Thank you for sending me the spacers for the isolation base and bearing for the subplatter. With your assistance, I have fully completed the upgrades to my Rega P25. The results are fantastic. Thank you.
In this email, I will recap the upgrades made and why I chose to make them.
Background.
I bought my Rega P25 in 2000. Up until the past few years, however, vinyl usually took a back seat to digital in my system. But this gradually started to change about five years ago due to the enthusiasm my audio dealer has for vinyl.
His interest led me to start considering ways to take better advantage of the turntable I had. This led to the following improvements:
- 2000. Bought Rega P25
- 2022. Installed HANA ML cartridge
- 2022. Upgraded subplatter and platter with Groovetracer subplatter and Groovetracer Delrin platter
- 2023. Added Sutherland Little Loco Mk2 Phonostage
- 2024. Upgraded motor with Rega 24v motor and Rega Neo External Power Supply
- 2025. Became aware of your company (Michael Lim) for the first time and installed Lim Motor Isolation Base
- 2025. Upgraded stock Rega RB600 arm with Origin Live upgrades (internal wiring, external cables, end stub/counterweight)
- 2026. Upgraded P25 plinth to Michael Lim Acrylic plinth, adjustable aluminum feet and dual pulley system
Comment on Improvements (versus buying a new table)
When considering making the above improvements, I obviously considered simply trading my Rega P25 in for a new turntable. Say a Rega P8 or a Rega P10. After all, this is the advice probably nine out of ten serious audiophile types would make. But I chose not to do that. And the reason had nothing to do with money. Instead, it had to do with how I’ve come to view audio as a hobby.
Specifically, hobbies have become an endangered species in the digital world. They’ve been eaten up by digital substitutes. And while it’s true that digital products and solutions offer tremendous convenience, this “convenience” often comes at the price of “the loss of meaning.” For example, taking a pic on an iPhone is a lot more convenient that taking a pic on a 35 mm camera. But the effort and education required to use a 35 mm camera is a lot more meaningful, and fun, than mindlessly clicking iPhone shots. I view digital music versus analog music in much the same way. Digital is a lot more convenient, but not quite as meaningful or fun.
So, I decided I was going to opt for the “hobby side” of my turntable, since it’s the last component I have that I can actually play around with. And this “playing around” is the area where I didn’t want to let go.
Experience Making the Upgrades
The best part of making the various upgrades described above is that they provided me with a real education into the physics/geometry/engineering of my turntable. So, as a hobbyist, I’ve learned a lot and had a lot of fun reassembling things. That has made everything worthwhile for me. In particular, I’ve come to really appreciate the importance of your Motor Isolation Mount. It, alone made a huge difference in the performance of my table. And your acrylic plinth is terrific, as it’s been designed to accommodate both drop mount and three point mount tonearms with the geometry already worked out should I ever choose to upgrade the arm. Plus, it looks great. My wife, a design expert, has even remarked on how cool it looks several times. How’s that!
Bottomline
I’m not one of those audio types with 20/20 hearing who can claim to tell the difference between a Rega P10/Linn Sondek/Pure Fidelity table. All I know is that my turntable sounds really really good. Much better than it ever did. And when I compare a vinyl recording to the same digital recording coming through my Weiss DAC, I’m guessing that most listeners would prefer the baseline fullness of the vinyl. So on that measure, I’m thrilled. I also take comfort in knowing that if I ever choose to upgrade the last remaining element of my P25, the RB600 tonearm, the turntable I now have is clearly good enough to easily justify a Rega RB880, Origin Live Silver or Origin Live Zephyr tonearm, not to mention a HANA Blue. So, for all of those reasons, thank you Michael.
Regards,
Bill Kenney
