Ok here is the deal. I own a Townshend Rock Mk III table. I have a Rega RB 251 installed with an Incognito rewire, Pete Riggle VTAF, and counterweight.
I also own an Accuphase AC1 that has been evaluated and retipped by Expert Stylus.
Music is positively sublime with the cartridge, its quite a performer. Yes its old, sure there are "advancements" in building cartridges, but this thing flat out makes music. I found it preferable to a Dynavector XX2 MK 2 I had in my possession. Now this thread isn't meant to be a comparative analysis of the two cartridges, so don't try to turn it into one. I am just using this as an example that the AC1 is still an authentic high end piece, worth the effort to optimize.
But I do have an issue. On good vinyl the AC1 is very quiet. However, on vinyl with some wear, its quite noisy, matter of fact....too noisy. This one has the Expert Stylus Paratrace diamond upgrade, which looks to be a variation on a Fritz Geiger. So it should get down into the groove a decent distance.
I did add two grams of plasticlay to the arm headshell, and rebalanced to 2.2 g of tracking weight. This did improve tracking on worn passages, but it never got as quiet as the Dynavector.
I would prefer to keep the Rega arm since I own it. Was wondering if anyone has had any experiences or comments regarding the use of a low compliance MC from yesteryear on a Rega arm.
The AC1 body is quite short, and I am only able to hit a Stevenson alignment. I may end up remounting the arm and shortening the distance. I am at the current recommended distance, which I believe is 222mm. So this may be another consideration. Although the Dynavector was significantly quieter on the same protractor.
Thoughts/comments?
Regards
Mister Pig
