Yes this is my point really as you move up the price range users may well expect more in terms of cartridge matching. I really like AT carts, have no idea whether one would work in their arms?
Rega Naia
- Thread starter Aspro
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Tim Jones
pfm Member
I used DVs quite successfully on an RB1000. The 17D2 (as it then was) has the same effective height as Rega carts, but I also used a TKR with a shim.
I take your point, but mine is that I think I would prefer to shim an upper Rega arm than have a mount which was secured by a grub screw in the name of "cartridge matching". This may seem like Gandy-zealotry on my part, but there is something in it.
Fair enough. Is it a case of grub screw or nothing though? Are well made adjustable arms available? I’m not sure I buy onto the total rigidity argument. For example an equivalent SME TT will probably have more adjustable parameters? Or Avid or even the dreaded Linn?
Anyway it’s all moot for me as I am bit of a TT sceptic at the moment
John
Rack’em Up!
Couldn’t find specs for Rega phono cartridges for stylus tip to top of cartridge but the typical spec for AT cartridges is around 17mm. I imagine most every Rega cartridge has very similar spec to match their tonearm.
Subito
pfm Member
Thus disqualifying you from being successful YouTube reviewers...We're not all new to turntables on PFM...
Tim Jones
pfm Member
Fair enough. Is it a case of grub screw or nothing though? Are well made adjustable arms available? I’m not sure I buy onto the total rigidity argument. For example an equivalent SME TT will probably have more adjustable parameters? Or Avid or even the dreaded Linn?
Anyway it’s all moot for me as I am bit of a TT sceptic at the moment
Fair points - I can't remember how the height adjusting mechanism works on (eg) an SME V, and there must be better mechanical solutions to that than a grub screw. That said, I do buy into the rigidity argument - just as I buy the point that you really don't want the arm base moving relative to the main bearing.
Yep, get that, I suppose the amount of movement is potentially exaggerated in it's effect? It can't be that difficult or costly to develop a solution? Ultimately there are lots of choices & it's a question of deciding what your needs are. To be fair you are one of the few who've had upper level SME & Rega for an extended period.
daytona600
Registered User
edo
Retired Zymurgist
I was lucky to spend a few days with a Verdier Platine running Lyra's best cart on a Graham arm. Not even the slightest hint of nausea. Although I did suffer from sleep loss because I couldn't stop listening to the thing.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Roy Gandy's views on VTA/SRA are forthright and not to be dismissed. He didn't get where he is by making diametric mistakes. What if people who hear differences after VTA adjustment aren't hearing the SRA change (as Roy claims), but are instead hearing changes to the vertical resonance of the cantilever-suspension-pivot system as a result of moving the pitch pivot several percent towards or away from the zero-vertical-bias plane (the record surface).
That way Roy could be right and the VTA-fiddlers could be right.
It could be that arms which have the pitch pivot at or near record level are not so fussy about VTA because the vertical torque reaction is an order of magnitude smaller - there's almost no vertical bias to adjust.
That way Roy could be right and the VTA-fiddlers could be right.
It could be that arms which have the pitch pivot at or near record level are not so fussy about VTA because the vertical torque reaction is an order of magnitude smaller - there's almost no vertical bias to adjust.
John
Rack’em Up!
Here’s a shot of the Linn Ittok arm collar and you can see two rise points opposite the grub screw. This creates a three point contact with the tonearm once adjusted for VTA. The arm collar attaches to a wood laminated or aluminum arm board depending on the spec of the sub chassis.Fair enough. Is it a case of grub screw or nothing though? Are well made adjustable arms available? I’m not sure I buy onto the total rigidity argument. For example an equivalent SME TT will probably have more adjustable parameters? Or Avid or even the dreaded Linn?
Anyway it’s all moot for me as I am bit of a TT sceptic at the moment
Rega eliminates/improves these mechanical connections and mounts the tonearm to a very rigid ceramic material. If I were to get a Naia I would certainly use a Rega phono cartridge which are custom made for the turntable and do not compromise the design and intended performance.
Isn’t that what Geoff Husband of TNT audio suggested a few years ago?
His article is excellent reading.
krenzler
pfm Member
Exposing the VTA myth? [English]
Exposing the VTA myth, everything you'd wish to know about the Vertical Tracking Angle and such - www.tnt-audio.com - TNT-Audio - Internet HiFi magazine
www.tnt-audio.com
Interesting, my point still stands though. At a more elevated price point users may expect more adjustment?Here’s a shot of the Linn Ittok arm collar and you can see two rise points opposite the grub screw. This creates a three point contact with the tonearm once adjusted for VTA. The arm collar attaches to a wood laminated or aluminum arm board depending on the spec of the sub chassis.
Rega eliminates/improves these mechanical connections and mounts the tonearm to a very rigid ceramic material. If I were to get a Naia I would certainly use a Rega phono cartridge which are custom made for the turntable and do not compromise the design and intended performance.
Then again those that love Rega will continue to do so.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Great article - thanks for the link. I think I must have read it at some time in the past as it seemed familiar. What it doesn't go into is the dynamic response of the arm to musical signals, and the possibility that small changes in arm pillar height could dramatically alter those responses since it is a resonant system.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
At the risk of sounding like one, Linn's collar has an eccentric lesser bore so that the lock bolt presses the pillar against two rails, not points. Jelco and others also made it this way. It's good and rigid, but Linn arm users will know that the sound is quite dependent on bolt tightness. I use this scheme in the arms I make too but mysteriously I do not find that bolt tightness has nearly as much effect on the sound. I consider that a good thing. I wonder if too much torque on a Linn pillar deforms it elastically, affecting the yaw bearings within the column.
Having recently substituted arms on my Naia at the Bristol show I can confirm that a gripped sliding pillar works perfectly well on the deck and so Rega could easily use this scheme to provide VTA adjustment if it wished. Even in the comments under Michael Fremer's review VTA-fiddlers are lamenting that they can't set SRA for each pressing. Where's the joy? I think the Naia is superb, including its beautiful arm. If I could afford to keep it I wouldn't be selling it. It had no problem with the Audio Technicas VM540ML and AT33Sa. Lovely deck.
Tim Jones
pfm Member
Indeed. Many things in TT set up are essentially compromises or least-worst calculations. The growth in 180 or 200gm pressings during the vinyl revival has led me to a smidge of sympathy for the fiddlers, but nothing like enough to want to join them.
I once read a guy saying he started his TT 24 hours before a planned listening session to ‘warm it up’. I do think some people need saving from themselves, I saw an £11k pair of speaker cables advertised in the trade section. Just beggars belief.