Play the music you listen to..while rega does rhythm , speed all very well. The test where people differ is in tone some like, some dont and others dont care. So all comments here are subjective.
The SME 8 retails for 10K usd, quite close to your budget -- even under your budget -- if you can negotiate, they are usually amenable.
SME prioritises micro-detail + control, Rega prioritises timing + energy flow. SME would be like a high end monitor system while Rega would be like a band in a room. Mechanical perfection vs Musical coherence. But I am sure there is an overlap. For some people that overlap is where the answer lies. A well-set-up SME is not boring. It can sound breathtakingly real as long as the rest of the system is not clinical. Sometimes that is the right combination. I have found the higher end VPI's to tread a middle path between these two.
They are a precision engineering company with a background in aerospace. But they are masters in what they do and command a lot of respect in the UK. However, since they are so precision focussed, the rest of the system needs to be designed around it. If you do that, it is extremely rewarding.
If at all possible, get a home demo of the Rega and the SME. Listening to them in completely different acoustic environments and associated equipment, will not give you much "comparison" insight, IMHO.I spent about an hour listening to the Naiad - amplified by PS Audio, feeding a pair of Heco full range speakers. The cart was an Aphelion 2. The records I brought with me: Paul Chambers; Bass on Top (Tone Poet), Coltrane; Blue Train (Complete Masters), Garcia and Grisman; Bare Bones (ATO Records) and Eva Cassidy; Live at Blues Alley (Blix Street Records); the first two for lower registers, the third for strings and male vocals and the last for female vocals (and because it's a 45rpm release). I'm intimately familiar with these recordings - they don't necessarily qualify as demo room albums, but I don't really like those because of how showy they are.
The first impression I had, when Blue Train came on, was jolting. This turntable is quiet, extremely revealing and inherently dynamic. Its primary intention is that you listen, not hear. This is both good and bad (or rewarding and taxing) because while the act of collar-grabbing ensures you don't miss anything, it also prevents you from doing anything else. So I spent the next hour listening to a very serious turntable, one that was intent on acing pace, rhythm and timing, and mining atomic details from the grooves.
At the end of the hour, the gent who owns the TT brought out a demo room track - Dire Straits; Private Investigations. Like I wrote earlier, these showy tunes are outside my wheelhouse, but I'll grudgingly admit that the song achieved what my reference tracks did not (at least not to the extent that this one did). I've heard Private Investigations many times - blasted through pub speakers, piped from reference-level floor standers and even on headphones, but this was the first time I actually discerned marimbas on the track. I don't care much for marimbas (or vibes; I balk at records that list Milt Jackson or Bobby Hutcherson under personnel) but the fact that the Naiad reached down into the record and presented them in full bloom underscored its strengths.
I have a feeling the Naia, if I get it, will display three layers of lateral shift in my chain - the sound will be a little warmer (because of the Hana Blue), richer (because of the PS Audio Stellar; the Rega Aura that was in the listening room, is, I feel, rubbish) and mildly sepia-tinged (because of the MoFi SourcePoint speakers). But even if I do end up with something else, I can vouch that a) high density/mass isn't the only way to go b) the Naiad is an astonishingly good TT c) listening is demonised.
PS: I spoke to Reggie at Audio Lounge. The SME Model 8 retails for 13 lakh. I'm going to listen to it on Saturday.
PPS: As for the way the Naiad looks, eye of the beholder, one would imagine; I personally think TechDAS and its ilk are the love children of a cash register and a lathe.
PPPS: Sorry to nitpick the sepulchral analogy, but if the Rega were disinterred from a TT grave, it would stand to reason that it was interred with flesh intact, which might be hard to do for a fleshless thing
Rega form is following a particular function that they believe in.
I don't think either retailer is kind-hearted enough to let me audition them at home - this is a big problem in India, obviously; the guys in the US are so much more customer-friendly. I don't even think I'll get to hear the SME with an MC cart; speakers at the Taj are Spendor, if I'm not mistaken, and amplification is Nagra.
