Arm modifications

Is there as general consensus on the effectiveness of the rega arm and motor upgrades by the likes of Origin Live and some others that have been mentioned in previous posts.

I know that it is subjective to a large extent but some posters seem to have very strong differing preferences on the improvements between different companies.

Some of the reviews of the Origin Live upgrades seem too good to be true and over enthusiastic?

I'm just pesemistic by nature...

 

I have the Incognito rewire and the Michel Tecno weight, bot were worth while, but when you add the cost up it is also a fair chunk of cash towards a better arm.

 

In my view the technoweight has more effect on the RB 250 than it does on the RB300 and up. I assume this is because the 250 has the plastic stub end, it is still woth having on the 300 etc though.

Beyind that I think I would look at if it was worth spening 200+ ish on the 250, when the fully speced technoarm is available, or something like the hadcock.

If you want to go the rewire route, have a word with audio origami
________
The Peak Towers Pattaya

 

You might have a word with him anyway. He has some views on the end stub/replacement weights as well which may be of interest.

If his experiments are valid the rigidly coupled replacement weights like the OL and Tecno are going to be fine with higher compliance cartridges but may be less suitable for lower compliance carts, where a decoupled weight may work better (which may even suggest that the standard RB300 setup - metal stub and decouple weight - would work better with such a cart than one of the usual replacements). He's given me a decoupled and underslung weight to play with, but I haven't had a chance to mess with it yet.

PS. Its possible I have that the wrong way round though.

 

hi guys

yes its hard to quote in general terms...coss there are so many differant cartridges

but i have found that high quaility Mc carts like a coupled weight

and most MM like the decoupled weight (with rubber or plastic inserts)

haveing both types of weights lets u play around a bit more and offers more adjustablity...coss every1 likes are a personal taste

some like it hot some cold

the best upgrade thing u can do to a rega--- is to get a hifi news test record and play the track that tells you the resonce freq of the arm/cart combo...getting the freq to resonate @ 10 hz should be perfect

hope this is of some help
j7

 

hi

where can i get hold of a hifi news test record?

my current plan is to get the tecno weight and a denon 110 and try the quad 99 phono stage. if this vinyl thing catches on i might look at the 304.

 

Pixies,

you can order the hifi news test record from audiophilecandy I believe. you can also buy it direct if you go to their hifi show today (heathrow) as they always have them there for sale.

i have a rb300 fully OL modded (apart from the structural mod that you can only perform to the rb250). I use it with a koetsu rosewood sig and i am very happy with it.

It is a night and day difference between the stock rb300 and the modded one, imho. Of course better arms will be around but in the same price? I am not sure.

The compliance issue is an important one. Low compliance carts will work better with low mass arms, but a high compliance cart will not work with a low mass arm.

This is why I have not yet tried the Hadcock with my Koetsu... but I wonder if there is a way around this... mass loading the arm perhaps? Would it be an upgrade?

This has often puzzled me, in fact. I get different messages from different people. Some say: hadcock export Cryo (new one) is the way to go... but i wonder because of the low mass... others say NAS AceSpace... and I wonder again because it is low mass... others say OL Encounter - a glorified rega that has high mass... it is a tricky thing to choose arms and so I am for now keeping my own.

the other thing to think about is whether your armboard will fit the arm you will choose. most are rega compliant (hadcock, OL) but sme has its own board requirement, and so does linn/project... so bare that in mind, you may need to buy a new armboard/change the one you have.

my two cents
Jack

 

Adding some mass will help yes but the Hadcock isn't ideally matched resonance wise to the Koetsu. According to the data in the tonearm database on vinyl engine the effective mass for the Hadcock, Rega and current Ace Space are 6.5g, 11.5g and 13.5g (That last seems a little high to me, certainly my old ali armed Space arm is closer to a Rega than anything else). But lets asssume that's correct. A Google suggests the Koetsu is 6.7g with a compliance of 14 ... assume 8g with mounting hardware. It gives resonance figures of just under 12Hz for the Hadcock (in the green, but borderline), just under 11Hz for the Rega (better) and just under 10Hz for the Ace Space (perfect).

I have an Ortofon Kontrapunkt on my space (compliance of 14 also, but a bit heavier) and that works fine.

 

Thanks Uncle Ants now that is really interesting information!

I will look more into this.
Regards,
Jack

 

Well it is .. but it also needs to be taken with a slight pinch of salt as sometimes the published figures are out and sometimes they are measured wrongly. and sometimes the figures in the databases are wrong. The only figures that seems maybe a little suspect to me is the figure for the effective mass of the ace space, which does look a bit high ... but could be wrong. A call to Tom Fletcher might tell you (or a NAS dealer).

The Hadcock though is certainly going to prefer to see a lowish mass, high compliance cartridge.

 

I hear you. I will try to get in touch with Tom and see what he thinks. Some dealers tell me that the Ace Space is a bad idea with Koetsus... yet, others say otherwise... hard to tell. I might get one in to audition at some point (if only it was a simple thing to do... do they fit Rega armboards?)

Shame about the hadcock. It is as I suspected... shame because they are really pretty things and I would love to have one of them! Especially the new Export Cryo one!!

cheers!
Jack

 

I don't see why it shouldn't work with the Ace Space to be honest. The Koetsu isn't lightweight but its not exactly heavy either nor is it especially low compliance ... unless the Ace really is low eff. mass. Don't think it is though. The Haddock wouldn't be disastrous, but its on the edge tbh. If you added 3 or 4g to the headshell end it might bring it in line. Maybe they are just assuming that the Koetsu has a far lower compliance than reality.