Upgrading Pro-Ject Debut III with new platter and stylus, or go for new Rega Planar 1 or Planar 2?

[3db]

I believe the III was before the Carbon, so not a CF arm.

The Debut was out when I bought my Xprexsion II and I believe the Debut also had the same arm as the Xpression II. Thats why I want to see a pic of the unit.

 

[grodzki]

Interested to hear how this has gone. I've never been happy with my Debut 3, it's one of the older editions with the Ortofon 5E cart. I bought it pre-owned with an acrylic platter already added.

I've been toying with upgrading for a while be it cartridge / new turntable but I've just held off.

I've had a Rega Planar 2 come up, very lightly used at 50% the cost of new, and I'm tempted to get that and sell the debut on as is. I've never replaced the belt on the debut, nor the cart so it's probably going to need a bit spending on it anyway.

I decided to go the upgrade route for my Debut 3. I got the acrylic platter, a new belt, and an switch from the 5E to OM 20 stylus. I’m well pleased, but it’s very possible my money would have been better spent on a might have been better

 

[highfigh]

OP here...I should clarify my turntable is the Debut III, not Debut Carbon. No carbon tonearm. Ortofon 5E cartridge. Could you recommend a cartridge upgrade?

The material matters less than its mass and the compliance of the stylus. Honestly, there's an extremely small amount of energy getting from the record to the tonearm and any resonances are not going to have large amplitude. I would rather that any pivot points be extremely low in friction, the stylus be a good match to the tonearm and the signal is going to a decent phono preamp. Using a heavier cartridge is like attaching a bowling ball to the end of a cue stick and trying to wave it in the air to kill a fly- if it hits the fly, it will definitely kill it but the mass makes it extremely difficult to control where it goes.

 

[3db]

I decided to go the upgrade route for my Debut 3. I got the acrylic platter, a new belt, and an switch from the 5E to OM 20 stylus. I’m well pleased, but it’s very possible my money would have been better spent on a might have been better

The biggest difference would have been the cartridge. When I still had the Xpression II, I upgraded the stock OM10 cartridge to a 2M Red and the record noise dropped quite noticeably.

 

[davidscott]

The biggest difference would have been the cartridge. When I still had the Xpression II, I upgraded the stock OM10 cartridge to a 2M Red and the record noise dropped quite noticeably.

Interesting. I wasn't aware that an OM10 to a 2M Red was much of an upgrade. I had an OM10 once on a Thorens TT in the 80s and it was decent. Both are long gone. As always the cart has got to be compatible with the TT.

 

[3db]

Interesting. I wasn't aware that an OM10 to a 2M Red was much of an upgrade. I had an OM10 once on a Thorens TT in the 80s and it was decent. Both are long gone. As always the cart has got to be compatible with the TT.

Thats the only thing I noticed.. I purposely chose a noisy record that I was going to toss into the garbage and I ended up keeping it because it did seem nearly as noisy as the the time played it with the OM10. Not exactly a scientific approach I realize.

 

[davidscott]

Thats the only thing I noticed.. I purposely chose a noisy record that I was going to toss into the garbage and I ended up keeping it because it did seem nearly as noisy as the the time played it with the OM10. Not exactly a scientific approach I realize.

The important thing is that it worked! These days since I have mostly used LPs I'm using a conical cart (REGA Carbon) on my REGA Planar 3 and it does cut down on surface noise for the most part.

 

[Funkoid]

I ended up managing to pickup a mint condition Rega RP3 with exact cartridge for a really good price. It's mind-blowing compared to my old setup without a doubt. Highly recommend!