Frontend upgrade path

[Svend N]

Alex,

I reading your post, a few things occurred to me that you might consider to improve on what you currently have, rather than replacing parts right away. Ignore these if you've tried them already tried them.

First, you might try adding a small weighted shim to your headshell to give the tonearm a bit more mass. The RB300 is on the lighter side of med. mass, and mated with the DL-103 which is lowish compliance, it may benefit from a few grams extra mass. Keep in mind you may have to tweak your VTA if the 103 is sensitive to it.

Next, have you rewired the tonearm? I have heard that the RB300 really changes dramatically if you get a quality rewire job done by a pro. A single run between headshell and RCAs is said to be best. Between a rewire and a headshell weight/shim, you may not need another tonearm.

Re. VTA, have you considered some of the VTA adjusters on the market? Again, this may be moot if the conical stylus of the 103 is not sensitive to VTA (it may not be). Would be worth researching, as VTA can make a huge difference to some stylii.

There are also a number of aftermarket "upgrades" for Rega arms, some of which may work, others may be a total waste of money. I'd be careful what you choose if you're considering something like that. I think the most fundamental change you can make is a good counterweight -- I have the stock Rega tungsten one on mine, which works great and is said to be an improvement over the larger steel one. There's a fellow in your area selling aftermarket tungsten weights that might be worth a look (let me know if you need a link).

Now to the deck itself... Have you played around with things like improving isolation and reducing vibration and resonances within the deck? I side with Geoff on this one, that you should avoid squishy feet on a suspended deck as it is said to counteract the work that the suspension is trying to do. I also have a suspended deck (Heybrook TT2) and will be experimenting with isolation soon, but will be looking at light and rigid platforms coupled to spiky feet. When I added Michell Tenderfeet cones to the bottom of the deck it made an immediate and noticeable improvement in imaging and detail.

How about platter mats? Again, my experience is a bit limited, and further experimentation is ongoing , but I have found that the standard felt mats sound very different to, say, a cork mat. The felt are a bit hazy and indistinct sounding, whereas the cork greatly improved imaging, detail and tonal range. I will make up a leather one soon to see how that sounds. There are some rather fancy ones out there which may or may not work well on a suspended deck. Have you tried any other than the stock one?

I hope this helps you. Depending on how much you've worked at optimizing your turntable, you may be able to transform the sound without doing anything drastic or expensive. If you do all of the above it shouldn't cost you more than C$500. In any case, there's something to be said for getting the fundamentals right in a turntable, regardless of whether you decide to upgrade cart or tonearm now or later. I'd recommend optimizing its performance first, and then looking at what needs upgrading. That way you know the deck is performing at its best, and that you're getting the best out of that expensive upgrade if you do decide to go ahead with it. I think that in your case this is especially relevant since you really like the sound as it presently is -- swapping out cart and/or tonearm is going to completely change that sound and you may regret it. Maybe better to work with what you already have and improve on it?

Enjoy the ride!

Svend