My first Rega upgrade - groovy baby!!

[Gothmeister]

Talking about counterweight, I would take the Michell Counterweight. I use it in a Rega P7 and Rega P9 and the final results, in my opinion, are much better than using the Rega´s tungsten model.

Not having tried the tungsten weight, I can't comment on it, but I plumped for the Michell on the basis of comments/reviews and, also, because it did not foul the lid, when raising the arm for VTA purposes.

[RoDa]

Here's a link to the Rega Mains Power. It is the same cord used on the P9. Yet at just over $140 U.S. dollars, it's a little spendy.

http://www.analogueseduction.net/produc ... 5m_REG-MPC

The 113 gram Rega tungsten counterweight is their heaviest. Hmmm- what to do? How about an Exact or an Apheta cartridge? Seriously, you have a nice cartridge!

Thanks for the info on the power cord. Not shure where I could put it to use on my P5 though? (The wall wart plugged directly into the P5)

Well, I'm kinda in love with the Rondo Blue.... so not likely to change it for a MM.

R

[RoDa]

This power cord does not came with the Rega P9. Actually, it is included in the Rega Osiris integrated amplifier and in the Rega Isis CD Player as standard.
Talking about counterweight, I would take the Michell Counterweight. I use it in a Rega P7 and Rega P9 and the final results, in my opinion, are much better than using the Rega´s tungsten model.

Regards,

Thank you HBA.
I have heard many people talk about the Michell weight.

Some of the weights I have been considering:


Michell Technoweight




Isokinetik ISOweight




Deepgroove weight (same type as the ISOweight, underhung circular)


Rega tungsten (excluded due to low weight)


Groovetracer counterweight

http://groovetracer.com/counterweight_groovetracer.htm
This is really cool looking, like a spaceship from starwars








So:

The original weight, and the tungsten upgrade weight from Rega are both circular with a centered hole.

The ISOweight and the deepgroove are both circular, buth with the hole towards the outer edge so that the center of gravity (?) is lowered.

The Michell has the weight underhung and a bit stretched to the sides, not shure what the effect of that is.

And finally the groovetracer has the weight(s) underhung and far out on the sides.


Geometry and physics.....

Oops, not my strong side I'm afraid...
But I'm confused about why these weights can make a difference.

I have been told that the closer the weight is to the pivot point, the better.
Ok, so a heavier weight takes care of that. (Why it is so, I still don't know)

The underhung weights seem to be a good idea, at least if it is put on a unipivot bearing arm. But for the rigid type of pivot/bearing in a Rega arm, why does it matter? ..or does it matter?`


I don't need a scale on the weight, like the Michell has. I own a Pro-Ject Measure-it digital weight. (So the tweak of setting the Rega adjustment to max can be done to check it out)





Also I'm not too happy about replacing the end stub on my RB700.
If I may skip the stress on the bearings needed to remove the old stub, I will. So the weights fitting the original end stub is preferred.



Looking forward to a good discussion about this, and the help to make my choice.
(Couterweight is not my third upgrade, as you might have guessed. But it might be my fourth)

Best regards
Rolf

[laserdude]

Rigid is the keyword here. Lets imagine that we have a tonearm with a continues arm tube from head shell to end of the arm stub. If you were to mount a counterweight rigidly to this arm, the vibrations from the needle in the groove would be amplified by the counterweight. Therefore the optimum way to mount the weight would be to "float" the weight around the arm tube, which is imposable. but one can get very close to accomplice this.

By the way, the optimum is to get as close too the vertical pivot point of arm and get as far (wide) away from the horizontal pivot point with the weight.

The under hung weight should, on paper, give a more crisper sound and help the arm not to move around in the groove.

IMHO if you have on of these weights on your arm, you should adjust the tracking force accordingly, to a higher weight.

[mattlynch]

hi all,
i have found the biggest improvements came from replacing the end stub with an origin live type, not sure what the different coupling does in terms of the physics but it rewrites what the rega arm tube structure is capable of , all the other weights look real trick but the OL end stub is where the magic lies, i have tried the Michell TW, iso end and standard rega 300 stub and the OL wins every time, its only bettered by the audiomods system but that isnt relevant here.
regards,
matt

[RoDa]

Rigid is the keyword here. Lets imagine that we have a tonearm with a continues arm tube from head shell to end of the arm stub. If you were to mount a counterweight rigidly to this arm, the vibrations from the needle in the groove would be amplified by the counterweight. Therefore the optimum way to mount the weight would be to "float" the weight around the arm tube, which is imposable. but one can get very close to accomplice this.

By the way, the optimum is to get as close too the vertical pivot point of arm and get as far (wide) away from the horizontal pivot point with the weight.

The under hung weight should, on paper, give a more crisper sound and help the arm not to move around in the groove.

IMHO if you have on of these weights on your arm, you should adjust the tracking force accordingly, to a higher weight.

Thanks for the input!

Looks like you're pointing me in the direction of the Groovetracer counterweight. Heavy, thus close to the pivot point and far away/wide.


Of course I'm going to adjust the VTF. My point was only that I don't need any fancy-schmancy adjustment scale on the counterweight since I have the Measure-It from Pro-Ject.


Regards
Rolf

[RoDa]

hi all,
i have found the biggest improvements came from replacing the end stub with an origin live type, not sure what the different coupling does in terms of the physics but it rewrites what the rega arm tube structure is capable of , all the other weights look real trick but the OL end stub is where the magic lies, i have tried the Michell TW, iso end and standard rega 300 stub and the OL wins every time, its only bettered by the audiomods system but that isnt relevant here.
regards,
matt

Thanks for the input!
Regards
Rolf

[RoDa]

A few pics I found of the Groovetracer weight on a RB1000














R

[HBA]

There is a good article here at vinylengine talking about the Michell...for me, it was a terrific upgrade.

http://www.vinylengine.com/michell-tecnoweight.shtml

[laserdude]

A small hitch with the under hung counterweight is that, if it´s of the Origin Live or Isokinetik kind, if it´s off center of the base (vertical angel) it can throw your needle and cantilever off center too.

[mattlynch]

A small hitch with the under hung counterweight is that, if it´s of the Origin Live or Isokinetik kind, if it´s off center of the base (vertical angel) it can throw your needle and cantilever off center too.

how does that happen ?

[RoDa]

I don't understand the geometry behind this, mattlynch, but I would guess that what laserdude is talking about is something like this.



The weight placed like in the picture would be optimal, but twisted so that the red arrow is pointing straight down it would create a pull/tension since the center of gravity is on the left side. Not shure how (or if) this could affect the performance?

BR
Rolf

[RoDa]

The latest upgrade in place!


























Best Regards
Rolf

[laserdude]

RoDa has it right, the effect would be on the azimuth putting strain on the stylus giving a unbalanced stereo picture.