[Brad]

Thanks guys for all of the suggestions. I didn't know that you could do all these things to a TT to make it better. I think my first order of business will be to get a new cartridge and after that get a new counter weight for it. There is a local dealer in my city (San Antonio, TX) that carries the Michell TechnoWeight upgrade. He also has the Incognito rewiring kit as well. Is that rewiring upgrade worth it?

Ohh and ricmon, he also carries that Benz Micro cartridge you recommended for $169 as well in low and high output versions. What is the difference between the two?

Is your local guy Galen Carol audio?
I've bought a few things from him - excellent service.

[doug s.]

imo, this srm tech silent base is an extremely poor walue - a used wintage empire for the same or a bit more money is much better than any of the lower-end rega's, imo.  get a better deck before getting a base for the deck...

re: cartridges, i would chose the at440 over the benz mc20e2, based upon stylus shape alone - the at is micro-line, the benz is elliptical...

ymmv,

doug s.

Hi,

I recently installed a benz micro mc20e2 (high output) and I am very happy with the results.  I bought it locally in oz and paid $260au.  I think the cheapest price I read was about $169us.

Previously I used a denon dl103 low output and was pretty happy with it.  In comparison these cartridges are similiar in sound quality, both pretty good imo.  The advantage of using a high output mc is that you do not need to use a stepup transformer which is an additional cost.

Here is a link to a product that I have read makes a big improvement to the rega 2.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SRM-TECH-SILENT-BASE-FOR-REGA-NAD-GOLDRING-DECKS_W0QQitemZ230215414341QQihZ013QQcategoryZ48648QQcmdZViewItem

My first turntable was a rega 2 and I wish I had never sold it.

Regards

Rod

[gus6464]

Thanks guys for all of the suggestions. I didn't know that you could do all these things to a TT to make it better. I think my first order of business will be to get a new cartridge and after that get a new counter weight for it. There is a local dealer in my city (San Antonio, TX) that carries the Michell TechnoWeight upgrade. He also has the Incognito rewiring kit as well. Is that rewiring upgrade worth it?

Ohh and ricmon, he also carries that Benz Micro cartridge you recommended for $169 as well in low and high output versions. What is the difference between the two?

Is your local guy Galen Carol audio?
I've bought a few things from him - excellent service.

Yeah it's Galen Carol audio. I moved to San Antonio from Austin about a month ago so still getting used to it. Although San Antonio seems to be lacking in audio shops compared to Austin. Does he actually have a shop or is everything online order? I would like to pick up the technoweight instead of having it shipped.

[Hank]

Hi Gus, I'm in Austin and don't have an experience-based recommendation, but your post brings back fond memories of travelling to San Antonio to meet an old college friend for a weekend of messin' around.  We would always spend a few hours at Bill Case Sound, and the sales manager, Bjorn Dibdal, would let us listen to all the high-end equipment we wanted to - Bjorn was a great guy - not trying to push equipment, but enjoying the music.  My friend and I eventually bought two pair of the original Large Advent speakers from Bjorn.  Bjorn's eventual success is well deserved - he owns the premier home theater store in SA.

I recently bought a used Wilson Benesch Circle TT that came with a Rega RB 300 with Incognito rewire and an Audio Technica OC9ML/II cart.  I am quite impressed with reviews of that cartridge:

Sounds Like Review
"Sonically, I found the OC9 to be a pure delight. This is without doubt one of the cleanest- sounding phono cartridges I have ever had the pleasure of using and the OC9s significant achievement in this regard added greatly to my enjoyment of the music.

The truth is, you could easily spend twice the OC9s asking price and still not equal let alone surpass its level of musical involvement, accuracy, or purity.

In all, the Audio-Technica OC9 provides most of the performance characteristics of the best of the breed, but without the heroic price, and without having to worry whether the sample you buy is a good one."

I need to invest in a good phono preamp and am thinking of building Dennis Colin's "Ultra low distortion 797 pre-amp" from the 9/'07 Audio Xpress. 

All the best to you in your music quest!