Sometime ago, Don C from USA wrote to me about "upgrading" his Rega Planar 78 to P2. Could it be done? Yes, pulley and sub-platter assembly was the trick and the procedure was straight forward, I told him.
Don carried out what's necessary to his Planar 78 TT as proposed immediately with my dual pulley and aluminium sub-platter. He was happy with the result and he shared his experience in Audiokarma with pictures.
Recently, there's another enquiry on the same issue. I told him about Don's story and solved his problem. I think there might be more Planar 78 owners who wish to go the same path so that they can spin 33/45rpm lps at the same time. Therefore it would be good to include here a link to Don's post in Audikarma as a reference for them.
Don C posted in Audiokarma.org : Rega Planar 78 -> P2 upgrades or " Throwing Money at a problem"
The only problem was that I had this (expensive) dedicated 78 player that was getting no use and I couldn't seem to sell it for anything close to what I had in to it. I decided that if I had to take a bath on it just to get rid of it (I couldn't manage to sell it for price of the tonearm alone; go figure.), I might as well keep it and throw money at it, instead, as it already had a P2 plinth, RB250 tonearm, 12" platter, and P25 motor assembly. The original Rega 78 subplatter, plastic 78 motor pulley, and 78 belt were exchanged with Michael Lim (Malaysia) for a machined aluminum LP subplatter, stainless steel dual LP pulley (60Hz), and dual silicone belts. (He made a generous trade-in offer after I procured an OEM LP subplatter for a good price here on AK and was disappointed in the quality.) I had to slightly modify a 2mm cork mat to accomodate the new subplatter sticking through the OEM fiberboard platter too much in the center and not allowing the LP to lay flat. An upgrade Acrylic platter is next on the list, as well as a real cartridge. (The RB78 cartridge was removed and a Shure M97xE is installed temporarily until a Nagaoka MP-500 comes my way. :D) In stock (78) form:   new (dual) pulley:  new machined subplatter:  new (dual) silicone belts:  Nagaoka MP-500 goes here:  In position with 2mm cork mat and Nagaoka RC-401 record weight:  |
Don C has also commented in vinylengine :
Also a satisfied Michael Lim upgrader here. I have a Rega P78 that was not very useful as a 78 only player. I converted it to 33RPM by ordering a new dual pulley, dual belts, new aluminum subplatter, and acrylic platter. I added a Nagaoka MP-500 for LP playing. |
Thanks Don!
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