[nocrapman]

Clearaudio - Rega Exact cart is crap, and you are nocrapman!   

Otherwise Comet / Rega 303 are decent, but vs Clearaudio kinda Lincoln vs Mercedes / BMW, if you get my drift.

Point taken!!
Of course now I am slipping and am tempted to upgrade to the concept MC which brings the price to 2K.

[audioguy213]

70s vintage $250 TT through $120 Shiit Mani pre,

95% of the sound of my $8k TT, phono pre, etc.

The fun, the good sound, it is from the record,
please stop sweating the equipment (for the living room).

Get something that people will use and you will not cringe when they drop the needle.

If your 6 year old gets too close, you dont want to be "don't touch that!" dad, that dad is an a-hole.

You want to be "this is really cool, let me show you how this works, you hold here and that tiny little needle is going to 'read' tiny grooves here and..."

Please get something cheap and fun that your family will be encouraged to use.

In the man cave, go nuts!

[jarcher]

Point taken!!
Of course now I am slipping and am tempted to upgrade to the concept MC which brings the price to 2K.

I would take the demo offer w/ Concept MM @ $1200.  That's a good deal @ 25% off.  We usually would not offer more than 20% on a demo Clearaudio. 

With any authorized Clearaudio dealer you can also trade in the Concept MM towards another CA cart, with trade in value up to $200 (for Maestro or Concept MC).  So if you decide to go more upscale, your out almost nothing.

The Concept MM is a good cart - and when you've got a new TT in the house, the risk / probability that the first cart is going to suffer a mishap is high. As these are not replaceable styli - better to see what your fortunes are w/ a lower cost MM than a pricey MC at first. In any case it's always good practice to always use the stylus guard when not in use.  And a cover is not a bad investment as well.  The CA one is ok, but for a bit more I personally think the Ginko Audio one is worth the extra $.

There's also some contention at our store on the Concept MC.  I personally think it's a good cart w/ excellent features / sound vs Concept MM for the money.  Most of the other guys at the store have not warmed up to it.  In some ways they prefer the more full bodied sound of the Concept MM.

Hope that helps!

[nocrapman]

Thanks for all your help everyone.
The easy part is done.
Went with a demo Clearaudio Concept with MM.
Getting ready to order a phonoamp. Thinking about the Musical Surrounding Phenomena II+; will be tempted to upgrade that and should work with any cart.
Also debating between the VPI HW16.5 and the Pro-ject RCM. One has a proven track record, the other does not.

Any comments are welcome.

[nocrapman]

Thanks to all the folks who chimed the rig is all set and playing well.
I like the build quality and playback from the Concept.
The MS Phenomena II+ is a gem. So much better than the build in phono stage in the receiver.

I was thinking of adding a record clamp.
Should I go with the clearaudio or another?
Do these heavy weights not affect the motor speed... slow it down?

Also what impedence and gain settings work best for this cart?

[jarcher]

 The clearaudio concept clamp is obviously the best cosmetic match for your table.  Nonetheless I find it to be very light, so I'm not sure if it's really doing much. The record weight from
Project is a pretty good value at  under $100 and is a lot heavier.

 As to whether it will make the table run slower, yes, if it has any substantial weight. You should be checking and revising the speed on your concept turntable though. One of the great things  about that turntable is the ability to adjust and correct the speed ( with the speed adjustment pots at the back of the table ).  There are free though somewhat crude turntable speed apps for Apple iPhones and android phones on their respective markets.   What I like to use is a test record from Dr. Feickert that has a 3150 Hz test tone.  You then download the free app called Platter Speed from the Apple App Store. With those two things you can very accurately measure your turntables speed and stability. This is what Michael Fremer and the stereophile guys use that you see in the magazine.

 Of course a good dealer would have done this for you when you bought the turntable from them if you had them set it up.  In any case these are still good tools to have for any higher-end turntable owner.

As for the impedance and gain settings you should use, these will depend on whether you bought the Concept MM or MC cartridge. For  The MM, it's the same as for all MM cartridges, which is 40 DB gain and 47K loading.  If you bought the MC cartridge, the gain should be at maximum,  which is 60db on that phono stage, or all the dip  switches in the up / on  position.  The recommended loading is about 100 ohms.  The closest to that on that phono stage is 121 ohms.  Nonetheless, some of my coworkers actually prefer a higher loading, in this case 1000 ohms.  I suggest starting at 121, the try 243, 475 and 1k ohms and listen to see which one you like the best.

[nocrapman]

Thank you so much!

You are always so helpful!

[neobop]

A couple things you might want to consider:

You can get a laser tachometer for about $15 from Amazon.  You put a piece of tape on the platter, aim the laser, and you get a digital readout of platter speed.  They work great - very accurate.

A weight and a clamp are 2 different things.  A clamp is designed to hold the record in place.  Some clamps can "reflex" a record.  This is putting a felt (usually) washer around the spindle under the record.  When you clamp the outside of the label the down force can help flatten an LP.  You also have the option of not using a felt washer and just holding the record in place. 
Any weight or clamp will work in conjunction with your platter and mat and results vary. 

You can replace the stylus on a Clearaudio MM to increase performance.  [see AT95/Clearaudio thread]   With that table I recommend an AT3472 series stylus.  You have to cut away the excess plastic.  Change VTF to 1.6g.





http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATN3472SA.html

http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATNSERIESVL.html

Any questions - don't hesitate.
neo

[Folsom]

4mm Herbies mat, huge upgrade.

[jarcher]

A weight and a clamp are 2 different things.  A clamp is designed to hold the record in place.  Some clamps can "reflex" a record.  This is putting a felt (usually) washer around the spindle under the record.  When you clamp the outside of the label the down force can help flatten an LP.  You also have the option of not using a felt washer and just holding the record in place. 
Any weight or clamp will work in conjunction with your platter and mat and results vary. 

You can replace the stylus on a Clearaudio MM to increase performance.  [see AT95/Clearaudio thread]   With that table I recommend an AT3472 series stylus.  You have to cut away the excess plastic.  Change VTF to 1.6g.





http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATN3472SA.html

http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATNSERIESVL.html

Any questions - don't hesitate.
neo

Neo is of course correct that a clamp & weight are not the same thing.  Clearaudio doesn't help things in that they call all their products a "clamp" when some are weights and other actually clamps. E.g. the "Concept Clamp" is actually a weight.  The "Clever Clamp" is actually a pretty good clamp & shouldn't affect your speed.

Interesting about CA stylus swaps for AT ones.  Doing the excess plastic removal thing would worry me a bit, but the stylus's are very reasonably priced.