Mid-range turntable dilemma - Project, Clearaudio or Roksan?

[JudgeBaxter]

Morning Guys,

Struggling to make my mind up - there seem to be a myriad of options.......

Narrowed it down to the Project Experience X pack (comes with a £300 quid Ortofon Rondo Red cart and Project speedbox), Clearaudio Emotion package or a Roksan Radius 5 + Nima arm (wood version) - will need a cart to go with it.....

I've auditioned the Project and Clearaudio......I'd assumed the Clearaudio would romp it, but it was very close, and the cheaper price of the Project keeps it in the running - although how much of that is down to the £300 quid cartridge I'm not sure......not entirely sure I like being ripped off for the Clearaudio either - compared to what our German cousins pay anyway...

Haven't been able to audition a Roksan Radius and not likely to, but one has come up new for about £430 with the Nima arm (wood version though - not acrylic - is there a difference sonically?) - so with a decent cartridge, it's right in there with the others price wise?

Anyone auditioned the Roksan against either or both of the above? Music wise - I listen to just about everything - fair bit of 80's 12" dance stuff, through to classical and jazz (nicccee)

Being a weak-minded fool....I'd appreciate a few opinions from any fellow vinyl lovers. Trying to stay the right side of £800 quid all in - including a decent-ish phono stage, so I can't quite stretch to Michell money and I don't want to go 2nd hand having been stung recently on something else.

Should I also be considering a Rega P5??

Cheers in advance for any sage words of wisdom people.

Many Thanks and Best Regards,

David.

 

[cwilson]

Yes you should be considering a P5 as well, and you owe it to yourself to try and see (and hear) the Roksan. I tried the acrylic one a while back, and the fit of the platter on the spindle was none too clever. I also found it hard to lift the LP off while the deck was still spinning without catching the drive belt. I prefer to leave the motor spinning for the 'session' if possible.

Also try to hear a Michell technodeck, with a RB250 arm and technoweight, a very good deck/arm combo for the money.

I tried most of the above when thinking of changing my Rega P25, and if I had changed I think the Michell/Rega combo would have got my money. I decided to wait until I can afford to go for a Notts Anna or Acoustic Solid.

 

[gad]

I was in the same position last year wishing to replace my std305 and while I really wanted a VPI scout couldn't justify the cost, so a local dealer let me try at home side by side the Project x pack, an acrylic Radius 5 with an Ortofon mc25fl and a Marantz tt1000? which looked to be a Clearaudio copy, even down to the arm and cartridge.

Playing a wide range of music through ;trichord dino, MF X-PreV3, two MF XP 200's as monoblocks, tri-wired Epos es22, the Project was up first and while it was better than my existing turntable it didn't do much for me. Next the Roksan and it was in a different league, there was a broader, deeper soundstage and so much more musical. The Marantz (clearaudio) had the detail but seemed very two-dimensional and flat after the Roksan.

I did not swap cartridges so can't help you there but IMHO don't think that would have made a huge difference.
I was also considering the Funk firm offerings but didn't get the opportunity to hear them so I bought the Roksan as he had a very good sale on.

I don't know if the acrylic 'sounds' better than the wood but the real star seems to be the Nima, reading a magazine in a shop as we do one reviewer somewhere is uses it as one of his reference arms. In the same vein a recent HFN had a test of turntables up to £1000 and the maple Radius came out top ahead of some esteemed competition. Yes I read it in a shop and I can't remember the others but someone here will.

Hope this helps

 

[JudgeBaxter]

Thanks for the responses so far guys,

I am sorting out an audition for the Rega P5, but am struggling to find a Roksan dealer nearby with a Radius available for demo.

Out of interest - does anyone happen to recall the month or issue no. of Hifi News that had the £1K turntable group test in it that Gad mentions? That sounds like it's worth reading and I'd like to order a back copy if possible?

cheers and regards,

David.

 

[cwilson]

If you have a Roksan dealer near, or a sevenoaks, they could get a demo model shipped in for you to try. It was a decent sound when I heard itm but I had a few niggles with it so said no, it may well be what your looking for.

 

[Beobloke]

Thanks for the responses so far guys,

I am sorting out an audition for the Rega P5, but am struggling to find a Roksan dealer nearby with a Radius available for demo.

Out of interest - does anyone happen to recall the month or issue no. of Hifi News that had the £1K turntable group test in it that Gad mentions? That sounds like it's worth reading and I'd like to order a back copy if possible?

cheers and regards,

David.

The April issue of Hi-Fi World put the Roksan against the ProJect Xperience Comfort, Acoustic Signature Manfred and Michell Tecnodec.

The Roksan won.....