Rega Planar 2 (P2000)Upgrade and Rebuild

[Natara]

I'll let you know once mine arrives I waited a little while longer for a jet black version but I believe they have lots of clear ones in stock.

[Jac Hawk]

The SRM Tech silent base is probably one of the most worth while upgrades you can do, removing the motor from the plinth is just plain common sense in my opinion here's my deck with the silent base fitted

[IMG]IMG_2417 by mike davis, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Gmanuk101]

that deck! that is lovely. I emailed Stuart at srmTech.... customer service is great, decent bloke to deal with. I think I'll invest in one next pay day can I ask about that Plinth? sorry, don't want to hijack this thread.

[Natara]

No worries I'm interested in the plinth too it looks lovely. I think my final upgrade will be a new plinth but I'd want a piano black finish which I cannot seem to find.

[Jac Hawk]

That is 30mm Birch ply with a rosewood veneer, i ordered it off ebay it was about £80 as i recall, but if you have your original plinth i'm sure a cabinet maker in your area could easily machine one for you, f you don't want a veneer and if you're handy with spray paint you could even paint it yourself.

[Natara]

I made an isolation plinth for a Linn Axis many years ago and it took an age to get that high polished look many layers and many, many minutes spent polishing and in the end I was entirely happy.
I've seen a dark ebony veneer that looks very nice though.

Did you find the increased mass of the plinth helped and did you buy the silent base before or after the plinth as Stuart from SRM asked my the dimension of my plinth from left edge to spindle apparently there are two different sizes of Rega plinths.

[Jac Hawk]

Yes there is apparently the older Planar 3 is a different size to the new one, I ordered the silent base before the plinth and made sure I sent the exact plinth measurements I wanted when I ordered the new one.

Theres a lot of opinions surrounding the use of a higher density plinth, in reality it didn’t make a huge difference and probably damps the bearing better, in reality my deck isn’t really a Rega anymore, yes there are some Rega parts but not many, the thing I kept was the bearing, I was all set to change it and was talking to Jonny from Audio Origami and mentioned my plan to him, he told me that unless it was damaged to keep the original bearing as in his opinion it was one of the best ever made, so I did

[Natara]

Thanks for that.
I have a piano black new Planar 1 (P1) plinth that I'm going to use.

[Natara]

I've fitted the Silent Base and the plinth brace I've also made a third isolation platform from a P1 plinth.
Definite improvement, though since I've put it all back together the platter wants to turn the wrong way occasionally it spins the correct way once it's given a push I bought the 24v motor upgrade kit used on eBay I'd hat to think that one of the caps is failing so soon.
it's hard to say after so many upgrades which is the best one but what I do have now is a fantastic sounding deck. I've been playing some records that my LP12's didn't use to like but the Rega is playing them without any fuss.
Next will be a new plinth perhaps a skeleton type.

IMG_2417 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/141362658@N06/]

[Jac Hawk]

It's looking good Nat, with the silent base i would stick to the full rectangular plinth though.