if you need advice on buying a second-hand turntable, give me a shout). This will half (or more) the initial outlay for a new base turntable but the end result (RP3 plus kit) will challenge turntables at twice the final, overall price.
You could also buy the SRM Tech Azure, Rega motor, Bearing and the Funk and have quite a turntable
Just bought a Rega 3 with the Exact cartridge here in OZ - think I’ll enjoy the sound out of the box before I contemplate this upgrade!
hi Kernow, just wonder, how much u paying for that? cheers mate.
Lots of upgrades available for Rega tables.
@@JohnDoe-np3zk I like the sound of the Elys2 Cartridge too, especially after it’s been broken in. I’d like to upgrade to a Hana moving coil cartridge in the future.
After VAT, the price of the Kit 11 for the SL-1200GR is nearly $1200 USD. Fk that. After reading other people's comments, if you own a SL-1200GR or SL-1200G, all you really need is a head-shell and cartridge upgrade, and a good plinth for about the same money. I almost got the Kit 11, but $1200 USD for what you get is insane. Just my opinion.
This was an eye opener for me.
I have posted before that I had a Pink Triangle turntable with Linn Ittok arm and K9 cartridge that started to sound slow and flat. No one could hear this but me including my hifi shop. I bought the Revolver turntable to play older second hand records and this sounded great. So one afternoon I put the Ittok and K9 on the Revolver and wow it was everything that I was looking for. I am still using this 30 years later. I do have a nagging voice in my head that I should have bought the Linn LP12 Sondek instead of the Triangle but back then the Pink sounded more exciting with a better sound stage. The Revolver was definitely better than my previous Rega Planner 3 that I sold on. So in a round about way I have done what you have done with the Funk putting a very good arm onto a turntable that in theory should be inferior but in reality some sort of synergy has happened and the sound actually achieved is tremendous. I hope that this makes sense.
On another note I now have a Systemdek IIX 900 with Moth badged Rega RB250 and Audio Technica AT110e that is used for old second hand records and I have read that the Origin Live structural upgrade for the arm stub and weight is a good improvement . Do you have any experience of it?
I just couldn't get the funk firm mat to work for me, it removed all the richness, tonal quality in sound and I felt I was listening to a cd.. (ive stuck with the felt mat as Roy Gandy intended!)
Never forget that every aspect of a turntable - especially budget - is a compromise. Hence, the felt mat is useful because it has next to no height which is great because the arm can't be changed in VTA terms which means Rega can get away with selling its own low-slung carts, keeping you in the Rega barn for future upgrades :)
@@TheAudiophileMan I couldn't disagree more! The felt matt is a tried and tested piece of kit which rega has engineered. It has nothing to do with suppressing the option to upgrade...upgrading and modding will always be an option to some.
Hi Paul bless you . Very interesting having been smitten by your audiolab 6000 combo recommendation , which I now have thanks to your enthusiast review I’m totally onboard with the prospect of upgrading my new rega P3 deck . But do I need to consider a new cartridge to do justice to such an upgrade . Because obviously this will push the overall outlay beyond the £700 plus you have eluded to from the funk firm company Best wishes and kind regards to your good self Paul as always 😀👍👍👍
Thanks for the review, Arthur is a Genius:) Long time Customer i have the Vector Turntable so top notch
I'm surprised that this upgrade doesn't do anything for the older Planar 3 deck itself. It's a simple job to replace the platter drive belt and the motor suspension bands and then move on to putting in a new platter bearing (e.g. sapphire bearing vs. steel) and new bearing oil. This costs a fraction of this tonearm upgrade and is where I started on upgrading an old Planar 3 before replacing the Rega arm with an SME 3009 MK2 arm. Seems a lot to spend on an upgrade without spending at least a little on the base deck.
Project are also firm believers of better tonearms. I have a Linn Basik with Akito Tonearm and K5 Cartridge/Audio Technica replacement Stylus.
The Akito is a well respected Tonearm. I wish to replace the complete turntable with something more modern as I believe the plinth is the weak point due to the rigid feet.
Tango Spinner out of Argentina has Rega upgrade kits for less than half the price of this one, and seems better. It replaces the sub platter, pulley, and belts with actual upgrades on parts that are actually deficient on the stock model. The tonearm has never been a problem on Rega turntables, so I don't know why you'd mess with it.
Groovetracer products are the best mods I ever purchased and they are from California since I am here in the U.S. it was a better choice for me.
How about getting a higher grade Rega arm? Maybe get a Rega wall shelf?
Great review. Good info to put on the back burner…. Thank You.
Could this upgrade be done on an NAD Turntable from about 20 years ago. I'm not talking about the ancient one with the flat tonearm but rather the one that was based on a Rega Planar 3. I can't remember if it had an RB 330 arm but think it possibly did. And is this mod kit available in the U.S.?
