Loved my LP12 foe 40 years but had to change it due to a disability that didn't sit with a suspended turntable so I now have a Rega and love it too. It isn't the same but it is damned good and - as Michael used to say 49 years ago - it plays tunes. I now think Rega offer unbeatable VFM for all pockets and I love their integrity in trickling down technology and improvements through the range - not many manufacturers would. Linn LP12s are outstanding but only for those with deep pockets nowadays and as a pensioner now, that ain't me - and my Rega makes me smile - a lot!!
Love my LP12 and would never change it Michael but I bought a Rega Green Line P1 in gloss red with a P3 plinth and bearing and added a AT610mono cartridge just to play my old 1960’s mono records and it is tremendous. I also love my Rega Fono Mk5. Rega offer outstanding value for money.
Hi, And I thought I was cynical! However you are incorrect on a few points: I'm happy to install Linn or Rega, between them they make the best turntables out there. In my store you can listen and decide for yourself. I only deal with grown ups and don't need to talk you into anything. Linns do not go out of tune in a matter months. If a dealer tells you that he probably isn't an actual Linn dealer and he is a liar, or an idiot, or both. When set up a Linn runs just as well for many years, This not always the case 40 years ago but has been for the last 30! Needing a new belt every 5 years or so isn't unique to Linn. Just because Linn keep faith with existing owners and make some improved parts available over time does not mean that your turntable is any worse. You don't have to buy upgrades if you don't want to. I refer back to my point about only dealing with adults. I have enjoyed over 40 years of Lyric Hifi by stocking the best, avoiding fads and letting people listen and make up their own minds. Sometimes we could lose some business by not stocking something that a magazine says is great and I think it's crap but I don't care. I'm not going to sell something I don't like supplied by someone I don't trust. Describing me as 'pushing' with a parallel use of that expression to drugs is frankly offensive, especially when many dealers sell everything on the planet and know nothing about any of them. They might as well be selling drugs for all the expertise they add! Sounds like you have had bad experiences with rubbish dealers however I am happy to hear that you will end up with Planar 10 or Naia. Both are brilliant and smart purchases. Best of luck Michael
Had a shootout at my dealers a while ago. P8-P10-Naia and the Naia really was superior in all ways, especially in the bass-area where it really digged deep. Keeping my P10 though, but if I had the money (and conscience) i wouldn’t hesitate!! Superb!
Glad you posted your video, interesting turntable. A bit of feedback you need to improve the quality of the audio, especially since it is an audio component subject.
My Brother has had an LP12 for years and has many upgrades to it. He is considering getting a Well Tempered Versalex to run along side it. We both went to the Bristol show this year and listened to the Linn room which was full of stupidly expensive Linn equipment and tuned to the room and we left cold. There were rooms that bettered it all over the show with much lesser priced offerings.
Michael is a good guy, he spent about 45 minutes demoing the original Rega DAC for me about 8-9 years ago. After buying and selling that only Rega I now own is the RB300 bought in this shop also for a nice £100 bargain
You simply like how it colors the sound. The NAIA is night and day, a better TT. Way more accurate. Sound is subjective, but you’re simply paying for the LP12 history and nothing more
@@mikechivy I am genuinely interested in your judgement on what I like and pay for and have 3 questions based on your assertions. 1. What evaluation method and measurement tools did you use to be able to state the NAIA is “way more accurate” and “night and day better” than an LP12? 2. How were you able to reach such a categoric conclusion when you state sound is subjective? 3. On what basis and criterion are you using when you state that I am “simply paying for the LP12 history and nothing more”?
Seems a very nice guy, modest, not pretentious. I've got a very basic system. I think to myself any reason is really ok: maybe you like the design, have some emotional attachment to the company (your dad owned something) or you like the retro look. I inherited my dad's old NAD receiver7020. I put some radio 3 classical on and just with a strip arial it sounded amazing. I also enjoy CD as much as vinyl and especially on more quite music I think CD just reliefs the stress of the pops and clicks. Vinyl does have a more meaty bass, strings are nice too I think. Anyway lovely rega that.
I’ve gotten the Naia at home but really checking out the LP12. Cost aside, could you help me understand the sonic differences from these tables? More musical? Warmer? Precise? Dynamic? - how would you compare them. Thanks!
