Question Suggestions for foundational parts of a longer term vinyl setup

[Al ears]

Look a couple of posts up - dispatched, arriving today (?!) so I'll expect it tomorrow / Tuesday.

The only downside of the place I've ordered from so far has been their communication - I had to check in on the expected completion date and would have preferred them to come to me to explain why there was a small delay, and they say they'll contact you to organise a delivery date, but they have just dispatched mine anyway.

Not an issue for me as I work from home, but it would be better to actually have that date / time slot agreed. However, AFAIK they're a very small company and stretched pretty thin, so they don't have the luxury of dedicated comms roles etc. I found their profile on Facebook and they've shared some videos of the "workshop" and it looks great - I'm really optimistic that this will be a very good buy.

The way of many companies such as these, advertising like hell then cannot keep up with ensuing demand, then rapid decline....

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

still no sign? looking forward to your thoughts.
I looked at Lagom but decided instead on Custom Designs Tokyo instead [ideal in home office].
Significantly cheaper and very well discounted;

 

[RTHerringbone]

Still not here and I am not good at being patient. It has been picked up by the couriers and they were supposed to get in contact with me today to arrange a delivery date but they haven't and it's 5pm.....

On the plus side, someone has just picked up the Planar 1 and paid more than I would have got from Audio-Ts trade-in prices.

 

[Al ears]

Still not here and I am not good at being patient. It has been picked up by the couriers and they were supposed to get in contact with me today to arrange a delivery date but they haven't and it's 5pm.....

On the plus side, someone has just picked up the Planar 1 and paid more than I would have got from Audio-Ts trade-in prices.

Swings and roundabouts?

 

[Shrek]

This is a bit of an aside, but I've just returned from a trip to Scotland where I was visiting my ailing stepdad. We got onto the subject of music and Hi-Fi, and it lead to a couple of (to me) interesting things.

First, he showed me the remains of his vinyl collection, which was mostly "lost" in his divorce back in the early 80s. It was a solid enough mix of stuff with some ELO, Jethro Tull, Fleetwood Mac. The Moody Blues etc., all of which he says I'm welcome to take on my next trip up there. Apparently my late mother's collection is in the loft but he did warn me that it's "just Cliff Richard and crap like that" - but I do suspect she'll have had the odd Beatles LP, so I'm curious to check.

In amongst the LPs were a couple of fairly generic classical records but what was interesting was that they were 1970s Quadrophonic recordings. What was more interesting, was that my stepdad says he was actually involved with what sounds like many branches of failed attempts to establish Quadrophonics as a commercially viable format. I knew that his background included some element of audio as his first business involved him designing "mail order build-it-yourself" home amplifiers. Apparently that was a thing back in the late 70s - a very engaged enthusiast market of people who wanted to build their own gear. I found this review scraped from the 70s of one of his products:

Powertran PSI 4002 Amp (Sound International, Dec 1978)

George Chkiantz assembles his very own Powertran PSI 4002 amp. Now it's your turn.

www.muzines.co.uk

And when rooting through some cupboards up there, I found a couple of 20+ year old DJ-focused components, from a failed toe that he dipped in the restaurant / entertainment business about 20 years ago. You'll note in the image the amp in the background - it's a 100W one of his that he still uses 😎

He said I'm welcome to take away the turntable and CD player to flog and raise funds for whatever the next shiny thing is that catches my eye. I think the CD player is fairly mediocre but the turntable could be worth a modest amount.View attachment 8445View attachment 8446

is this for sale ?

 

[RTHerringbone]

Swings and roundabouts?

Exactly. And the guy who bought the Rega was - shall we say - "enigmatic"? Pulled up in a very expensive Merc and was very well dressed, which immediately made me wonder "Why does this guy want a budget deck" and he could obviously read my thoughts! Transpired that he has had a bit of a varied career which included selling Marantz kit in Germany for a while, and now he runs a local carpet shop (!)

It sounds like he has a LOT of kit at home and some pretty high-end stuff amongst it. I asked why he was picking up a budget deck and he just said that he knows it is a good price and so he'll get it, store it and he might use it or might use some old links abroad to sell it on at a profit. Either way, it seems to work for us both and that's one less thing for me to have to deal with.

 

[RTHerringbone]

is this for sale ?

The amp? The company that made them folded when my stepdad divorced his first wife (they ran the business together) - that was back in the early 80s so they'll likely be pretty rare these days - though it is a solid bit of engineering and wouldn't be a huge surprise if a number of them still work as well as the day they were made.

 

[Shrek]

The amp? The company that made them folded when my stepdad divorced his first wife (they ran the business together) - that was back in the early 80s so they'll likely be pretty rare these days - though it is a solid bit of engineering and wouldn't be a huge surprise if a number of them still work as well as the day they were made.

Sorry the Technics TT

 

[RTHerringbone]

Sorry the Technics TT

No, it's just gathering dust in a cupboard in a remote part of Scotland. Is it even worth anything? It won't have seen much action but equally, it will be unboxed and a little bit unloved.

 

[RTHerringbone]

In other news: Audio-T just called to say that the Rega Planar 3 RS has just arrived in store, so I'll go and collect that sometime soon - definitely by Friday but likely tomorrow 🍾🥂

So now I'm just waiting on this bloody cabinet, which as far as I know is sat all boxed up somewhere in The Midlands, waiting to have a delivery date agreed, but with nobody at that courier firm answering my messages!

 

[RTHerringbone]

Right - sorted! The cabinet arrives on Thursday at an as yet unconfirmed time, but it is vaguely scheduled, so I'm cool.

