What mods and cartridge for a Rega P3.....Yes, now I have 7 turntables!!????

Wayner · « **on:** 28 Sep 2007, 09:40 pm »

Well, I was in sneebay the other day and there was a just listed and mint Rega P3 with a buy-it now price that I thought was good, so I took the plunge. I don't have it yet, but it is suppose to be only a few years old with "no cosmetic flaws" and low hours. Well, we'll just see about that. Anyway, I was thinking about taking the Grado Gold "Longhorn" off of the HK T-25 and putting it on the P3. Anybody have any other suggestions for cartridges that are good combo's for this table? I also will "plast-i-band" the tone arm and I will crap can the stock supplied felt mat as I own tooling for my own mat and will use one of those. Yes, I own a stamping die to die cut record mats....I'm that crazy (or nuts). It's my design and my formula and I like it. Anyway, If you've got some suggestions, I'd like to hear from you.

Wayner

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 Sep 2007, 10:19 pm »

Your nuts - get help. Or, confine yourself to the Vinyl Circle for 30 days

I've often though to take a similar plunge - just haven't - just to hear the vaunted Rega for myself. They fetch good prices even used, so the the loss on the resell would be minimal

TONEPUB · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Sep 2007, 12:34 am »

hats off to you having seven tables. I've cut back to four, but i'm getting the itch again...

Here's what I've had great luck with on the P3:

The Rega Apheta MC cart. I know it costs more than the table, but its the detail and transparency king!

The Dynavector 17D3. Nice and neutral, very musical

Grado wood (cant remember which one, but about $500) More warm and romantic

Shure M97xe great budget cart, good tracker

Sumiko blackbird somewhat like the Apheta for less $$

My new P3 came with the Elyese (about $250) not bad, easy to set up but a little dark on top...

That's been my luck so far! Have fun!

linkweewee · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Sep 2007, 07:22 am »

Try your favorite AudioPimpnica on it. Works great on mine and you seem to have enough in stock

Another worthwhile mod is to get rid of the cheesy Rega plastic stock subplatter and replace it with an aftermarket one.

Wayner · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Sep 2007, 11:57 am »

The subplatter is plastic?

What next. I'm going to run out of money.

W

Nels Ferre · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Sep 2007, 01:42 pm »

Wayner,

Check this link from a few months back. AD9000 bought a NAD 533, a rebadged Rega, and there is lots of info here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=42316.0

Nels

TONEPUB · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Sep 2007, 02:34 pm »

good call on the plastic subplatter. The Groovetracer (www.groovetracer) subplatter will definitely
give you a subtantial bit of bass slam, better defined imaging and better speed stability.

If memory serves me correctly, they are about 175 and whenever you get around to it is the
best rega tweak I've ever done. Got one on my new P3-24 right now! It's fantastic!

linkweewee · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Oct 2007, 08:30 am »

Let's see-I also have the Michell technoweight on the RB300, the Incognito rewire, a Herbies mat and my last upgrade for it will be the Iron Audio acrylic platter and then I'm done. I kind of like my P3

Wayner · « **Reply #8 on:** 2 Oct 2007, 09:41 pm »

The REGA is here and it does look minty. It runs at least and it is not all scratched up. Looks almost brand new. It came with a pink colored REGA cartridge so I will have to figure out which one so I can set VTA. Hopefully in a couple of hours, I can report back on my take on the REGA sound...maybe with a photo as well.

W

Wayner · « **Reply #9 on:** 2 Oct 2007, 11:06 pm »

Here are some photo's for those that don't know about REGA. This is a stock Planar 3, year unknown but I'm putting it about 1999.

Sits nice next to the Empire

If anybody has any info on this REGA cartridge, that would be helpful, like model number and a tracking weight. I put it on 1.75 grams and it seems to happy.

I think the table is a very nice design. Very good pacing and the tone arm is a wonder.

Wayner

doug s. · « **Reply #10 on:** 2 Oct 2007, 11:12 pm »

wayner, i think the best possible mod for you would be to machine your empire's subchassis arm mount to accept the tonearm from the p3...

i have an origin-live rb250 that's awaiting yust such a mod to an empire 498 i have laying around...

doug s.

Quote from: Wayner on 2 Oct 2007, 11:06 pm

Here are some photo's for those that don't know about REGA. This is a stock Planar 3, year unknown but I'm putting it about 1999.

Sits nice next to the Empire

If anybody has any info on this REGA cartridge, that would be helpful, like model number and a tracking weight. I put it on 1.75 grams and it seems to happy.

I think the table is a very nice design. Very good pacing and the tone arm is a wonder.

