Worldwide exclusive on AOS

[hifi_dave]

Here it is folks, the all new Rega Carbon cartridge.


http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t406/hifi_dave/015.jpg


The new budget cartridge from Rega.



http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t406/hifi_dave/016.jpg

The Carbon is to be fitted as standard on the RP1 turntable and also available separately for fitting to any other turntable.

Details are sketchy but I do know that it is MM, has a carbon fibre cantilever and retails at £25.99. Oh and it tracks like a champ and has 'balls'.

Remember folks - you saw it here first...:)

[Tim]

Nice one, thanks David :)

[synsei]

ooo, nice :) Do I detect some Audio Technica DNA in there somewhere?

[hifi_dave]

Very perceptive. It is indeed made by them for Rega with input from Roy Gandy.

Hopefully, when they become available in a couple of weeks, each one should be accompanied with it's own measurements.

[synsei]

That's a helluva good deal for a cart with a carbon fibre shank. Well done Rega!!! :D

[DSJR]

I thought it was vastly more expensive than the donor AT91/3600, BUT IT ISN'T and the carbon is reportedly livelier than the oh-so-smooth-n-soft base model.

Should make a "kosher" low cost get-u-going kind of cartridge at this price and even with a Rega logo on it, it's far cheaper than the AT95E is these days :)

Perfect for me Garrards, I've ordered one :lol:

[hifi_dave]

When we were originally told about a 'new cartridge' the price was going to be £35 but, apparently, they bought 10,000 of the little fellas, to screw the price right down.

[synsei]

I'd be interested to find out the compliance figures and also what type of stylus it has. If the compliance figures suit the Series III it may be a nice, low cost replacement for the 900IGC when it's stylus eventually wears out ;)

[DSJR]

Cantilever and styling apart, the Linn K5 wasn't hugely different inside - we all remember how much this was, £50 or so by the mid nineties IIRC.

[hifi_dave]

I'd be interested to find out the compliance figures and also what type of stylus it has. If the compliance figures suit the Series III it may be a nice, low cost replacement for the 900IGC when it's stylus eventually wears out ;)

When I know more, I'll post. Meantime, I'm enjoying some Paul Butterfield I've not played for years.

[Marco]

Cantilever and styling apart, the Linn K5 wasn't hugely different inside - we all remember how much this was, £50 or so by the mid nineties IIRC.

Unlike that heap of shite, known as the 'K5', I don't think that the Rega Carbon is merely a re-badged (and grossly overpriced) Audio Technica though, is it? ;)

Marco.

[Audioman]

Unlike that heap of shite, known as the 'K5', I don't think that the Rega Carbon is merely a re-badged (and grossly overpriced) Audio Technica though, is it? ;)

Marco.

The budget AT cartridges are hardly overpriced. If this is a suped up AT95E with carbon cantilever (looks the case) it is likely going to embarass the Rega models furthur up the range.

Paul.

[synsei]

It's based on the AT91 Paul ;)

http://www.a1-sound.co.uk/data/prd249lg.jpg

[Marco]

The budget AT cartridges are hardly overpriced. If this is a suped up AT95E with carbon cantilever (looks the case) it is likely going to embarass the Rega models furthur up the range.

Paul.

No, I meant that the K5 was way overpriced, Paul, which it most certainly was (being no more than a glorified AT), simply to appeal to the brainwashed Linnies of the day! :rolleyes:

Marco.

[hifi_dave]

It was only 3 x the price of the equivalent AT. Well worth it for a 'Linn' logo..:rolleyes:

Oh and a box.

[Audioman]

No, I meant that the K5 was way overpriced, Paul, which it most certainly was (being no more than a glorified AT), simply to appeal to the brainwashed Linnies of the day! :rolleyes:

Marco.

Thanks for clearing that up Marco. Yes agree K5 and even K9 (which had similar roots and more expensive) were crap. When I bought an Axis I passed on the K9 for an ATF5. Actualy eventualy found the Goldring 1042 was a better sonic match for the Linn Basic Plus arm.

Paul.

[Marco]

It was only 3 x the price of the equivalent AT. Well worth it for a 'Linn' logo..

Oh and a box.


It's amazing how they got away with it :doh:

Marco.

[Audioman]

It's based on the AT91 Paul ;)

http://www.a1-sound.co.uk/data/prd249lg.jpg

So it's based on a cheaper model about half the current price of the AT95E or what the old AT95 cost a few years ago. I would assume the main diff from the 95 is the stylus assembly which Rega have changed anyway?