Decision now is do I get the new deck tomorrow or Friday? If I wait then I can get the cabinet set up on Thursday and then give myself a day out (and a day off) on Friday to pick up the turntable and set it up.

If I get it tomorrow, then I'll have to set it up but then take it down again on Thursday when I switch cabinets, but then at least everything would be in place and sorted a day earlier.....

Or I can just be patient, get it tomorrow and leave it boxed up and set everything up on Thursday. Yep - that's the plan.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

enjoy. rega decks so easy to set up.

 

[RTHerringbone]

To the surprise of no-one, there was zero chance of me not setting this up - especially now that delivery of the cabinet is confirmed as not happening until 5-8pm tomorrow. I'll shuffle things tomorrow so the deck will be on its own on top of the new cabinet, amp below that in its own shelf, and then the deck PSU and streamers on their own shelf under that.

It's a sensational jump from the Planar 1. It's a more tangible jump than from the WiiM Mini to the Bluesound Node ICON. Major upgrades all round - the platter is smooth and stable, the separate PSU makes it a less cumbersome deck to operate, the plinth is jaw-droppingly pretty and the most important thing is that leap in fidelity due to all these things and the big jump with the tonearm and cartridge.

It feels like a different system. A much better one. Delighted.

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

ND5 or ND7 ? Looks like a 7?
What tracking force have you applied?

 

[RTHerringbone]

ND5 or ND7 ? Looks like a 7?
What tracking force have you applied?

It's an Nd5 and the tracking force is 1.75g as per the instructions.

I haven't used a digital gauge (could do) but just went with the suggested eyeball test of tweaking the "float" of the arm, and had a couple of pointers from the guy in the shop.

 

[Al ears]

It's an Nd5 and the tracking force is 1.75g as per the instructions.

I haven't used a digital gauge (could do) but just went with the suggested eyeball test of tweaking the "float" of the arm, and had a couple of pointers from the guy in the shop.

Always best to use a gauge of some sort even a cheap Ortofon see-saw type balance.
Accurate tracking weight is a must.

 

[RTHerringbone]

Always best to use a gauge of some sort even a cheap Ortofon see-saw type balance.
Accurate tracking weight is a must.

This is likely a silly question, but I've got a small set of digital scales for measuring coffee. Can I use them in some way? I assume not because I assume the measurement has to be taken at platter height + a few mm to replicate a record.

Is there a recommended gauge to get? Cheap and cheerful is fine as this won't be a regular thing. Something like this:

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Al ears]

This is likely a silly question, but I've got a small set of digital scales for measuring coffee. Can I use them in some way? I assume not because I assume the measurement has to be taken at platter height + a few mm to replicate a record.

Is there a recommended gauge to get? Cheap and cheerful is fine as this won't be a regular thing. Something like this:

Amazon.co.uk

This is as cheap and usable as you're going to get.
www.juno.co.uk/products/ortofon-stylus-pressure-gauge/671450-01/?cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=675639299&cq_con=1163285212595976&cq_term=&cq_med=&cq_plac=&cq_net=o&cq_pos=&cq_plt=gp&msclkid=1a51c06f250813edba48a78b6139d6e8&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=APM%20%7C%20Shopping%20%7C%20UK%20%7C%20Equipment&utm_term=4576304865776657&utm_content=Category%20%7C%20Audio

 

[RTHerringbone]

And maybe another silly question. When doing this, should I set the bias and tracking force to zero, and then LEAVE them on zero after using a gauge, because surely otherwise it's doubling the adjustment, unless I'm totally misunderstanding the role of those dials / sliders on the deck itself?

 

[Al ears]

And maybe another silly question. When doing this, should I set the bias and tracking force to zero, and then LEAVE them on zero after using a gauge, because surely otherwise it's doubling the adjustment, unless I'm totally misunderstanding the role of those dials / sliders on the deck itself?

Yes, bias to zero, and be careful with Rega bias as they always add too much. I used to use half the value.
Set downforce using the gauge and adjust the counterweight to get that righ before applying bias.
There are no silly questions just the occasional stupid answer.... 🙂

 

[RTHerringbone]

Yes, bias to zero, and be careful with Rega bias as they always add too much. I used to use half the value.
Set downforce using the gauge and adjust the counterweight to get that righ before applying bias.
There are no silly questions just the occasional stupid answer.... 🙂

Thanks - and for absolute clarity - I set everything (downforce dial and bias) to zero before using the gauge to guide my counterweight adjustments so that it measures at the desired 1.75g downforce.

I then ONLY apply an adjustment to the Bias slider (Rega recommends I match the 1.75g but I'll take on board your observation) - I do NOT need to adjust the downforce dial to 1.75g as the process with the gauge effectively circumvents the need for the dial.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks - and for absolute clarity - I set everything (downforce dial and bias) to zero before using the gauge to guide my counterweight adjustments so that it measures at the desired 1.75g downforce.

I then ONLY apply an adjustment to the Bias slider (Rega recommends I match the 1.75g but I'll take on board your observation) - I do NOT need to adjust the downforce dial to 1.75g as the process with the gauge effectively circumvents the need for the dial.

Yes

 

[RTHerringbone]

My £10 Neoteck Force Scale Gauge just arrived and I thought I'd check how the old "eyeball" setup measured. 1.78g 😎

Still, it's reassuring to measure it.

 

[RTHerringbone]

New cabinet is here and it's a perfect fit. Next job is to fill up that bottom section and start enjoying the fruits of this madcap three month spree.

 

[Messiah]

It looks great!