Wayner

WEEZ · « **Reply #11 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 01:33 am »

So Wayner, that makes an AR; a VPI; an Empire; a HK; a Rega;....what are the other three?

WEEZ

(btw, that looks like a Rega Bias cartridge.)

Wayner · « **Reply #12 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 11:37 am »

Well, you listed 5 so the other two are another AR-XA and (

) and Technics SL-Q2 direct drive.

The HK, AR and Technics are in the other room on a shelf. I bring them out once in a while to tweak on them.

aa

WEEZ · « **Reply #13 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 04:40 pm »

WEEZ

(sometimes you just gotta forgive a guy who went to public schools.....)

Nels Ferre · « **Reply #14 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 08:08 pm »

Wayne,

It appears to be a Rega Elys, a $250 cartridge when it was last made. 1.75 grams is the correct VTF, and the cart has a 6.8 mv output.

Wayner · « **Reply #15 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 09:35 pm »

Thanks Nels!

I've got it dialed in right now...thanks for the information. This is why I love the AudioCircle, somebody out there knows stuff!!

w

Wayner · « **Reply #16 on:** 3 Oct 2007, 09:37 pm »

WEEZ,

I went to public skool too. The 3rd grade was the best 3 years of my life...

W aa

Wayner · « **Reply #17 on:** 4 Oct 2007, 09:44 pm »

After spending another night with the P3, I must say I'm impressed. The platter paces itself very well. I was playing some Thomas Dolby, I put the tone arm on the record and listened to music come out of blackness. That was impressive. The cartridge is a little bass heavy, I havent checked VTA yet but the arm looks alittle down hill. I will get some washers on Saturday and try to level the arm out. WEEZ and Nels think the cartridge is a REGA BIAS, which I have to agree with. It tracks nice and has a nice soundstage.....not quite as large as the AT440MLa and certainly it is not as bright. If I could blend the mid/high end of the AT with the REGA, that would be perfect. I also have put the Plast-i-band on the arm (this is now a standard tweak on all of my tables). I am considering the all metal subplatter, but I may try filling the little pie-shaped cavities in the subplatter with plasticlay just for the heck of it. I also need to repair the phono jacks as I can get hum by bending the left channel wire at the plug. I'll put on some nice all metal nickle plated Switchcraft RCA jacks on as well. Oh yes, I was playing it threw the AVA T8 and the combo is very happy together! Nope, no grain at all.

W

Vinyl-Addict · « **Reply #18 on:** 5 Oct 2007, 07:34 pm »

Wayne, I wouldn't mash plastic clay into the subplatter. You'll end up with an out of balance mess.

Wayner · « **Reply #19 on:** 5 Oct 2007, 08:28 pm »

I was going to measure an exact amount for each cavity, but I also have had second thoughts about doing it. Thanks for putting on the breaks for me, Vinyl Addict.

My new concern is the lack of VTA on the REGA P3. I see there are add-on VTA adjustment devices, but in the case of the standard REGA BIAS cartridge, the tonearm needs to go down, which it can't do. The problem is that the hydraulic arm lift will only lift the arm a small amount, putting the stylus very close to the record surface if I could lower the arm pivot or put a shim between the cartridge and tone arm head.

I have measured the pivot height from plinth to pivot bearings and the dimension is 1.625". The distance to the centerline of the tone arm at the cartridge is 1.50". That means over about 8" of length, I have a .125" downward incline towards the cartridge. That is about .895 degrees which means my rake angle is now 20.895 degrees insted of the normal 20 degree. I do think I see a slope in the cast head portion of the tonearm that may have a draft in it. Maybe the designers put a negative draft in correcting it back to 20 degrees. The whole arm is investment cast. It is cool, don't get me wrong. The arm is fantastic. I just need to understand some of the geometry that went into the design.

My AT cartridge came in the mail yesterday and I may have to measure it's overall height compared to the BIAS to see if it will even work. Right now when I lift the tone arm with the cue, I'm only .125" away from the record surface, so you may see "Houston, we have a problem".

On a slightly different note, what moron wrote the "manual" for the Rega turntables? There are suggestions to the order of "don't clean your records as it is a waste of time".....what? There is almost zero information on any piece of paper. They did let the cat out of the bag and tell me indirectly that the distance from pivot to spindle is 222mm (8.74"). That's good, 'cause now I can build and alignment card.

I'll use baerwald's calculator to figure the correct tow-in at that distance.

I also like my mat over the standard felt mat. Yes, they are the same thickness. I guess for now, except doing a small repair job on the audio cables, I'm going to listen to it for awhile and see where it stands in a week or so before I try my next tweak.

If you got more ideas, keep'em comin'.

Wayner