My Rega Quest Upgrade

[mythology-live]

Well, the conversation is stimulating

Quest upgrade received. Some pictures attached as promised. Please note the following additional upgrades not part of quest package.

- ISOsub GT 2 (S) Updated version
- Michael Lim's stainless steel double pulley

I am extremely pleased with the Quest upgrade. Especially the grip, the feet are outstanding. For those who think that the rega plinths are designed to be light for sound purposes and not cost cutting, then I can tell you 100% that you are incorrect. The Rega with the Quest plinth upgrade is a huge improvement on the basic rega/nad plinth.

Anyone who is thinking about it, just do it.

If you can afford the veneer service though, do go for it. I got the standard birch plinth and the surface is not 100%, you can see it has been worked on with a few scuffs and chips here and there. So if you can afford the veneer then go for it. I don't mind the Birch finish, it looks authentic/real to my eyes...but I think some others might.

The service from Quest was v good. Robert was good to deal with and the delivery and pick up was fast and effective.

Cheers.

[mr.datsun]

Well, the conversation is stimulating

Quest upgrade received. Some pictures attached as promised. Please note the following additional upgrades not part of quest package.

- ISOsub GT 2 (S) Updated version
- Michael Lim's stainless steel double pulley

I am extremely pleased with the Quest upgrade. Especially the grip, the feet are outstanding. For those who think that the rega plinths are designed to be light for sound purposes and not cost cutting, then I can tell you 100% that you are incorrect. The Rega with the Quest plinth upgrade is a huge improvement on the basic rega/nad plinth.

Anyone who is thinking about it, just do it.

If you can afford the veneer service though, do go for it. I got the standard birch plinth and the surface is not 100%, you can see it has been worked on with a few scuffs and chips here and there. So if you can afford the veneer then go for it. I don't mind the Birch finish, it looks authentic/real to my eyes...but I think some others might.

The service from Quest was v good. Robert was good to deal with and the delivery and pick up was fast and effective.

Cheers.

Glad to hear you like the new plinth. I can't see the pictures, though. Love to see them and I'd quite like to have seen your B&Q version. I liked sound of the way your tested the theory before buying the Quest. How does the Quest change the sound, do you think?

[westhuller]

Well, the conversation is stimulating

Quest upgrade received. Some pictures attached as promised. Please note the following additional upgrades not part of quest package.

- ISOsub GT 2 (S) Updated version
- Michael Lim's stainless steel double pulley

I am extremely pleased with the Quest upgrade. Especially the grip, the feet are outstanding. For those who think that the rega plinths are designed to be light for sound purposes and not cost cutting, then I can tell you 100% that you are incorrect. The Rega with the Quest plinth upgrade is a huge improvement on the basic rega/nad plinth.

Anyone who is thinking about it, just do it.

If you can afford the veneer service though, do go for it. I got the standard birch plinth and the surface is not 100%, you can see it has been worked on with a few scuffs and chips here and there. So if you can afford the veneer then go for it. I don't mind the Birch finish, it looks authentic/real to my eyes...but I think some others might.

The service from Quest was v good. Robert was good to deal with and the delivery and pick up was fast and effective.

Cheers.

Oops I was waiting for you to post some pics before I replied to you .
I am glad you are happy with the Quest but I would certainly contact Robert about the issue you have with the plinth.

[vedran03]

Hi westhuller!

Did you have to use any shims under the tonearm for the AT95e? If so, which one did you mount?

Thank you!

[westhuller]

Hi westhuller!

Did you have to use any shims under the tonearm for the AT95e? If so, which one did you mount?

Thank you!

I am a bit of a novice at turntable set up so I went to the factory myself and watched as it was built.As far as I am aware no shims were used.Why don't you e mail the very helpful Robert ?

[vedran03]

Thank you!

Maybe I will contact him!

Once again, very nice TT you got there!

[mythology-live]

Sorry the delay. Been working too much recently.

I've also been working hard on the TT though - a lot of fun!