Are you sure it's a Rega 3? I have one bought in 1993 that is a re-badged Planar 2 with a RB250 tonearm. I don't recall NAD selling a Rega 3 variant, although it could easily be something that they did purely for the North American market, I'm not an expert.
@@Grrrr3FKAGrrrrGrrrrGrrrr Yes, the NAD 533 was a rebadged Planar 2, identifiable by the RB250 arm and it looks just like a grey Planar 2. The NAD C555 had the RB251 arm and was a rebadged P2. The later NAD C556 was a rebadged RP1 with RB101 arm. The NAD C552 also had the RB101 arm, I think.
Did your planar 3 have the 24v motor upgrade. Is this recommended
What of this upgrade makes the Rega better? The tonearm? If it's the tonearm, wouldn't this be a good upgrade to the 6 as well?. I don't have a Rega deck, just curious.
I think Funk has a specific Rega 6 upgrade either in the works or soon to be launched.
Great review. One question: Do the Bo!ng isolation feets work with the Rega wall mount?
UPDATE: There's been some confusion as to the current pricing of the Rage 1 upgrade kit. The Funk Firm website appeared to change its page and pricing information (and the kit's arm) right after this review was posted. So I was confused too :)
I think this video and the response to it caught the company on the hop a bit. In a nice way of course, but still.
I've just talked to the company itself and it appears that the website has been undergoing a redesign. Hence, some channel viewers have probably been looking at the Funk site during those very changes. Because the website is/was in a state of flux, it wasn't too clear on several matters.
Of course, it would have been better for the site to have closed for 48 hours and changes to have occurred behind closed doors to be published later on when they were complete but hey, it is what it is.
I hope that the final Rage 1/website changes will be implemented during the next 48 hours.
When I initially reviewed the Rage 1, it featured a FXR tonearm, Bo!ng feet and Achromat. That was over two years ago and that's what you see in this archive video. Since then, the final tonearm has changed to an equally nice, equally top-performing FX5. I don't think the original FXR is made any more. The feet and mat remain the same. The price should still be around the figure stated in the video but it might be slightly different now.
I hope to confirm that price but, if there are any changes, then I think we're talking in tens of pounds. That kind of ball park. When I receive confirmation I may post the news on my site so I'll then add a link here. [Apologies for the length of this update]
PRICE UPDATE: What I now have from Funk as of 11/8/21 is an update price for the kit. So that's a FX5G tonearm, Bo!ng feet and Achromat platter mat for £674.50. You can further upgrade the arm and you can also add the new Houdini (not sure if you've seen that) but that adds to the price. If the website doesn't reflect this info and you're interested in grabbing one, I'd call direct for now until the website shows the new info.
This is what I had from funk firm a few days ago
Hi Martin,
Please ignore the website. It is a mess.
We still do the upgrade kit and the price remains unchanged.
£1150 for a Rage 1 with us modifying an existing arm (RB300) / 5mm Achromat and Bo!ngs
£1450 for us to supply the arm complete.
Add £300 for Houdini.
So equipped, although you will transfer the whole kit over, you will see no benefit upgrading the deck itself.
Have a read of the Houdini documentation and you’ll see why.
Hope that answers and helps.
Arthur Khoubesserian
zArthur really need to get his act together ... gret products but quite frankly a business disaster
the FX5 tonearm isn't anywhere near the performance level FXR tonearm. completely different animal. thus the price disparity of £900 between the two kits
Great review and I was very interested until... clicking on the link I see that the FX2 upgrade is £1650 and presumably the equivalently priced upgrade to what you initially reviewed is now for a far inferior FX5G tonearm when compared to the FX2? I wonder if you would have been quite so impressed if you had reviewed the upgrade with that tonearm? I don't know, maybe? It would be interesting, thanks Paul
The pricing seems to be different on the Funk Firm website. The Rage 1 update is listed at £1250.
Are you looking at the Rage 3? The site seems to have changed since this review was posted but it’s not very clear what price applies to what kit. The £670 price should still apply to the Rage 1.
@@TheAudiophileMan The website has changed again over night! Rage 1 and Rage 2 now can't be selected. Rage 3 is listed at £1138. Suspect they may have got their pricing mixed up and have just realised.
@@markhadley9805 Indeed - I get the impression they sort the website design and content during a spare coffee break. I with they'd get a 'pro' to sort it for them :)
Hmmm, those prices are still 'off'. I'm going to talk to the company today to see what's going on.
See the above pined post, Mark.
Extra arms becomes kit, win win
What's the length of the arm ?
What is the cartridge..??