As nice as it is, and with its space age technology I would have thought at this price the option of a balanced tonearm cable and a screw down record clamp would have been available. But Rega, like so many other turntable and tonearm manufacturers, these options are never considered.
Have to disagree that these options aren't considered. In most cases record clamps make turntables sound worse. If you add one and it improves the balance of your system then that's great and I'm happy for you, not my experience though. Balanced is useful with long cable runs but dubious difference over less than 3m although I get the argument about interference with a tiny voltage. Most turntables have no electronics so it doesn't apply. If you have a turntable with the phono stage built in, a la Linn Urika then adding balanced makes more sense. Thanks for your comments Michael
@@michaelmcclean5169 I beg to differ, on a turntable like the Naia an MC cartridge will undoubtedly be used and as these are inherently a balanced transducer then the use of a fully balanced cable, Phono stage along with integrated or pre and power amps makes sense. Whether you feel this is not necessary is your choice, cable length is irrelevant. The debate about screw down record clamps and their sound is not the issue, the issue is to have the choice to use one or not.
I'd love a Rega p10 or better still a Naia,but unfortunately I also like a window or two open,and would be afraid they would blow away,never to be seen again.
Not so though is it ie, cheaper or better than an equivalent lp12. Why? Because its phono stage is 5k . There's 18k right there. Its sound is quite flat or unengaging when I heard it. I prefer the depth of sound a linn lp12 can convey.
Thanks for posting this “review”. Let’s face it. This guy - like other Linn dealers - lives from pushing Linn Lp12s over the counter. With a Linn, you’re buying a subscription on regular services to even have your record player work. Just think about that. It literally goes out of tune in a matter of months, and few people can set it up just right. Then, when you need the springs set again, you’re in contact with the dealer, and he can sell you a new cable. Or a Linn branded piece of aluminium at the price of a luxury holiday or a used car. If he admits a Rega Naia represents better value - or, God forbid, better sound than a dinosaur 70s tech Linn due to actual innovation and R&D into materials and structural design - he’s out of business. Linns are better business than Regas to a dealer. It’s basically a cult with an inbuilt “upgrade path” - and was designed to be just that - with the exact arguments listed above - by Ivor Tiefenbrun. I like the sound of a proper and newly set-up LP12, but would I buy one? No. Why? Because I personally like the sound of the P10 and Naia even more. And I feel comfortable about the fact that it will play for three decades without needing as much as a drop of oil in the bearing. Why? Because it’s not the hub of cult based on the inbuilt need to adjust springs.
Hi I think you've got this a bit wrong. I've set up Linns that still sound great with no work for 10 years. Of course I can improve them with tightening up a few things, fitting a new belt and cleaning the cartridge but that applies to a Rega or any turntable. I think servicing a turntable every 5 years is reasonable, and if you don't then your Rega or Linn will still go on playing music. What upsets me are the rubbish plastic/perspex monsters that people praise and they are a lot of utter rubbish, especially the expensive ones and no-one ever says they need servicing, maybe it because you can't polish a tu_d ha ha Thanks for watching though !
@@michaelmcclean5169 maybe I did get you wrong, I’m sure you have a lot of experience. So actually no offense intended, although I understand my sarcasm towards Linn could be misunderstood that way. I remain very sceptical of all things Linn and Naim, and especially the claim that they should be in anyway world leaders today. That might have been the case in the early 80s, but 40 years later, this demonstrably no longer holds true. Some of the top Linn/Naim rigs are nice, sure, but considering performance and value for money, then that all falls to the floor. So much more to be had elsewhere, or similar for less. But then again, all corporate HiFi is basically a money making scam, same old circuits in new casework. As soon as marketing logic takes over, best look elsewhere. In all honesty, a Majik LP12 is no better than a Rega P6, but costs three times as much. I have nothing against high-end products, I just want them to be built with passion and deliver the goods. £4000 worth of aluminium Keel sub chassis says it all. It represents no significant technological breakthrough, obviously little research and development (come on), and negligible material and processing costs. Anyone who claims any different should consider Elon Musk’s concept of stupidity pricing. If machining a piece of aluminium is that expensive, something is wrong somewhere in the manufacturing chain and should be fixed immediately.
