Looking for cartridge upgrade advice.

[AdeJ]

Hi
first post on here so hello to all you analogue lovers out there :D

Just got back into the vinyl thing after 20 years away, back then I had Roksan,Naim,Epos setup, nothing so fancy this time round and as I got pointed to someone I knew all those years ago who was now trading on his own and Rega was one of his lines I opted for that.

So I have Rega Brio amp, Rega Planar 2 and Dali stand mount speakers, very pleased with it but I have made a few mods along the way, all turnable based, first up was metal sub platter this gave noticeable improvement, next up was I silent base , can't remember the name but very good sonic improvement along with a grey belt, also fitted a Michell techno weight this is a superb piece of engineering and offers a good improvement and lastly Audiophile grade linear psu, again futher improvement in sound.

The next thing I would like to do is upgrade the cartridge and would like to here a few preferences if possible along with advice as to whether shims would be needed for the tonearm for the cart recommended.

So far I've read that the Rega upgrades are not that great and my search has revealed a couple of possibilities, namely blue point Sumiko and Goldring 1042, are there any others worth reading about..?

Thanks all.

[ClaudeG]

Very happy with my Goldring 1042, on my Planar 2 (or shall I say just the plinth as all the rest is modded, inclusive metal subplatter)

Have it since 16 years, never regretted it and is still one of the very best MM system around (OK, some very recent ones have perhaps a tad more details at cost of musicality and there are/were of course 'tuned' 1042 by other companies).

I like it because it sounds very good on all kind of musics and is a bit forgiving on bad records. It is also robust and once set up correctly all you have to do is replace the front section/needle from time to time (simple slide for the removing). So it is really "fit and forget" and ways cheaper than MC systems such as the blue point Sumiko that need complete replacement. I didn't listen to the various Sumiko though, but as a side note Stereoplay (German mag) rated it on a par with the Goldring in terms of sound quality (can't say re character though)...

Last but not least, this Goldring line was developped around the Rega arms back then, so no wonder they match so well and of course they do fit re VTA.

Have fun

Claude

[gorgan]

Hi I have a Rega RP3, had an upgraded sub platter, AT F7 MC cartridge with a 1mm spacer and a 1.5 mm mat,
it sounded great but ifancied an upgrade to the new Planar 6,
so I removed sub platter for original and ruined my MC stylus in the process, b****r.

I was going to sell the cartridge to go towards funding new deck, so without a cartridge I had a rethink.
Buy a Rega Exact for the time being as I would probably use that with the new deck, Rega synergy.
Wow, what a difference, put the original mat back and now in vinyl heaven.

The Exact for me is the best cartridge I have had on my RP3, all stock, all Rega, all good,
at present I have no desire to upgrade.

[AdeJ]

Hi
Thanks for the pointers guys 😉 not sure which wai I'll go at the mo, I have Rega dealer 20 mins drive away and would be nice to have one fitted while I wait, the Goldring option means a trip into a City and parking to contend with unless I have it posted out. ...

I have seen a few posts about hum etc and must say mine runs silent , I do have one minor gripe though, on the lower end of there tables Rega use one of the cartridge wires to act as a ground, well on mine it does a lousy job as you can audibly hear a click if I touch the cueing lever or touch the spindle, the longer you leave it the bigger the pop.

As a starter I'm going to try out a cork mat, I read that the stock mat is woven out of three different types of matarial, I would hazard a guess that at least one of these is synthetic as you lift some records off the mat lifts to and you can sometimes hear a fizzing noise as you approach the mat with a record, I have a record cleaner and applying solution and then vacuuming does an excellent job of killing static as well as other things.

So looking at an arm that has proper ground lead that you can feed to the amp is the best solution ?

[dysmike]

I know that their 330 arm (planar 3 and 6) has the same grounding. I'm not sure their higher end tables have a separate ground as I have never seen any mention of a ground connection on either the planar8 or rp10 instructions.

