Rega turntables

[hificonfused]

Bought a Rega planner 3 with elys 2 cartridge about 3 years ago. Intermittent loud hum on right Chanel. Would disappear if turned motor on and off
Upgraded to an exact cartridge in hope it would go away. It did not. After looking over internet decided to get the arm rewired with silver cabling £275.00. Sounds great but hum was still present.
Spent an age fiddling with electric meters and earth cabling. Hum disappeared completely when a separate earth was fitted from the base of the arm as it goes through the plinth. However there is a hum from the motor which gets louder as it gets to the middle. Annoying but not speaker blowing as the previous hum. Perhaps someone may be able to help how I could resolve this.

Tried emailing Rega direct as they should know. However no contact email on website. Strange in this day and age. Probably should go through dealer however why do I need to bother a busy dealer who will I assume simply pass on email. Perhaps the Rega reresentative who regularly posts on these forums may be able to advise.

 

[chebby]

Take this back to your dealer as you should have done right at the beginning when the hum first became apparent. (It’s what warranties are for.)

The arm re-wire might have invalidated the warranty but, hopefully, it’ll be an easy fix and not expensive.

 

[paul darwin]

A few questions:

Where are you ?

What is rest of system ?

Was turntable installed by dealer ?

Has the turntable been modified in any way ?

Where does it siot in proximity to other equipment ?

Where does it sit in proximity to other equipment - non audio ?

Is the "hum" volume dependent ?

If you change leads around does the "hum" change channels ?

I am presuming that the hum has not been present for 3 years, what has changed in that time ?

Is the cartridge the original ?

Was it factory or dealer fitted ?

Do you have a ttpsu ?

If yes, where is that located ?

Have you spoken to your dealer at all ?

Who is your dealer ?

Thanks,

Paul Darwin

Rega Research.

 

[hificonfused]

Paul,

thank for post was hoping you would.

Oxon

Phono amp - project phono box ds+

Pre amp - Cyrus pre VS2

Power amp - Cyrus 200 signature mono x 2

cd -Cyrus cd8se

b and w cm10 speakers

not installed by dealer

yes it has been modified arm rewired by Deco audio in Aylesbury. I added additional earth wire

turntable located at least a meter away from any other electrical appliance other than phono amp. Phono amp is 400mm away from tt

Yes it does get louder with volume, although more effected by how close cartridge get to end of vinyl (Nearer motor)

hum from both channels

No does not change with lead swap.

yes the hum as been present since new but not that bad compared to right Channel hum which was speaker blowing level but only on occasions. The other low level hum there all the time.

no cartridge not original as stated earlier changed from Elys to an exact, which I fitted

no ttpsu fitted

No not spoken to dealer truly aweful, probably not best to mention name here!!

Additional info the power to phono amp and tt on separate wall socket electrical supply from all other audio equipment.

 

[hificonfused]

Quoted wrong reference on power amp if it matters Cyrus mono x 200 signature x 2

 

[paul darwin]

Thanks for your reply, however, if you have had the arm re-wired then it is now not a Rega product per-se and I would suggest that this could be where the problem may lie and would suggest that you contact the dealer concerned (Deco Audio).

I am also unaware of the phono stage and how it is earthed etc etc.

It certainly seems odd that if it were predominantly in one channel and you swap leads and it stays the same.

PD

 

[Al ears]

Thanks for your reply, however, if you have had the arm re-wired then it is now not a Rega product per-se and I would suggest that this could be where the problem may lie and would suggest that you contact the dealer concerned (Deco Audio).

I am also unaware of the phono stage and how it is earthed etc etc.

It certainly seems odd that if it were predominantly in one channel and you swap leads and it stays the same.

PD

It is obvious from his original post that the arm was rewired because of said hum. Why he didn't return it to dealer prior to rewiring is beyond me, however if the hum is as he says motor related then a motor change is a possible cure.

I still fear it is the usual case of too many earths and removing one from the mains plug to phono preamp may be worth looking at.

 

[paul darwin]

Apologies, just reread original posting.

Would help to get TT back to dealer as some of the answers seem peculiar.

