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Upgrade from Rega Exact

Mr Pig

^'- -'^
Evening guys, and any gals reading.

Built up my new LP12 at the weekend. Have to say, very happy with it. Put a Rega RB3000 arm on it and a Rega Exact cartridge which I'm playing through an Aria phono stage and it sounds pretty good.

I really like the Exact, it's a lovely device. Very smooth and musical, great mid-range nice top end. Detailed enough with a bit of depth and air lacked by the cheaper Rega carts. Punchy and rhythmically tight as you like. Just a great little cartridge.

No hurry but looking forward to exploring options to see what will work best on the Linn. What are your thoughts?

Just want to build on what I like about the Exact. Warm and full but not slow or undynamic. Thinking maybe Nagaoka or Dynavector. Keep hearing great things about the new AT MM carts too but figure they might be a bit leaner? Ania Pro any good?

Not unhappy with the Exact for the time being but recon I can open the sound up a bit yet.
 
I went from the Exact to an Ania Pro, using the Aria. It definitely dug more detail out of the vinyl, so was a nice step up for me. The Exact was more forgiving of bad records though, of which I have lots. It made everything sound good.

I now have an Apheta 3 and it’s MUCH less forgiving if a bad source, so I find myself listening to my beat-up favourites less. Makes me miss the Exact. Ideal world would be to have both!
 
I now have an Apheta 3 and it’s MUCH less forgiving if a bad source, so I find myself listening to my beat-up favourites less.

Yip, I'm keen to avoid that. I had an Ortofon 2M Black and it was very unforgiving, of everything really! Alignment not perfect, feck you. Record not perfect, feck you! I can't be bothered with that any more. I want to pick the music I listen to, not have it picked by the damn cartridge.

I'll take the Exact over the Black or cartridges like it any day. I don't care if it's half the price, I think the Exact is the better cartridge. The 2M Black makes you think it's a great cartridge. The Exact makes you think it's great music.

I think the Exact and Ania Pro both use a Vital tip. It feels like the Exact is a bit rolled off at the top which might make it more forgiving? Guessing.

What I want is a Super-Exact! :0)
 
I went from exact to dv20x lo, a good upgrade, it was only £350 from 2juki though, I sure as shit wouldn't pay 700 for the mk2 version, it ain't that.

At33ptg for the money.
 
Yip, heard good things about those. I think all the guys in Loud&Clear Glasgow use Dynavectors.

Having read many of your posts about moving to the LP12, I think you'd like the DV 20x2L. It has a big, bold, punchy sound and shades a bit to the warm side of neutral. I've had an Exact on my LP12 and it just didn't compare to the 20x2. I'm currently running a XX-2 mk. 2, which I find a bit too polite. I'm planning on going back to a new 20x2 when I do the Karousel upgrade.
 
I’m thinking about trying a Denon 103r or DV 10x5 not because I’m unhappy with the Exact or Apheta 3, more curious than anything else, still researching
 
I bought a s/h LP12 in 2008 and took it to Cymbiosis for service and a new cart.
Peter Swain fitted a DV20x HOMC and it sounds great to me. If he thought it was right for my budget, at the time £400, then who am I to argue?
They seem to have gone up quite a bit since then...
 
How about saving up a bit more and going for a Hana ML.
I have just got one after AT95 ML and like you Mr. Pig useing the Aria phonostage.
The Hana is absolutley stunning.Just so airy in the HF's and the midrange which just seems to vanish.Under pinned by superb bass resolution.
Wow ! what a great cartridge.
I can imagine it would nicely with your Rega 3000.
 
How about saving up a bit more and going for a Hana ML.

To be honest, I don't know that I want to spend a grand on a cartridge? I cue manually, always have and I don't enjoy the sweatage that arrives in the box with expensive cartridges. Around the price of the Dynavector 20 seems reasonable but more feels a bit scary to me.

Colin, you may have told previously, what phonostage, amp and speakers do you use.?

It's a Rega Aria, Meridian 101/105 amps and Isobariks. It sounds good straight into the 101 pre as it has a pretty good phono input. Just sounds bigger and clearer through the Aria.
 
Yip, I'm keen to avoid that. I had an Ortofon 2M Black and it was very unforgiving, of everything really! Alignment not perfect, feck you. Record not perfect, feck you! I can't be bothered with that any more. I want to pick the music I listen to, not have it picked by the damn cartridge.

I'll take the Exact over the Black or cartridges like it any day. I don't care if it's half the price, I think the Exact is the better cartridge. The 2M Black makes you think it's a great cartridge. The Exact makes you think it's great music.