In the original planar 3 there was a metal bridge connecting the bearing housings of platter and tonearm. I see none anymore. That is "downgrading" I think. 😁
The metal brace is present on at least the current P3 and the previous model, the RP3. Rega turntables have a significant step up in quality each generation, they don't do downgrading! The current P3 is more comparable to the old RP6 rather than the RP3.
The Planar 3 in the photos is an older, 80s model
@@rufiorules
Sorry, my mistake. 😁
To be honest I see lots of people swapping out the original tonearm on thier plinths and putting more expensive ones in place with s good cartridge I’m even thinking of swapping out my tonearm on the p2 for rb330,I’m not sure though if it will go straight on with existing holes but I’m going to find out,if anyone knows for sure if it can be done I’d appreciate the info
So just to be clear, you used the same cartridge on both turntable setups. Correct?
I tested the Rega cart on the Rage 1 to review the kit exclusively. Then with the ART9 to confirm the Rega cart bottleneck and how far the kit could stretch. Then the Rage 1 and ART9 with the default Rega package to confirm that the plinth wouldn't 'break'
Nice video.....thank you, however, I should disagree about the isolation feet. Rega claims exactly the opposite to the feet design showed in this video which use springs and Rega always argued that the rigidity is the most important thing for a Turnatble design. If you want an excellente isolation which will bring an astonish sound improvement ( keeping the Rega's sound caracteristic ) goes to the Rega Wall Bracket. I should also disagree about changing the original mat felt. I have tested many and the original brings you the best sound performance. There is an hysteria about changing the Rega's original design thinking you can improve the sound. Few I think can bring some improving without changing the original sound caracteristic . In my opinion, this crazieness is more related to the desire of having a custom made turntable than improving the sound indeed. I am a Rega's owener for more than 20 years and I have spent a lot of money on the acessories parts from other aftermarket companies and at the end I realized the original ones are the best concerning the sound perspective . Rega knows how to design turntables !!!!!
Shouldn’t you be calling the plinth the actual turntable which includes the main bearing and platter? Re the P3’s, I imagine this would also suit the Technics 1200 decks.
@@Grrrr3FKAGrrrrGrrrrGrrrr me too, after all you can buy a turntable without a plinth, think Garrard 401/Technics SP10
Hi Tony, the 'plinth' is generally know to be the turntable's base, feet and the container for the motor. The 'platter' is the rotating piece that supports the vinyl record. The plinth/platter/tonearm/cartridge as a package in toto, is sometimes referred to as a record player but more commonly here as the turntable.
What is better? Sound BlasterX G6 (stock) or SMSL M3 so they are same price for me? Can You help me please? Thanks
With the Linn LP12 you can get to the golden ratio over time if you buy used initially. End game would be Ekos SE and Kandid.
I would rather save up for a VPI.
Are you better trading in your 3 for a 6
Well, that's a whole other upgrade question there, Scott :)
No. The 6 doesn’t solve the problems that the Funk kit solves. Indeed I compared a P1 with Funk Rage kit to a brand new P8, with same carts on both, the P1 / Rage sounded better. I fed this back to Arthur who then demonstrated this comparison live at the Bristol HiFi show in Feb 2020 to astonished rooms of people!
Please tell me if this FUNK FIRM tone arm has a tone arm height adjustment at the base of the arm ? IF not, I '' ll be completely shocked to know that a tone arm at this price will omit this important feature. In other words, in my opinion, a tone arm at this price range without the tone arm height adjustment capability is a joke. Can the tone arm base accept the REGA 2 mm plate to raise the arm ?? We are here talking about raising the tone arm. What will happen if I use a cartridge requiring to lowering the tone arm ???
All the Funk arms have height and thus VTA adjustment.
Ok to me the biggest improvement in this kit will be the tone arm. However I have the P3 which uses the newer RB330, the same as in the P6.
The older RP3 has the previous gen RB300 tone arm.
So the question becomes…how much better is the FXR tone arm than the RB330?? Because if its only slightly better…then this kit is not that great a bargain as the bits n bobs can be had else where for a better deal. So does anyone know anything abt RB330 vs Funkfirms alternative??
i have the rp3. do you know if the RB330 is the main/or only upgrade on the newer P3? as i would consider upgrading my arm to 330
Does it come with the cartridge fitted?
Afraid not, Kevin. As I say, this is a 3-part kit that needs its own cart. If cash is tight, I recommend starting with a good quality cartridge, a Goldring E3 or better, 1042. Then upgrading when you can.
Lower risk option than buying a Funk table. Lots of Rega bits available.
Good review.
I just wanted to say that I think the golden 'rule of thirds' that you mentioned fails in the specific price bracket you're discussing. To explain:
When people start spending more on a cartridge, most audiophiles will opt for a moving coil when they hit the $500+ range. In this event, the consumer does so with the knowledge that within 3 to 4 years (or sooner), they'll be spending another $500+ on a replacement cartridge, as moving coils cant interchange a stylus.