PD

 

[hificonfused]

taking back to original dealer has been tried. No help whatsoever would never recommend them. They are a national dealer and simply blamed set up of system check earths etc. Hence all other equipment purchased from independent dealerships. I don’t know if anyone has tried contacting Rega direct all you get is refer to dealer on their website.

i had a decision to make get the old garrard 450dd tt going and bin the Rega. Bin the Rega and buy another make, or spend money trying to resolve. I decided to spend money. I now have a fantastic upgraded tt which hums a bit when the arm gets to the middle.

as a consequence had to discover fault myself. To. Get to the bottom of the earth issue I have set the unit up in the garden 10m from any other electrical source (yes before any know all expert comes on regarding length of interconnects, it was a long way with loss of signal) and wired a separate earth into both the mains fuse board and also a earth rod!

The main issue has been resolved. I am over the moon hooray. I would now like to get rid of the annoying hum which becomes apparent when the cartridge gets close to motor.

Perhaps someone could help with something other than return to dealer. Returning to Regar is clearly not an option from their research department reply. In any case if they saw all the mods made and heard how great it sounds (other than the hum as the arm gets to middle) it would not be long before a new model would be released with all my research added to the new design!!!!!

 

[davidf]

Any Rega dealer worth their salt would quite easily be able to swap out the arm from one of their demo decks to test if the issue is arm/cartridge related. That’s a nice easy start, and might answer some questions or narrow down the possible issue as they could also fit your arm/cart to their deck.

 

[paul darwin]

I spent an hour or so trying to replicate your problem and if you turn the amplifier upto maximum and pass the arm over the spinning platter then there is a tiny tiny miniscule trace of hum if you put your ear right next to the speaker as the arm approaches the motor. If you then reduce the volume to normal listening level then the tiny hum disappers completely. If you then actually play a record then.....

Couple more questions.

If you disconnect the tutntable from the phono stage and turn the volume upto maximum is there any hum ?

If you use another line level input on the pre amplifier is there any hum ?

It is the duty of any Rega dealer to ensure the hapiness of the customer (and also a legal responsibility) if they have not done so then we should know so we can take appropraite action and help the customer get a satisfactory result. To say that we are uncontactable is disingenuous, a Google search will bring immediate results.

I am disappointed and surprised that you endured the "problem" for 3 years before perhaps wasting money on an "upgrade" to try and cure it, I am also disappointed that you chose to post on this site rather than contact Rega directely or via one of our dealers so that we could have the opportunity of ensuring your complete satisfaction.

Paul Darwin

Rega Research

 

[Al ears]

Any Rega dealer worth their salt would quite easily be able to swap out the arm from one of their demo decks to test if the issue is arm/cartridge related. That’s a nice easy start, and might answer some questions or narrow down the possible issue as they could also fit your arm/cart to their deck.

If that is so, and I hope it is, then it would appear that the dealer the OP went to isn't.... :-

At first I thought it still an arm wiring issue but as he now mentions proximity of cartridge to motor I would suggest the OP moves away from Rega cartridges or swap out the motor.

I dont mean to single Rega out here but it has become increasingly apparent that, although we don't hear from all the happy customers, people are posting on this forum simply because they have had no satisfaction from their dealers.... and they have every right to do so in this situation.

 

[MajorFubar]

OP hasn't stated, but presumably there is no hum when the motor is turned off and the arm is lowered near to the centre of the record? If that's the case, then surely it's just a simple case that the cartridge is picking up electromagnetic interference from the motor when it's in close proximity to it. No amount of changing the tonearm wires is ever going to cure that, or shuffling kit around the living room to move it away from the turntable. Though it's beyond me why one example of a turntable should be more prone to inductance-induced hum than another example of the same model, seeing that Paul says his test turntable doesn't do it.

 

[chebby]

No not spoken to dealer truly aweful, probably not best to mention name here!!

This says a lot to me.

What happened?

 

[paul darwin]

Just occured to me, the OP said that he bought a Planar 3 3 years ago, we did not make a Planar 3 3 years ago, the model at the time was the RP3. Could we therefore have clarification that it is indeed an RP3 or maybe it was a second hand Planar 3. Either way it should not exhibit the issues that the OP claims and we will do all we can to ensure his problems are resolved to his complete satisfaction.

 

[chebby]

Even I get a little confused at the nomenclature. P3, RP3, Planar 3.

