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Which is a better arm for a record player

Hi,

Which SME and which record player?

The rega RB300 is a one piece construction which offers good rigidity.

Dean
 
There are a number of SME arms from an apparently vast time period. I liked the SME V I once heard on a Pink Triangle PT TOO turntable, but when I was told the price of it I had to sit down for a while. The RB300 is a very good arm for the price, but it'll all depend which deck it's going as well. I've only ever known one person try and fit one to a Linn LP12 for instance and that was a challange.

Is the SME going to be new? Are you lookin at a new Rega arm as opposed to a secondhand SME perhaps? Secondhand arms are something I've always shyed away from rightly or wrongly - don't know enough about them.

Cheers
 
Eh, thats not an sme, its an old rega RB200 - these apparently used to come with the earliest planar 3s.

You'd have to check but most likely a RB300 would just drop in there.


Fran
 
Hi

Fran is right. That arm is a RB200. It was featured on on P3 upto 1983. The RB200 was made in Japan by Acos. The newr RB300 is made in the UK and will fit in the same hole.

Dean
 
the s shape arm is of the pace now.

best value is to get a rb 250 then gradually upgrade if you like it.
arm cables by incognito and audio origami both come well regarded
then possibly a michell counter weight.

regards.
d.
 
Alternatively, the RB200 responds well to a re-wire with decent wiring. Moth provide this service and the 'received wisdom'(i.e I haven't personally tried it!) is that with some decent cable inside it, the Rb200 really flies.

You pays yer money.....

Cheers!

Adrian
 
I think Dean's right, the RB300 (or a RB250) should go straight into the Rega in place of a Rb200. I think Rega have only ever used one arm mounting pattern (well the same size hole with the same offset from the platter centre to be more accurate).

Cheers
 
i got a rewired r200 its rubbish compared to a rega rb250.
the cost of the rewire was nearly the cost of a new rb 250.
waste of time.
 
What darryl said. I have an RB300 with tecnoweight and new external wire and it's great, but if I were in your position I'd save some money and get an RB250 and then upgrade it with a tecnoweight and a rewire.
 
Actually it was called an R200 and made for Rega by Acos Lustre in Japan. The 'B' in RB300 denotes the first Rega arm made in Britain.
 
The Acos arm is crap. You could pick up an SME 3009 sII for £20/30 which will piss all over it, bury it and stamp on its grave. Not that I'm biased mind..
 
Funnily enough I didn't think the R200 was that bad. When I was at college (many years ago) a friend had a Planar 3 equipped with an R200. When the RB300 came along he changed over but neither of us thought the RB300 was quite as much fun (on that deck) as the old arm. Better perhaps in a 'hifi' sense and better because it was more comfortable with MC's but the old arm had a lively, snappy quality that was quite endearing. On other, better TT's the RB300 was more successful but it does need the TT to have a very clean lf performance and it helps if it can be rigidly (metal to metal) coupled to whatever it goes on.
 
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