@@Soundapple O if only you lived in Belfast ! I'd play you the difference between a P6 and a Majik LP12, a large and obvious difference. Also talk about the use of FPGA technology, that's hardly 'same old circuits' ! Hard to defend £ 4000 on a Keel, although when you see the millions spent on the crazy robot tool that makes them, and it's low volume, then you might realise there are overheads. And finally, Toyota wanted to charge me £ 70 for an indicator lamp that costs 50p, in case you want to look for rip offs there are more obvious examples around! I enjoy the banter obviously!
@@michaelmcclean5169 I'm a great believer in each to their own and buying a turntable is very subjective regardless of cost. However, a turntable is not a complicated device, it has one job and that's to spin a platter at the correct speed. Oh I hear you say, what about isolation. Well I feel that's subjective too, it doesn't matter how well a turntable is designed or built or what you place it on, it will always be subject to vibration from the very air we breath when the speakers are doing their job. I get the impression from turntable manufacturers that vibrations only come from below the turntable, hence isolation feet and platforms, suspended sub chassis, wall mounted turntable shelves and the list goes on and on, but in reality every single part of the turntable is bombarded from sound wave vibrations, unless that is, your turntable is in a different room from your speakers, your video shows the speakers firing directly at the Naia? Then there is the record, this has not changed in 70+ years, yes you can remaster an old recording, or digitize new recordings, but essentially it's a disc which has been stamped out of a blob of vinyl. So it baffles me how some turntable manufacturers can charge £40k - £100k, ecxluding arm and cartridge and claim they can make a plastic disc sound better than a sub £10k turntable. We all understand technology has moved on but it gets to the point where diminished returns and common sense has to prevail.
@@madmeister407 I agree that there are manufacturers of very expensive equipment who have no idea and it's just beautifully made rubbish. I also believe that as an engineering task a turntable has more issues than you describe. Start at the business end, have you ever been in a bobsleigh? Hurtling down a groove and thrown from side to side with huge g forces. Then imagine the bobsleigh is still and the track is driving it side to side and up and down and you have to measure these excursions. Then miniaturise it by a factor of around 25,000 and try again. That's a bit more complicated than just turning at the right speed. Best wishes Michael
Rega or Linn. Did it not occur to you that there are countless other choices some of which may be as good or even better for less money? Do your homework and don't settle on the first ultra expensive TT that sounds nice. You may find one that sounds just as great for far less money. Before you buy be sure the dealer will let you listen to their products at home. If they won't then go to another dealer. If I'm going to spend $$$ on audio gear then at home audition before purchase is an absolute must. This is what any dealer worth his salt used to do and should still do now.
So you’re right and I apologise. Older videos had a professional video guy and sound guy but they’re now too busy. The Naia is important so I decided to do it on a phone. Have now bought a decent camera/microphone to do it all in house so I trust next ones will improve. Do let me know, best, Michael
Hi Paul Might be, unfortunately if I use something new it gets banned by RUclips for copyright infringement. It is the great Earl Hines from many years ago Best Michael
Hi there You're absolutely right. I used to have two really good guys doing the sound and video however they're always busy now. As a result there was a period of 3-4 months with no new videos. When Naia came out I wanted to make some comments so that was just done on a phone. Since invested in a decent camera and microphone so the last 2 have been much better, will improve more as we learn how to use them! Best Michael
First thing bud you’re in the audio granite, so am I you better get a much better microphone you have an echo you’re gonna do a podcast and I can’t listen to it and I won’t and all your effort is failed. Get a good microphone.
Loved my LP12 foe 40 years but had to change it due to a disability that didn't sit with a suspended turntable so I now have a Rega and love it too. It isn't the same but it is damned good and - as Michael used to say 49 years ago - it plays tunes. I now think Rega offer unbeatable VFM for all pockets and I love their integrity in trickling down technology and improvements through the range - not many manufacturers would. Linn LP12s are outstanding but only for those with deep pockets nowadays and as a pensioner now, that ain't me - and my Rega makes me smile - a lot!!
Love my LP12 and would never change it Michael but I bought a Rega Green Line P1 in gloss red with a P3 plinth and bearing and added a AT610mono cartridge just to play my old 1960’s mono records and it is tremendous. I also love my Rega Fono Mk5. Rega offer outstanding value for money.
Hi,
And I thought I was cynical!
However you are incorrect on a few points:
I'm happy to install Linn or Rega, between them they make the best turntables out there.