[WOStantonCS100]

The world of hi-fi is truly a perplexing place. :scratch:

[synsei]

So it's based on a cheaper model about half the current price of the AT95E or what the old AT95 cost a few years ago. I would assume the main diff from the 95 is the stylus assembly which Rega have changed anyway?

From the look of it the stylus body is identical, all that seems to have been changed from what I can see is the shank, which is manufactured from aluminium on the AT model. Of course there may well have been all sorts of jiggery pokery performed on the innards, lets hope so anyway :)

[DSJR]

Oh crap, I've done it now!!!!!!!

The AT91 and identical? AT3600 OEM model is a safe as houses soft toned cheapy, also with "carbon" cantilever, which we have ignored because of the AT95E and AT110E, which used to be very cheap indeed, but are far less so now they don't appear to come in to the UK on egg-trays with 25 or more on them (the 110E only came boxed and I believe it's now discontinued?).

Linn took the body from either this or the AT93/95 model (no PCOCC wiring or gold pins the AT105/110 have), had their own mounting attached to the generic body and had a conical tip stylus made t fit it. This was the K5 and did sound more refined than the AT93 it was related to (we made comparisons!). The K9 was much the same body, but most came with a cast mounting bracket and the stylus was a "Vital" type (proper textbook elliptical as used in the Asak, Karma/Troika, Rega Exact and many others). The K9 had a different suspension block fitted later on as some early styli assemblies collapsed prematurely. Very late K9's were fitted with K5 bodies and IMO sounded better still (I was laughed out of court when I mooted this idea years before :()

The AT95E had a pseudo-elliptical tip, more conical than elliptical, but better tracking than the conical Linn Basik/AT93 version, which cost more than the AT95E, with the Linn logo on (surprise surprise!).

Nowadays, had Rega done their business on an AT95E, the retail price would be in Bias territory (they make the Bias upwards themselves, fitting good styli/cantilever assemblies sourced in Europe I understand), so they've done it instead on the AT91. It seems that Roy has been involved in the tweaking of this design and the finished product is livelier in tone than the base model. The fact that the AT91 is now around £20 or thereabouts, means that one isn't paying a huge premium for a white coloured stylus with the Rega logo on it, and it may actually sound better than the AT91 itself. Let's face it, for £25, one hardly need complain as long as the cartridge is safe on records and doesn't mistrack all over the place!

[synsei]

Well, Dave, hifi-Dave seems to be enjoying what it does if his comments are anything to go by ;)

[hifi_dave]

Well, I was but it's time for beddy byes now.

I'm not pretending it's the last word in sophistication but it's good fun and I can sit and listen to it and not get up and play a CD.

[freefallrob]

Hmmm, interesting for the cash challenged like myself, what is the stylus, still conical/spherical like the AT91?

[DSJR]

Won't know until I can get me microscope on one :lol: I suspect it is conical, but since the AT95E is more conical than elliptical (at least it used to be), I wouldn't worry overmuch for the dosh asked. As long as it entertains without carving your records up, it'll be a great "version" of what is reported to be the biggest selling cartridge of all time (in OEM AT3600 form).

[rubber duck]

I have a new and sealed AT-91 doing nothing. Might be tempted to open this now to compare with the Rega once this is available. Any idea how much the Rega stylus assembly might be Hi-Fi Dave? I'm assuming this would be a straight swap with the AT-91 stylus?

[hifi_dave]

The Rega Carbon replacement stylus is £18.50 but I'm not sure it is a straight swop, as I've never seen an AT-91 in the flesh.

[rubber duck]

Thanks Dave. For £26 it's certainly cheap enough to get the whole cartridge.

[hifi_dave]

You can't go wrong at that price. I've heard a whole lot worse for a whole lot more money.

[RichB]

Hi Dave,

As a self confessed Rega fan boy I should have one of these for that money. Just need to check it would do ok on a Technics SL-1800 with stock headshell. Any advice?

Cheers

[DSJR]

Yep, no issues at all (I know the arm and it'd good for V15's as well as the DV10XV, which should be as great for it now as the original was at the time).

This cartridge will be a pretty universal 1.8g - 2g tracker I'm certain, if it's anything like the donor model. I've ordered one but will have to wait until the boxes and packaging arrive.

Got to make a decent alternative to a Stanton 500 or Pickering equivalent and the Ortofon OM pro and DJ versions are far more expensive and track far heavier.

[freefallrob]

I notice that Rega state the out put at 2.5mv at 1Khz, where as the AT91 stated 3.5mv (freq not stated), smaller magnets, less turns on the coils? There for lower inductance, more extended top end?:scratch: