My first Rega upgrade - groovy baby!!

[thumpin]

Great photo's Rolf.
I'll be interested to hear how the coat hanger weight compare's

Groovetracer must be lov'in this thread. Free advertising. Maybe Groovetracer should supply you with a Platter for a VE review and photo exposay

Wait a minute, Myself and others have already done that

At this point in time, I am happy with my P3 + GT upgrades. I would however like to explore options for another cart to suit the Micro Seiki CF-2 Arm. I wish I could find what the effective Mass of the arm. Its light and would suit a higher compliance cart than the Denon DL-160, I think

[RoDa]

Free adverts
The two Groovetracer products I have tried gives me the impression of a very skilled and thorough manufacturer. The fit'n'finish is exellent.
So the least I can do is to share my experience.






I'm spinning records and will of course report my impressions of the coat hanger





-Rolf-

[RoDa]

Hot Rod Rega?


A few thoughts while the Rega is spinning the music with the coat hanger installed


The P5 with the Ortofon Rondo Blue set me back 1500$
(Used, almost new. Full price around 2400$)

Groovetracer Reference Subplatter 345$
(Included freight, VAT and customs)

Groovetracer Counterweight 220$
(Included freight, VAT and customs)

TT-PSU 435$
(Here in Norway)


Total price for the Rega with upgrades 2500$, and 1000 of those $ on upgrades alone....

Still there is rewire kits, feet, mats, platters, .......
Won't say I'll stop upgrading now. But maybe a small pause?


Though costly, the upgrade path is a good learning experience and luckily mostly a good upgrade in the sound from my Rega.

Best of all, I don't feel I have lost anything along the way, exept for the $ ...
It is still loads of 'Rega magic' even without all the original parts



Well then, back to the coat hanger vs the donut.





-R-

[RoDa]

THE DONUT vs THE COAT HANGER






As always a few songs before the change, and the same songs after.
My way to check for differences.
Differences? Hell yeah!!








As I said earlier I didn't understand why a different counterweight could make a difference on an arm with this type of bearing.
I cannot say I understand it now either, but at least I can hear it!
More so than I imagined.
Original donut counterweight and end stub anyone?

The first noticeable change was the bass. Tighter, more controlled and more detailed. It also brings a mean punch and all of this together gives the sound more rythmic drive. Where it used to be bloated, it now is tight and clean but not too lean.

The midrange and tweeter are more precise and focused, this both makes the sound relaxed and quiet and at the same time more detailed. The sound seems to appear from an even quieter background.

The changes in the presentation is, together with the bass, the most noticeable effect. The width, height and depth increases and most of all the stable and precise placement of elements within the soundstage is greatly improved. The soundfield stays stable even trough complex passages in the music.

Some of my records are old and have been 'touched' by a harmful stylus from old bad record players. A funny (and most welcome) effect from the new counterweight is that the wear'n'tear is still noticeable, but somehow it is not as present in the music.









These changes are in my system, with my P5 and my Ortofon Rondo Blue.
I am surprised by the changes, I did not see this coming.
Can it be that the subplatter and TT-PSU made my P5 more detailed and thus more revealing? Am I hearing the positive effect of turning the VTF-scale to 3g? Is it the effect of the center of gravity closer to the pivot point? The lower center of gravity on the counderweight?

My experience is only from changing the standard 'donut' to the Groovetracer 'coat hanger'.
No idea how it compares to the Origin Live, the Tungsten or the Michell variant.
But I am very happy with the result i hear!

Happy enough to stop upgrading my P5....? We'll see ...










Thank you for reading
Best regards
Rolf

[plastico]

Great pictorial RoDa! I looked at your profile and judging by your equipment, I would definitely get the groovetracer platter! My setup makes me giddy, I can only imagine what yours sounds like! That platter will make a definite difference! You will have a great P5.

[RoDa]

Great photo's Rolf.
I'll be interested to hear how the coat hanger weight compare's

Thank you, thumpin.
The coat hanger is doing a great job!

Great pictorial RoDa! I looked at your profile and judging by your equipment, I would definitely get the groovetracer platter! My setup makes me giddy, I can only imagine what yours sounds like! That platter will make a definite difference! You will have a great P5.

Thank you plastico
We'll see if the platter arrives eventually.
I'm also considering the mat from Herbie's.


-Rolf-

[RoDa]

What next?




I'm too scared to try an acryl platter...
The reason is that I'm very happy with the sound now and I don't want to risk too big a change in the presentation.
Colour me yellow


But I do want to try a different mat.
The search for leather has begun, but I'm also looking at other possibilities.

Wich are the most popular mats for Regas?

Best Regards
Rolf

[Cobra2]

If you are too chicken to try a full platter, atleast try an acrylic mat!

Arne K

[HBA]

If you are too chicken to try a full platter, atleast try an acrylic mat!

Arne K

Try this isolation system :

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttfeet.htm

Just incredible..I have added 4 under my P9 and the results were amazing.

The mats are also incredible...much. much better than the original one ( not only the looking but much more the sound improvement you got )

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

I almost forgot : as always, you took really great photos !!!!

Regards,

[jrobby]

Hi RoDa. I was so impressed with your subplatter post and your photos
that I bought a used Groovetracer to install on my new/used P5. The original seller
did not have the instruction manual that came with the Groovetracer. I was wondering if you could upload the manual to VE. I only put a couple of drops
of oil on the bearing and I just want to make sure that is enough. It does improve the sound for sure. I'm really loving it.

Regards, Jim

[Frank_Sm]

Hi RoDa. I was so impressed with your subplatter post and your photos
that I bought a used Groovetracer to install on my new/used P5. The original seller
did not have the instruction manual that came with the Groovetracer. I was wondering if you could upload the manual to VE. I only put a couple of drops
of oil on the bearing and I just want to make sure that is enough. It does improve the sound for sure. I'm really loving it.

Regards, Jim

Hi Jim, Send me an email through the Groovetracer website and I'll email you the instructions.

[RoDa]

If you are too chicken to try a full platter, atleast try an acrylic mat!

Arne K

Try this isolation system :

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttfeet.htm

Just incredible..I have added 4 under my P9 and the results were amazing.

The mats are also incredible...much. much better than the original one ( not only the looking but much more the sound improvement you got )

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

I almost forgot : as always, you took really great photos !!!!

Regards,

Thanks HBA

Actually I have a Herbie's Mat on loan for the moment.
Clearly a difference, but I will have to listen some more to make up my mind.

Did you replace the original feet with the ones from Herbie's?

P9, you lucky man

BR
Rolf

[RoDa]

Hi RoDa. I was so impressed with your subplatter post and your photos
that I bought a used Groovetracer to install on my new/used P5. The original seller
did not have the instruction manual that came with the Groovetracer. I was wondering if you could upload the manual to VE. I only put a couple of drops
of oil on the bearing and I just want to make sure that is enough. It does improve the sound for sure. I'm really loving it.

Regards, Jim

Looks like Frank came to the resque.
Gongrats with the subplatter

Really nice to hear you are loving the subplatter, since I'm guilty of making you buy one

BR
Rolf

[pulsetsar]

What next?

I'm too scared to try an acryl platter...
The reason is that I'm very happy with the sound now and I don't want to risk too big a change in the presentation.
Colour me yellow


But I do want to try a different mat.
The search for leather has begun, but I'm also looking at other possibilities.

Wich are the most popular mats for Regas?

Best Regards
Rolf

I, too, wanted to try a new mat but didn't want to spend a ton of money. I picked up a Music Hall cork mat for about $50. It's thin enough that no VTA adjustment was needed, as it keeps the record at about the same height as the stock Rega mat. This was my first and only mat experiment, but I was pleased with the results. The biggest and most immediately noticeable difference was in high frequency extension; the second in the overall improved and more realistic timbre of instruments; and the third in the bass, which was tighter and more focused. I then also noticed that during complex passages the sound was less congested with instruments having tighter and more defined images on a broader soundstage. Overall, a pretty good deal. A thoughtful touch Music Hall includes is a removable center record label support. They recommend removing it for records with "thick" labels. I did agree with this as the thicker records had an "overdamped" sound with the support in place. Thankfully, I only have a few with thick enough labels for this to matter much, so I'm rarely doing any swapping. Probably the best part of this mat is that it no longer comes off the platter when I lift the record; the stock Rega mat used to drive me crazy with this!

I don't know if the more expensive ones such as the Ringmat will make a huge difference over this or an incremental one, but I'm not likely to try them out for a while since I'm enjoying this mat so much.