Therefore for people in the Rega Planar 3 price bracket, Id say that the rule of thirds is a highly debatable rule:
I can imagine a lot of enthusiasts saving their pennies to pay $2,000 for a turntable and tonearm (perhaps the Planar 3 plus Rage kit), but would not opt for an ongoing cartridge expense of $1,000 every few years.
Look, it's a choice. Not everyone will be interested or want anything to do with my thoughts on the matter and will be happy with their private status quo, upgrade path. And that's fine.
I did this to show that there is another way.
The reason I bring up the whole theory of mine is because of the lop-sided upgrade route that most people use. You never hear the full potential of the hifi 'in situ' if you never maximise the design to the full. And budget has nothing to do with it. We're 'trained' to think that way. (Unless the inherent design precludes tonearm upgrades, for example then sure, the user has no choice.) Otherwise, there's no actual reason to think like that.
Why buy Component X in the first place if you never intend to actually hear it's entire performance capability? It's like buying a plate of food and only eating 40% of it before handing it back and paying yet more money for yet another plate of food.
What's the point? It's a waste of your time and money (not to mention resources). I did mention this in the video when I stated that most people's systems (hifi reviewers included) are skewed away from my own preferred balance.
The system ratio I offer is there for those who might want to break out of the traditional and - in my opinion - inefficient loop, basically. As I say, the upgrade option is often not there in the first place for budget kit but, when it is present, I'd like to see more people take advantage. Who know? It might even encourage more kit upgrades if manufacturers saw a sales potential.
Bottom line? I can hear a big difference when a rule of thirds is exploited. But hey, like I say. Most people will ignore that. I get it :)
@@TheAudiophileMan
I dont think you're wrong in 70% of cases (+/-) . The point I made was specifically in this price bracket these ratios/choices are problematic.
I personally use the rule of thirds in my vinyl playback system and it works great.
I also agree that people do shy away (inappropriately) from spending more on a cartridge. My cartridge costs as much as a small car and I think its worth every penny, I also know of people who have spent too much on a cartridge only to be disappointed that its overkill on the tonearm-turntable combo. Mileage will always vary.
As a service tech I think the best thing to do with rega’s is take them apart and sell the parts (parts worth more than the whole) then buy a real turntable.
Going from a P3 to anything else is at least 5 thousand dollars, that is why i still have my Rega Planar 3.
Is it possible for rega p6 ?
I think you need to have a chat with The Funk Firm to be sure of that. They might even have a new spin on the P6 that I'm not aware of: thefunkfirm.co.uk/pages/contact
Why would anyone in their right mind spend £1,685 inc VAT (Funk Firms basic kit) on upgrading their RP3 or P3 when a new P8 is only £1,870 inc VAT.
You miss the whole point of the Rega offerings and that is price point. Why buy a Rega arm that has been bastardized and pay more? These up grade kits cost more than I paid for my Rega Planar 3 cartridge included.
I don't have a planar 3. But I have a planar 2. Would this upgrade work on my turntable. Thanks.
I don't see why not - might be an idea to check with Funk first, before you commit to spending but it should be fine.
Yes and on the P1, P6 and P8 all of which I have heard! All spectacular improvements.
Talk about over complicating such simple things. Most men over 50 start losing upper frequencies within their ears so this continual pursuite of unsolvable sound purity is completely useless and never achievable. Even so called audiophiles can't tell differences when properly blind tested between different bits of kit.
Yeah, no thanks. If I want a logical upgrade to my P3, I will get a P6. If I wanna upgrade my P6, I will get a state-of-the-art P8. This way, all parts of my turntable will be "cut from the same cloth" and work in an already perfectly thought-out harmony and synergy. Rega has left nothing on the table (at each model's price-point) in both aesthetics, or sound quality. I wouldn't butcher my Planar with some unsightly red armwands (that resemble the ever so badly designed clearaudio verify), or some chinese sprung feet I can get on amazon for 5 dollars. Plus I like to keep my Rega's warranty, and resale value intact.
Hi Great Advice Loving your Channel, would love to be a Hi Fi / Music Reviewer before its too late ! I would do it for free ....Kind Regards
Lyndon
Nah , just buy the next Rega up the range.
Unfortunately it’s now about £1.4K in 2021
You may be confusing the price with the Rage 3. The site has been tweaked since this review was posted. It’s not very clear. I'm going to talk to the company today to see what's going on.
See the above pinned post, for more info.
I really hope these upgrades improved the sound immensely, because they look terrible, and it would b e a shame to outlay all that hard earned money for nothing...