In my store you can listen and decide for yourself. I only deal with grown ups and don't need to talk you into anything.
Linns do not go out of tune in a matter months. If a dealer tells you that he probably isn't an actual Linn dealer and he is a liar, or an idiot, or both. When set up a Linn runs just as well for many years, This not always the case 40 years ago but has been for the last 30! Needing a new belt every 5 years or so isn't unique to Linn.
Just because Linn keep faith with existing owners and make some improved parts available over time does not mean that your turntable is any worse. You don't have to buy upgrades if you don't want to. I refer back to my point about only dealing with adults.
I have enjoyed over 40 years of Lyric Hifi by stocking the best, avoiding fads and letting people listen and make up their own minds. Sometimes we could lose some business by not stocking something that a magazine says is great and I think it's crap but I don't care. I'm not going to sell something I don't like supplied by someone I don't trust.
Describing me as 'pushing' with a parallel use of that expression to drugs is frankly offensive, especially when many dealers sell everything on the planet and know nothing about any of them.
They might as well be selling drugs for all the expertise they add!
Sounds like you have had bad experiences with rubbish dealers however I am happy to hear that you will end up with Planar 10 or Naia.
Both are brilliant and smart purchases.
Best of luck
Michael
Rega rules for equality and durability plus pricing
I’ll keep my LP12 thanks 😊
Not a stretch, my P10 walked all over my LP12 and I owned LP12's for 35 years. I can only imagine what levels the Naia reaches.
Had a shootout at my dealers a while ago. P8-P10-Naia and the Naia really was superior in all ways, especially in the bass-area where it really digged deep. Keeping my P10 though, but if I had the money (and conscience) i wouldn’t hesitate!! Superb!
Glad you posted your video, interesting turntable. A bit of feedback you need to improve the quality of the audio, especially since it is an audio component subject.
My Brother has had an LP12 for years and has many upgrades to it. He is considering getting a Well Tempered Versalex to run along side it. We both went to the Bristol show this year and listened to the Linn room which was full of stupidly expensive Linn equipment and tuned to the room and we left cold. There were rooms that bettered it all over the show with much lesser priced offerings.
An LP12 didn't do it for me back in the day and I went back to Rega and stayed. Looking forward to your impressions of the Naia at home.
Michael is a good guy, he spent about 45 minutes demoing the original Rega DAC for me about 8-9 years ago. After buying and selling that only Rega I now own is the RB300 bought in this shop also for a nice £100 bargain
Thanks Michael! There have been many pretenders to the throne…but there is only one that reaches to the heart & soul of it all and that’s the LP12
You simply like how it colors the sound. The NAIA is night and day, a better TT. Way more accurate. Sound is subjective, but you’re simply paying for the LP12 history and nothing more
@@mikechivy I am genuinely interested in your judgement on what I like and pay for and have 3 questions based on your assertions.
1. What evaluation method and measurement tools did you use to be able to state the NAIA is “way more accurate” and “night and day better” than an LP12?
2. How were you able to reach such a categoric conclusion when you state sound is subjective?
3. On what basis and criterion are you using when you state that I am “simply paying for the LP12 history and nothing more”?
Lp12s are literally a con , endless extortionate " upgrades " 3 k for a keel ...bollocks to that
@@neilgaydon5430The LP 12 is coloured , some may like this.
Hello rega is serious company I have P8 with ortofon gadenza red and sounds fantasic
Seems a very nice guy, modest, not pretentious. I've got a very basic system. I think to myself any reason is really ok: maybe you like the design, have some emotional attachment to the company (your dad owned something) or you like the retro look. I inherited my dad's old NAD receiver7020. I put some radio 3 classical on and just with a strip arial it sounded amazing. I also enjoy CD as much as vinyl and especially on more quite music I think CD just reliefs the stress of the pops and clicks. Vinyl does have a more meaty bass, strings are nice too I think. Anyway lovely rega that.
I’ve gotten the Naia at home but really checking out the LP12. Cost aside, could you help me understand the sonic differences from these tables?
More musical? Warmer? Precise? Dynamic? - how would you compare them. Thanks!
Good evening to you. it would be correct to compare it with Linn the Naid...!!@ Greetings from Greece!
