Frustration . . . !!!

[CJSF]

It's all very subtle. When I bought my 2M Blue I printed off both protractors, attached to card and aligned for Baerwald (for Rega) and Stevenson (for Rega) spending a couple of days playing records on each setup.

In the end I opted for Stevenson geometry. (The one Rega use.)

Hay Chubby, and you suggest I'm 'an incurable tweaker' . . . there is a saying 'it takes one to know one' . . .

Lets be fair' it was part of the pleasure of analogue to get those tiny adjustments 'just so' and hear the perfect focus of the performance presented . . . it still is. I'm rusty and lack confidence these days, getting better by the day, so to nail the problem with my arm/cartridge/TT was an achievement in my book. The next step is to address the arm hight? as I say confidence, or lack of, is my achilles heal these days . . . 'we will overcome' . . .

There are two kinds of shim available for the 3 point fixing type arm, one is Rega own 'plastic' rotating spacers, the other is a traditional shim in various thicknesses. As an engineer, I favour the traditional approach, however it is a little more effort. Regas approach is fit and rotate to the spacer height required . . . nice and simple, but its a fiber/resin type plastic

Anyone have any experience of these, surly the dealers on here have done the job?

CJSF

 

[chebby]

There are two kinds of shim available for the 3 point fixing type arm, one is Rega own 'plastic' rotating spacers, the other is a traditional shim in various thicknesses. As an engineer, I favour the traditional approach, however it is a little more effort. Regas approach is fit and rotate to the spacer height required . . . nice and simple, but its a fiber/resin type plastic

The one you want is the 3 point metal one for RB700 and RB1000 arms.

It is 2mm which should be enough. (Ortofon 2M = 18mm depth, Rega cart = 15mm depth. Difference = 3mm.)

If you went for 4mm (or above) you get the top of the counterweight 'fouling' on the lid...

quote from Rega:

"Adjustment is rarely required on Rega turntables, if adjustment is necessary it is recommended to remove the lid when using the 4mm and above setting as the balance weight may contact the lid"

I know you think Rega are wrong on this issue, but here's what they say anyway...

"Arm Height or V.T.A adjustment can be a controversial subject. Rega believes that the integrity of the arm fixing onto the arm mounting board is much more important than the questionable facility of arm adjustment: The arm should be reasonably parallel to the record surface or slightly lower at the mounting. The only time a spacer is necessary to raise the arm height is if the rear of a cartridge is hitting the record whilst playing."

I know (from my own experience of the 2M Blue on a Rega) that clearance should be fine, the arm looks parallel and the rear of the cartridge is nowhere near the record surface.

Here is a photo of my old set-up...

The '2M' is the wrong colour because I upgraded from the 2M Red to a 2M Blue stylus.)

 

[CnoEvil]

As a matter of interest (well it fascinated me, anyhow) the antiskate control on my old Thorens TP16 arm has different settings on it depending on whether you're playing the record 'wet' or 'dry'.... :help:

....in Ireland you're always wet, so the setting wouldn't need changing!

 

[CJSF]

There are two kinds of shim available for the 3 point fixing type arm, one is Rega own 'plastic' rotating spacers, the other is a traditional shim in various thicknesses. As an engineer, I favour the traditional approach, however it is a little more effort. Regas approach is fit and rotate to the spacer height required . . . nice and simple, but its a fiber/resin type plastic

The one you want is the 3 point metal one for RB700 and RB1000 arms.

It is 2mm which should be enough. (Ortofon 2M = 18mm depth, Rega cart = 15mm depth. Difference = 3mm.)

If you went for 4mm (or above) you get the top of the counterweight 'fouling' on the lid...

quote from Rega:

"Adjustment is rarely required on Rega turntables, if adjustment is necessary it is recommended to remove the lid when using the 4mm and above setting as the balance weight may contact the lid"

I know you think Rega are wrong on this issue, but here's what they say anyway...

"Arm Height or V.T.A adjustment can be a controversial subject. Rega believes that the integrity of the arm fixing onto the arm mounting board is much more important than the questionable facility of arm adjustment: The arm should be reasonably parallel to the record surface or slightly lower at the mounting. The only time a spacer is necessary to raise the arm height is if the rear of a cartridge is hitting the record whilst playing."

I know (from my own experience of the 2M Blue on a Rega) that clearance should be fine, the arm looks parallel and the rear of the cartridge is nowhere near the record surface.

Here is a photo of my old set-up...

The '2M' is the wrong colour because I upgraded from the 2M Red to a 2M Blue stylus.)

. . . significant . . . "the arm should be reasonably parallel with the record surface . . . " . . . from an engineering point of view, its built to match the TT/Rega cartridge, so an extra 3 mm in theory is required to match the M2. However the sound I heard yesterday morning after resetting the cartridge was so good (believe me, it was dire before)????? I wont be pulling anything apart just yet, I need to do some more running in and more listening, I believe in; 'if it ain't broke dont fix it' . . .

So, the boards have been painted black, I've reassembled them and replace the granite slabs. Thanks for your link Chebby, I've come across this: 190588710403 (item number on eB) from a company who seem to specialise in hifi bits and pieces. I will order them, but hold off fitting for a while???

. . . and so to some listening . . . :dance: CJSF

PS . . . measured the arm centre at the front with stylus resting on a non rotating record and at the back behind the counter weight . . . thats parallel enough for me . . . !

A bit of listening . . . "what the ******ell" ??? tweaking dont always work. I had added to the granite slabs, a set of hard 2mmx20mm self adhesive felt feet. The sound degradation! was remarkable, base boom was painful on Neil Young's, 'Love of the Common people' . . . the glassy top returned and imaging was non existent on Jennifer Warnes, 'Bird on a Wire', the base boom was also distracting, this was the turntable. Same scenario on all three Granite slabs, although with the Amp and CDp slabs, the differences were far more subtle.

The point . . . innocuous changes that were simply to stop scratching my newly painted cracked bell boards can be detrimental. Leave well alone . . . I seem to have a balanced sound I can live with, even with the heavy bookshelf/draws I am using as a support for the time being.

 

[chebby]

The sound degradation! was remarkable, base boom was painful on Neil Young's, 'Love of the Common people' . . .

The degradation must have been really remarkable! (Given that Paul Young did 'Love of The Common People'.)

 

[CJSF]

The sound degradation! was remarkable, base boom was painful on Neil Young's, 'Love of the Common people' . . .

The degradation must have been really remarkable! (Given that Paul Young did 'Love of The Common People'.)

OK . . . :wall: its an age thing, just shows how much it upset me . . .

CJSF