@fentonsteve most likely; here’s where I’d value a third party opinion…

The context: My trusty Rega Planar 3 has just (about an hour ago) slowed to a halt and stopped, mid-rip. It may well be that it’s just the fuse in the mains plug that’s let go, but it really deserves a service anyway, so I’m going to cart it to the audio-T shop on Park street in Bristol and invest.

The obvious question: I can afford to just pay for a service (assuming it is still capable of resurrection) and a new stylus for the existing cartridge (Elys), or I can pay for a service and a cartridge upgrade (Elys2), or I can stretch a little and buy a brand new P3 with an Exact cartridge. And here’s where it gets worryingly and more excitingly stretchy, I could just about convince myself to splurge for a brand new P6 with an Exact MM cartridge…

Before I risk emptying the vaults, I’d like to see some sort of spreadsheet comparison of bang for buck for all these options. Failing that I’d value any techical advice that’s a little more up to date than my sketchy hi-fi » Continue Reading.