I think the Exact and Ania Pro both use a Vital tip. It feels like the Exact is a bit rolled off at the top which might make it more forgiving? Guessing.

What I want is a Super-Exact! :0)

Ortofon Compatibility with Rega brand TT/TA:

REGA brand cartridges’ height from stylus tip to the top cartridge mounting surface is lower than standard. Therefore you would need spacers to ensure the correct set-up of the Ortofon cartridge.
Adjusting the height of your Rega tonearm is easy with Acoustic Signature's Spacer Set. It allows you to adjust the height from 0.5 mm to 3.5 mm in precise steps of 0.5 mm - without removing the tone arm. Simply loosen the screws, insert the AS-spacer, then lock the screws back down, and you're tonearm is ready to play.
3.2 - 4 mm spacers should be enough for 2M cartridge.
2 - 3 mm spacers should be enough for Quintet cartridge.

Arm height adjustment is not VTA adjustment in strict definition. The term "VTA" should be applied for cartridge proper in stereophonic use: i.e. against vertical component of modulation.
The object of height adjustment at arm is simply to make cartridge mounting face parallel to record/turntable (the height of cartridge body is ranging usually between 15-20mm). Height adjustment +/-5mm with same VTF cannot change effective VTA/SRA on cartridge essentially (for example: max +/-1.3degrees at lateral effective length of arm 220mm). Meanwhile there is a funny tweak term "Tail down or up" of arm as often called by amateurs. Its geometric and dynamic difference if any might be a matter of static balancing arm (VTF by shifting counter weight) and not the cartridge nor record.

The Ortofon 2M Black has a Shibata line contact stylus. This stylus profile requires accurate alignment or it will audibly distort. The Ortofon 2M range of cartridges has a stylus to mounting surface distance of 18.00mm. Rega arms cannot be adjusted for height and rely upon a common Rega cartridge fixed stylus/mounting surface of less than this (14.00mm). Therefore correct VTA/SRA cannot be achieved with taller cartridges. Unfortunately the 2mm shims that Rega sell are not a complete answer due to the variations in manufacturing tolerances of the stylus/cantilever interface ( at best plus or minus 2 degrees). Fine adjustment by ear is therefore required.
Roy Gandy's concept that rigidity trumps correct alignment dates from the early 1970s when fine line stylus profiles did not exist ( I am in any case sceptical about Gandy's justification as I believe it simply reflects that he could not engineer a reasonably rigid yet adjustable arm mount for the entry level price of his arms at that time - I cannot think of any other reputable arm manufacturer that has since followed his concept).
Later complex stylus profile designs mean that although ultimate arm rigidity may provide more information, the lack of correct alignment accuracy means that this information will be distorted. Any hands on experience of a misaligned Shibata or similar stylus profile with an adjustable arm will easily demonstrate the problem. Unfortunately the fixed Rega arm height means Azimuth / Sra that it is not possible to compare correct alignment against misalignment.
So my advice is either to modify your Rega to accommodate a VTA (SRA) adjuster, to look at cartridges with a simpler stylus profile than the Black and/or find a cartridge that is 14.00mm high.

VTA (biglobe.ne.jp)

How to Measure Dynamic Stylus Rake Angle Webinar - YouTube
 
REGA brand cartridges’ height from stylus tip to the top cartridge mounting surface is lower than standard.

Yes, I know. I did use a spacer with it and messed about with the alignment something awful. But I'm 54 years old now and want a cartridge I can get set up before I'm too deaf to hear it!

Besides, on the occasions it was tracking properly I still didn't like it. Very impressive cartridge but too Hi-Fi for me. In a much softer sounding system maybe.
 
I went from the Exact to a Mofi Ultratracker ( heavily discounted and new) on an RP3 with a rewired tonearm, whilst not the best match when you look at the effective mass vs cartridge compliance (just on the verge of ideal according to Vinyl Engines calculator) it was a big improvement sonically. As far as I know the Mofi cartridges are manufactured by Audio Technica. If I was to move back to using the RP3 and MM cartridge I'd either opt for a Nagaoka or Audio technica with a replaceable stylus assembly.
 
It’s a lot of money now, but the Dynavector DV17D series have the same height to stylus as Rega cartridges so can be used without shims etc regarding VTA
 
It’s a lot of money now, but the Dynavector DV17D series have the same height to stylus as Rega cartridges so can be used without shims etc regarding VTA

That's not an issue. I've mounted the arm with a shim so it's slightly higher than it would be on a Rega deck as I anticipated using a cart that was taller than a Rega one.

To be honest, I'm not convinced that tiny height adjustments matter much anyway. They're about on a par with small changes in tracking weight so not a big deal.
 


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