With that said, I can hear that click when the humidity is low (often here) and I'm wearing something on my feet (my floor is brick, so I ground myself just walking to the table if I'm not, and any static is discharged)

[DT999]

Hi
Thanks for the pointers guys 😉 not sure which wai I'll go at the mo, I have Rega dealer 20 mins drive away and would be nice to have one fitted while I wait, the Goldring option means a trip into a City and parking to contend with unless I have it posted out. ...

I have seen a few posts about hum etc and must say mine runs silent , I do have one minor gripe though, on the lower end of there tables Rega use one of the cartridge wires to act as a ground, well on mine it does a lousy job as you can audibly hear a click if I touch the cueing lever or touch the spindle, the longer you leave it the bigger the pop.

As a starter I'm going to try out a cork mat, I read that the stock mat is woven out of three different types of matarial, I would hazard a guess that at least one of these is synthetic as you lift some records off the mat lifts to and you can sometimes hear a fizzing noise as you approach the mat with a record, I have a record cleaner and applying solution and then vacuuming does an excellent job of killing static as well as other things.

So looking at an arm that has proper ground lead that you can feed to the amp is the best solution ?

I had a similar issues with my P3 when I fitted an aftermarket metal subplatter, didn't make any difference to the static pops from tone arm or spindle by trying different mats or carts (there was a difference in sound).

I solved the static issue by running a wire from the bearing housing to my pre-amp earth point.

[AdeJ]

Hi
Nitrile cork mat arrived, surprised at how much difference there is in sound, put on a new copy of Giant Steps by John Coltrane, track 1 side one has a lovely double bass and it is now much more pronounced, there is a lot more detail in every aspect of the overall sound.

Thanks for the grounding tip, will definately give that a try out 👍

[AdeJ]

Hi
left the TT running for the day and on touching the spindle the pop from static is significantly less, so dumping the synthetic matt has proved to be a double positive (no pun intended).

Will still definately look at grounding the bearing housing to amp 👍

[plastico]

I recently got this -http://www.tonar.eu/index.php?item=tona ... 51&lang=EN and it solved the static/dust problem for me.
Cheers, Doug

[Alec124c41]

I like that Tonar arm.
I find that mounting it with a bit of underhang makes it track at about the same speed as the stylus. Shorter, nd it can stay at the edge, Longer, and it can swing quickly to the label.

Cheers,
Alec

[MetalT75]

Last but not least, this Goldring line was developped around the Rega arms back then, so no wonder they match so well and of course they do fit re VTA.

You’re saying that Goldring 1000-line does not require spacers with Rega arms? I’m thinking of getting a Goldring, perhaps 1042, for my Planar 6 with RB330 arm. Adding a spacer is not a problem but if I can do without, it would always be better.

[ClaudeG]

Can't comment on today's tonearms, but this is defo is valid with the RB300s and RB250s that were Rega's line back then when the 1000 series was issued. I need no spacer and I am in that case.

I believe the subsequent 300 series arms are from a geometrical POV very similar and compatible, so my bet would be no spacer required either in your case.

I hope this helps

Claude

[MetalT75]

I’m not an expert but I doubt the basic geometry of Rega arms has changed. Their own cartridges have not so based on that the situation might very well be the same with Goldrings today.

[cafe latte]

Go with the Goldring or even one of the new Grado 2 which is a bargain IMO (ie Grado gold 2 which is amazing) range, but others need to chime in if they are ok with Rega. Re rake angle and spacers this has been discussed a lot and 1mm at the tail of the arm is only 0.25 degrees is we are only talking about the stylys rake angle changing from 90 degrees to 90.25 degrees so pointless change records vary more in thickness. Unless you are doing multi mm changes dont worry about it as contact areas on the stylus change very little with small changes with rake angle.
Chris

[MetalT75]

Goldring 1006 on the way. Why 1006? I got it 100€ cheaper than normal and I can always upgrade the stylus. 1006 should not be that bad either according to reviews I’ve seen.

I also accidently bumped into Goldring branded Rega TTs so I think these carts are a perfect match with Rega tonearms.