Rega RB250 arm too high with Origin Live Sliding VTA

[jimmyj2k]

Hi,

I am a newbie so please excuse me if I'm not 100% clear on what the real issue is.

But I brought a REGA Planar 2 turntable with a RB250 arm which was upgraded with a Origin Live Sliding VTA adjuster as per the pic below

So the issue is that the arm is just way too high. As you can see below the cartage comes no wear near the platter even when the arm is fully down with the cueing level right down and have the adjustable Origin Live Sliding VTA as low as it will go. It just won't go down any further.

And here you can see below that when the lid is down it hits the counter weight which is really bad. I just think the install of this arm was poor or am I missing something?

I guess I could remove the Origin Live Sliding VTA and just use a nut at the bottom of the arm to secure but would have to add a spacer as is too low this time!

Much appreciate any help.
James

[tomytoons]

How did the original owner use the arm that way? It looks impossible.That OL sliding adjuster has to come out. It looks to be over 4mm high in the lowest position for the counterweight to hit the dust cover. You are not going to jack up the bearing/ platter. Remove-it.

Looking at it again looks like similar to an SME type of sliding base not needed for a Rega arm.
Did you contact Origin Live? That oval hole in the plinth has to be covered and the arm installed in the original Rega hole position of 222mm from spindle.
To do that you would need a 1mm thick square brass or aluminum plate to cover it and re-drill that 7/8 hole where it is supposed to be. I'm speculating here without seeing it first hand. Good luck!

[zharca]

Hi, unfortunately that's how it is.
I bought one of these many years ago but I was using it on a Garrard 401, which normally needs about a 6mm spacer, so it worked OK. On my setup with an Origin Live RB250 I felt that the vta adjuster degraded the performance, but you might well find different.

One thing you could do if you are feeling brave is to rebate the top of the plinth about 5mm with a round hole to let the adjuster into but it would need a steady hand with a router or the right cutter in a pillar drill or mill.

[tomytoons]

Looking at Origin Live, they do not show an adjustable Rega base like that at all. RB250 and 300 arms are adjusted or fastened by a large nut.
As I said No slide setup needed. Yikes!


Opps, It is here http://www.tonearm.co.uk/vta-adjuster.htm
It also states it will not fit most decks.
OL states it is 13mm high in the lowest position. I would not use that on a Rega table. 13mm is way to high and as I stated you only have about 4mm originally to not hit the dust cover. It looks to be an adjuster for one of those THICK platter tables.

[jimmyj2k]

Thanks very much for your help peeps!

I think I need to take this baby to the store to sort out, as not experienced enough to do that stuff my self.

[jimmyj2k]

Also if I place a mat under a record the needle does hit the record and track but I'm worried that the arm is at a bad angle because of that hence causing sound issues and/or damage to the needle/record.

Any idea if it would cause problems?

Again much appreciate for any help

[zharca]

Your cartridge will only perform properly if the bottom of the headshell is parallel to the record when it's playing. If it is sloping up or down it won't sound good.

I don't think that having the vta adjusted wrongly would actually damage cartridge or record but if the arm is sloping downward there's a chance that it might scrape the arm lift whilst playing which could cause it to skip, and that isn't good for cartridge or record.