Even for big purchases, they wont come home to give a demo in the same city ? That is crazy! Yes, I know the cadence group brands. Very different from what you heard in the Rega showroom. Very different presentation.
Very rare, if never. Today a 10 lac purchase is like 1 lac, so big would have to be in the 50 lac range perhaps before one can get preferential service.
On a side note, an audio equipment retailer once told me that Ajay Shirke listens to music on a P8 at home. I doubt this is true, but it makes for wonderful irony as an idea.
The issue is that Dealers hardly hold stock of High End components. I don't blame em. A 10lac component is sold in really small numbers that it does not make Financial sense stocking a few of these in a warehouse. 9 out of 10 times, whats on the shelf is what you're going to get (usually with a decent discount). Unless you state you want something Brand new in a Box. So you demo and then order (if satisfied with that demo). Also, if the dealer is holding onto just one piece of a unit, it gets hard to loan out that unit.
I spent about an hour listening to the Naiad - amplified by PS Audio, feeding a pair of Heco full range speakers. The cart was an Aphelion 2. The records I brought with me: Paul Chambers; Bass on Top (Tone Poet), Coltrane; Blue Train (Complete Masters), Garcia and Grisman; Bare Bones (ATO Records) and Eva Cassidy; Live at Blues Alley (Blix Street Records); the first two for lower registers, the third for strings and male vocals and the last for female vocals (and because it's a 45rpm release). I'm intimately familiar with these recordings - they don't necessarily qualify as demo room albums, but I don't really like those because of how showy they are.
The first impression I had, when Blue Train came on, was jolting. This turntable is quiet, extremely revealing and inherently dynamic. Its primary intention is that you listen, not hear. This is both good and bad (or rewarding and taxing) because while the act of collar-grabbing ensures you don't miss anything, it also prevents you from doing anything else. So I spent the next hour listening to a very serious turntable, one that was intent on acing pace, rhythm and timing, and mining atomic details from the grooves.
At the end of the hour, the gent who owns the TT brought out a demo room track - Dire Straits; Private Investigations. Like I wrote earlier, these showy tunes are outside my wheelhouse, but I'll grudgingly admit that the song achieved what my reference tracks did not (at least not to the extent that this one did). I've heard Private Investigations many times - blasted through pub speakers, piped from reference-level floor standers and even on headphones, but this was the first time I actually discerned marimbas on the track. I don't care much for marimbas (or vibes; I balk at records that list Milt Jackson or Bobby Hutcherson under personnel) but the fact that the Naiad reached down into the record and presented them in full bloom underscored its strengths.
I have a feeling the Naia, if I get it, will display three layers of lateral shift in my chain - the sound will be a little warmer (because of the Hana Blue), richer (because of the PS Audio Stellar; the Rega Aura that was in the listening room, is, I feel, rubbish) and mildly sepia-tinged (because of the MoFi SourcePoint speakers). But even if I do end up with something else, I can vouch that a) high density/mass isn't the only way to go b) the Naiad is an astonishingly good TT c) listening is demonised.
PS: I spoke to Reggie at Audio Lounge. The SME Model 8 retails for 13 lakh. I'm going to listen to it on Saturday.
PPS: As for the way the Naiad looks, eye of the beholder, one would imagine; I personally think TechDAS and its ilk are the love children of a cash register and a lathe.
PPPS: Sorry to nitpick the sepulchral analogy, but if the Rega were disinterred from a TT grave, it would stand to reason that it was interred with flesh intact, which might be hard to do for a fleshless thing
Absolutely. The 150s offer tons of headroom with the Sourcepoint 10s. This is the best pairing I've had in my chain since I got rid of my Vandersteens - UHQR and MoFi pressings are particularly brilliant. A quad of EAT KT88s are on their way to serve as backup.
Which Vandersteen's did you have, and how do the 10's compare to the Vandy's.