Also the current Planar 3 has a P3 logo printed on it’s plinth which doesn’t help

 

[davidf]

Many people call them what they’re used to - I’ve heard many people call their RP3 a Planar 3, because they’ve been Rega owners since the 90s, maybe even 80s.

 

[Al ears]

Just occured to me, the OP said that he bought a Planar 3 3 years ago, we did not make a Planar 3 3 years ago, the model at the time was the RP3. Could we therefore have clarification that it is indeed an RP3 or maybe it was a second hand Planar 3. Either way it should not exhibit the issues that the OP claims and we will do all we can to ensure his problems are resolved to his complete satisfaction.

I think that the naming of Rega decks needs a rethink. I assumed it was new and an RP3 for reasons stated. It is admirable of you to offer assistance to the OP now but I do wonder why the dealer in question didn't offer satisfaction at the time.

 

[BigH]

Yes Rega naming is very confusing.

This may solve the problem, you see Rega use it on their more expensive TTs: http://lpturntables.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/magnetic-shielding-to-solve-turntable.html

 

[hificonfused]

Clearly showing my age the tt is a P3!

 

[hificonfused]

the turn table is a RP3 . The hum is clearly from the motor as when the motor is turned off the hum stops. It comes from both channels and is not particularly at loud volumes. it does get louder as the volume increases. There is certainly a very slight background hum at high volumes but surely expected, this is different hum than the motor hum. As said before I have tried two cartridges the Elys and the exact both hum. Is it the cartridge or the motor I would like to know. If not the motor are we saying it’s the two Rega carts which are at fault?

have also tried an alternative phono pream with no difference.

 

[paul darwin]

Now I am really confused, if the hum is clearly from the motor, as you suggest, then how could it possibly be a cartridge problem if it disappears on turn off as you suggest having used two different cartridges.

I would be happier if you had answered a couple of other questions I have asked to try and sort out the problem.

Could I ask, again, please, that you take the TT to a Rega franchised dealer and let them asses the situation and advise and impliment any solution to ensure your complete satisfaction.

PD

 

[hificonfused]

the question of the poor dealer service is obviously a disturbing situation.

Firstly I love listening to great music on great systems. I do not understand much about models manufacturers. Traditionally I used the media to attempt to understand what system I need went along to the dealer I have been using for over 20 years listened to systems and then bought what we liked and what recommended.

On this previous visit I purchased the tt an a pair of Spendor speakers along with a Cyrus 8 power.

After very little use it became apparent that the speakers were not matched very well with this amp. was told and additional 8 power in mono would resolve the problem. Spendor were brilliant and advised as best they could that the amp was not well matched to the speakers.

This was all happening at the same time as the tt problem. The dealer was dreadful from my very first visit when they recommended the system which I brought. I finally lost patience with this dealer completly And just want a operating hi fi system.

I am sure all here will understand the frustration of using a hi fi and not enjoying the experience due to continuous listening out for over straining of speakers or othe faults. When I returned to the dealer all sorts of reasons were given. Even my listening room was too big!!

The turntable problem was another item on the long list.

I finally found a great independent dealer who took in part exchange my 8 powers and sold me the 2 mono x 200 signatures along with the b & w cm 10 speakers now had an operating system where listening to music was a pleasure and not listening to a limited system.

My attentions then turned to getting the turntable resolved and no way would I set foot back into the first dealership.

If any dealers are reading this, and this is not what I came on line to dribble on about. Not all HiFi enthusiasts have any knowledge of HiFi products but still want a good sound, we like salespersons to be understanding of our limited knowledge and most importantly do not like the pretentious stuck up “experts” . After years of going to the same dealership and spending a lot of money there, I thought this was the norm to be treated this way similar to buying a car. The breath of fresh air in dealing with this second dealer is a revelation.

I am sure someone out there will say why did I not go to hear other advice form other dealers. I too ask this now.

 

[ifor]

Are we to understand that your current favourite Hi-Fi retailer is not a Rega dealer? If so, surely you’ll have to find one that is to sort your TT issue.

 

[davidf]

On this previous visit I purchased the tt an a pair of Spendor speakers along with a Cyrus 8 power.

That'd be strike two right there for me. Not sure I’d wait for strike 3.

Nothing against the Cyrus 8, but low sensitivity speakers like some of the Spendors of the time and 4ohm loads are best avoided.