As nice as it is, and with its space age technology I would have thought at this price the option of a balanced tonearm cable and a screw down record clamp would have been available. But Rega, like so many other turntable and tonearm manufacturers, these options are never considered.
Have to disagree that these options aren't considered. In most cases record clamps make turntables sound worse. If you add one and it improves the balance of your system then that's great and I'm happy for you, not my experience though.
Balanced is useful with long cable runs but dubious difference over less than 3m although I get the argument about interference with a tiny voltage. Most turntables have no electronics so it doesn't apply. If you have a turntable with the phono stage built in, a la Linn Urika then adding balanced makes more sense.
Thanks for your comments
Michael
@@michaelmcclean5169 I beg to differ, on a turntable like the Naia an MC cartridge will undoubtedly be used and as these are inherently a balanced transducer then the use of a fully balanced cable, Phono stage along with integrated or pre and power amps makes sense. Whether you feel this is not necessary is your choice, cable length is irrelevant. The debate about screw down record clamps and their sound is not the issue, the issue is to have the choice to use one or not.
There are so many turntables that are better than the LP12.
Good evening. The money requested by this Plateau is too much...!!!! Greetings from GREECE!
I'd love a Rega p10 or better still a Naia,but unfortunately I also like a window or two open,and would be afraid they would blow away,never to be seen again.
They P10 is very sturdy and heavy
amazing engineering
Not so though is it ie, cheaper or better than an equivalent lp12. Why? Because its phono stage is 5k .
There's 18k right there. Its sound is quite flat or unengaging when I heard it.
I prefer the depth of sound a linn lp12 can convey.
My custom FrankenThorens TD160 has the kind of depth you might mean that any digital can't match.
I find my LP12 extremely musical and so it's staying.
It depends on what cart you put on it
Thanks for posting this “review”. Let’s face it. This guy - like other Linn dealers - lives from pushing Linn Lp12s over the counter. With a Linn, you’re buying a subscription on regular services to even have your record player work. Just think about that. It literally goes out of tune in a matter of months, and few people can set it up just right. Then, when you need the springs set again, you’re in contact with the dealer, and he can sell you a new cable. Or a Linn branded piece of aluminium at the price of a luxury holiday or a used car. If he admits a Rega Naia represents better value - or, God forbid, better sound than a dinosaur 70s tech Linn due to actual innovation and R&D into materials and structural design - he’s out of business. Linns are better business than Regas to a dealer. It’s basically a cult with an inbuilt “upgrade path” - and was designed to be just that - with the exact arguments listed above - by Ivor Tiefenbrun. I like the sound of a proper and newly set-up LP12, but would I buy one? No. Why? Because I personally like the sound of the P10 and Naia even more. And I feel comfortable about the fact that it will play for three decades without needing as much as a drop of oil in the bearing. Why? Because it’s not the hub of cult based on the inbuilt need to adjust springs.
Hi
I think you've got this a bit wrong. I've set up Linns that still sound great with no work for 10 years. Of course I can improve them with tightening up a few things, fitting a new belt and cleaning the cartridge but that applies to a Rega or any turntable. I think servicing a turntable every 5 years is reasonable, and if you don't then your Rega or Linn will still go on playing music. What upsets me are the rubbish plastic/perspex monsters that people praise and they are a lot of utter rubbish, especially the expensive ones and no-one ever says they need servicing, maybe it because you can't polish a tu_d ha ha
Thanks for watching though !
@@michaelmcclean5169 maybe I did get you wrong, I’m sure you have a lot of experience. So actually no offense intended, although I understand my sarcasm towards Linn could be misunderstood that way. I remain very sceptical of all things Linn and Naim, and especially the claim that they should be in anyway world leaders today. That might have been the case in the early 80s, but 40 years later, this demonstrably no longer holds true. Some of the top Linn/Naim rigs are nice, sure, but considering performance and value for money, then that all falls to the floor. So much more to be had elsewhere, or similar for less. But then again, all corporate HiFi is basically a money making scam, same old circuits in new casework. As soon as marketing logic takes over, best look elsewhere. In all honesty, a Majik LP12 is no better than a Rega P6, but costs three times as much.
I have nothing against high-end products, I just want them to be built with passion and deliver the goods. £4000 worth of aluminium Keel sub chassis says it all. It represents no significant technological breakthrough, obviously little research and development (come on), and negligible material and processing costs. Anyone who claims any different should consider Elon Musk’s concept of stupidity pricing. If machining a piece of aluminium is that expensive, something is wrong somewhere in the manufacturing chain and should be fixed immediately.
@@Soundapple O if only you lived in Belfast ! I'd play you the difference between a P6 and a Majik LP12, a large and obvious difference. Also talk about the use of FPGA technology, that's hardly 'same old circuits' ! Hard to defend £ 4000 on a Keel, although when you see the millions spent on the crazy robot tool that makes them, and it's low volume, then you might realise there are overheads. And finally, Toyota wanted to charge me £ 70 for an indicator lamp that costs 50p, in case you want to look for rip offs there are more obvious examples around! I enjoy the banter obviously!
@@michaelmcclean5169 I'm a great believer in each to their own and buying a turntable is very subjective regardless of cost. However, a turntable is not a complicated device, it has one job and that's to spin a platter at the correct speed. Oh I hear you say, what about isolation. Well I feel that's subjective too, it doesn't matter how well a turntable is designed or built or what you place it on, it will always be subject to vibration from the very air we breath when the speakers are doing their job. I get the impression from turntable manufacturers that vibrations only come from below the turntable, hence isolation feet and platforms, suspended sub chassis, wall mounted turntable shelves and the list goes on and on, but in reality every single part of the turntable is bombarded from sound wave vibrations, unless that is, your turntable is in a different room from your speakers, your video shows the speakers firing directly at the Naia? Then there is the record, this has not changed in 70+ years, yes you can remaster an old recording, or digitize new recordings, but essentially it's a disc which has been stamped out of a blob of vinyl. So it baffles me how some turntable manufacturers can charge £40k - £100k, ecxluding arm and cartridge and claim they can make a plastic disc sound better than a sub £10k turntable. We all understand technology has moved on but it gets to the point where diminished returns and common sense has to prevail.
@@madmeister407 I agree that there are manufacturers of very expensive equipment who have no idea and it's just beautifully made rubbish.
I also believe that as an engineering task a turntable has more issues than you describe. Start at the business end, have you ever been in a bobsleigh? Hurtling down a groove and thrown from side to side with huge g forces. Then imagine the bobsleigh is still and the track is driving it side to side and up and down and you have to measure these excursions. Then miniaturise it by a factor of around 25,000 and try again. That's a bit more complicated than just turning at the right speed.
Best wishes
Michael
Well tempered Amadeus betters rega and linn and is also cheaper, its a no brainer especially when you listen to them side by side ( night and day )
Rega or Linn. Did it not occur to you that there are countless other choices some of which may be as good or even better for less money? Do your homework and don't settle on the first ultra expensive TT that sounds nice. You may find one that sounds just as great for far less money. Before you buy be sure the dealer will let you listen to their products at home. If they won't then go to another dealer. If I'm going to spend $$$ on audio gear then at home audition before purchase is an absolute must. This is what any dealer worth his salt used to do and should still do now.
Any suggestion?
linn lp12 ou naia rega???
That is the question, go for a listen, I'm still using my LP12 however it is massively more expensive!
Ha Ha , P6 is better than LP12
I hope so it cost 35 000
For someone into sound quality. The sound quality of this video is absolutely terrible
So you’re right and I apologise. Older videos had a professional video guy and sound guy but they’re now too busy. The Naia is important so I decided to do it on a phone. Have now bought a decent camera/microphone to do it all in house so I trust next ones will improve. Do let me know, best, Michael
Terrible music for a demo
Hi Paul
Might be, unfortunately if I use something new it gets banned by RUclips for copyright infringement.
It is the great Earl Hines from many years ago
Best
Michael
Very poor sound quality! Sounds like you are in a tin can rather than a Hifi demo room!
Hi there
You're absolutely right. I used to have two really good guys doing the sound and video however they're always busy now. As a result there was a period of 3-4 months with no new videos. When Naia came out I wanted to make some comments so that was just done on a phone. Since invested in a decent camera and microphone so the last 2 have been much better, will improve more as we learn how to use them!
Best
Michael
Do you not know how to use a microphone for God sake?
First thing bud you’re in the audio granite, so am I you better get a much better microphone you have an echo you’re gonna do a podcast and I can’t listen to it and I won’t and all your effort is failed. Get a good microphone.