I think with an untreated Birch Ply with no veneer you get what you pay for really and I am happy with that - the service and product from Quest was just what I wanted. It's turned out to an interesting experience actually as I have been forced to learn the art of "finishing" wood as a result of this experience.

After carefully sanding the plinth down to a smooth finish (not as well as I should have done but more on that later), I then dyed the ply wood (Cherry rosewood) with normal stuff from B&Q (this took about 5 Sundays of applying the wood dye until the plinth was a colour I liked and the previous ply "yellowish" tone was gone). Then I spent most of my Sunday afternoons over the last few months fine wet sanding and polishing with wood finisher repeatedly (standard stuff from B&Q again). Enjoyable when it starts to look good and most therapeutic. I applied the dye and the finisher with lint free rag cloth, no fancy tools, just working along the grain and rubbing with elbow grease.

Birch is a bit of nightmare to work with when finishing by hand but I am nearly at the point in which the TT plinth looks professionally finished IMO and I think the wood finish is lovely, starting to shine and reflect light. As ever with DIY I wish now that I had primed the wood and sanded even better at the start (if you are giving it a go take the time to get every single blemish out), as this dramatically affects the end result, but for now I am happy. It's been a lot of fun as I am not DIY minded (or should I say wasn't DIY minded!) and was scared to touch the plinth for fear of ruining it permanently (as you know it was not that cheap to get done) but to not "mess up" and get it looking IMO good is probably the most satisfying moment for me in this hobby to date.

Hope everyone is well. As ever, I am Interested to know of further mods to plinths from fellow REGA owners!

[westhuller]

Any chance of some pics, would like to see how all your hard work looks.

[tomytoons]

That sounds great lets see some picts.

I see Inspire is doing the site over. Not a lot of info there right now on their plinths, no price list.
I see the veneered base is $311.00 US on E bay. Problem comes in shipping cost to USA.

[mythology-live]

Any chance of some pics, would like to see how all your hard work looks.

I'll do some pics tonight when I get home from work for sure.

Cheers.

[mythology-live]

Hi Westhuller & Tomytoons,

My photo phone is not very good so the quality is a bit poor. Sorry about that, tried everything to make it more detailed. Anyway, follow the below link for my Rega TT project progress, gives an idea of the color at least. I DIY upgraded the mains cable and plug which you can see in one of the pics as well. I'd say polishing is about half way there, maybe will go darker too - determined to see my own reflection by the end of it. That's an Iso GT 2S sub platter and Michael Lim double pulley with two belts on the TT as well. The weight is a Michell techno weight, arm is rewired internally and externally. Must say to me it is sounding gorgeous at the moment, quite analytical to my ears, maybe some would say "cold", but that is the way I have always liked to listen to music - i've never enjoyed warm sounding Hifi generally (even the very hi end valve amps) - don't know why. It's certainly a VERY steady TT and the speed is bang on. I'll take some more pics with the platter, thrust bearing and VTA upgrades in due course. I'm also currently talking to Michael Lim to see if his most cool motor isolation base can work on this size of plinth with not much hassle - I want the motor off the plinth for sure. Cheers and let me know your thoughts!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83990538@N03/

[westhuller]

Like the colour you must be happy after all your hard work.

[tomytoons]

Well, that looks very nice. I like the dark color I see no problem with the solid plywood stacked.
Polishing by hand with a Product like MinWax paste wax here in the States would bring the shine up.
Actually anything with carnauba and bee's wax. There are some nice products out there.

[mythology-live]

Well, that looks very nice. I like the dark color I see no problem with the solid plywood stacked.
Polishing by hand with a Product like MinWax paste wax here in the States would bring the shine up.
Actually anything with carnauba and bee's wax. There are some nice products out there.

Thanks a lot. Going to follow your tip with the bees wax and carnauba this weekend and will let you know how it turns out. Using the wood finisher is pretty sore on the arms and I think I have hit saturation point with that product now.

What is the next step for "knight rider" or are you finished with the mods on your TT?