Stylus AWOL

[wee tee cee]

Came home tonight thought I would give my John Martyn half speed super dooper solid air a wee whirl on the cans whilst nestling a honey JD. Low and behold the arm went skating across the record.....stylus has defected!!!(someone decided to clean up and dust today)

Anyway-do I just buy a replacement stylus( rega rp1 with a standard fit carbon cart) OR snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and buy a nicer cart fuelled by the guilt factor.

Wisdom and recommendations please folks...

[DSJR]

The Carbon stylus is reputed to be better than a stock AT91 and despite being conical, the quality of the diamond on mine is very good indeed. An AT95E in direct comparison here, sounds similar to the Carbon but the window widens into the upper mids a bit, the top around the same I think. My 95E tip is very recent and again, the diamond is a nicely polished semi-elliptical way above the barely polished bits of 'coal' that Shure, Goldring and others inflicted on everyone in the 70's.

Upgrades? Depends what you want really. I like a livelier presentation, so would choose an AT120E rather than a Sumiko Pearl at a similar price as long as the arm wasn't too massive (the 'sleeper' RP1 arm should take both). I personally find cheap Ortofons too scrappy in terms of the 2M Red and OM10 and under. They charge so much these days I think you can do better at this price before the plummeting pound dramatically increases prices and currently, the two I mentioned first are great value as an OM20 is loads more, as is the fussy 2M Blue. The Shure 97XE isn't quite the insane bargain it was a few years ago, but while it's under a ton (ish) it's well worth bearing in mind and enough people have tried the Jico SAS tip and love it on this cartridge for it to be ignored - I haven't checked, but the new SAS may well be available now.

The Denon DL110 is safe as houses but friends who've had recent samples all find them rather bland and 'Meh!' in sound (forget they're high output MC for a minute).

Loads more at the RP1 price and beyond. Correctly sited, it's well up to sounding great with them though (believe it or not), but it starts to get silly at this point.

Lastly, I'm afraid I'm not a fan of Rega-made MM's as even now, they all sound a bit stodgy and dull to me (oh alright, the bass is punchier than I like from vinyl). Pick of this crop is the Exact 2, which has rather more fine definition, but I can say no more.

[struth]

I'd certainly be thinking about loading up some guilt and get a replacement off her shoe money:eyebrows: You like the cart so maybe just stick with what you know and like

[wee tee cee]

Thanks chaps...cant say Im overly enamoured with the carbon-Daves stodgy description is spot on, also a bit crackly even on new vinyl!!!

Grant you read my mind-the shoe budget is on a shaky nail( seeing as I just spent 30 minutes raking through hoover dust in the bin outside with my son holding the torch swearing lots).

Rega recommend a cart in the upgrade pack-reckon a ton would be my psychological limit.

[CageyH]

I would be tempted by one of these.
http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGAT95VL.html

[wee tee cee]

Thanks Kevin...spoke to Brian on the phone, he has a couple of carts I can try-Gary may be enlisted to aid set up and a cheeky wee session ensues.

Every cloud and all that!!!

The Scottish troops are pretty good at coming to the aid of a floundering daftee!!!!

[struth]

There is my Jico shibata tipped at95 lying doing nowt currently Tony. If you'd like to try it.

[walpurgis]

Consider a Grado, they work well in Rega arms and have a musical character.

[wee tee cee]

Grant my ignorance of this whole spectrum of the hobby is humbling-I genuinely dont know where to start....maybe the gentle shove I needed!!!!

A baptism of fire (cart wise)

[struth]

Fixed headshells are a bit fiddly but you will enjoy fitting or helping Gaz or Bri to do it. I stick to my removable ones as I can sit while i do it :lol: Set up once you have the gear is as difficult as you make it. If your not interested in doing it yourself then thats cool. lots of folk dont. The music is all that counts.

[Bigman80]

Was a Nagaoka MP11 on here a few days back for pennies. I'd have a go at that.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[DSJR]

Thanks chaps...cant say Im overly enamoured with the carbon-Daves stodgy description is spot on, also a bit crackly even on new vinyl!!!

Grant you read my mind-the shoe budget is on a shaky nail( seeing as I just spent 30 minutes raking through hoover dust in the bin outside with my son holding the torch swearing lots).

Rega recommend a cart in the upgrade pack-reckon a ton would be my psychological limit.

Quick reply - the Carbon is NOT a UK made Rega cartridge and I prefer it to the Bias models and even the Elys, which are made in their factory and used to suffer a terminal bass rise with a softening of definition, which destroyed any trace of neutrality for me - maybe they've tamed it now, but the Exact still does it, albeit far less than the others. The Carbon tracks at UNDER 2g and I personally found 1.8g was best if the bass wasn't to get too 'plummy.' At around 1.8g, there's some life and bounce and one can completely forget the very low price - in my opinion. More than 2g (as I heard the AT91 and ancestors years ago) and it really does get thick and stodgy.

[brian2957]

I've got an AT95E and a Shure M44-7 here mate . I'll bring them over ASAP but I may have to enlist Gary to help setting it up . If you like either of them you can keep it :)

[DSJR]

M44-7 has a HUGE output, double most others, so be warned as distortion may be the phono stage overloading and not mistracking in my experience...

[RichB]

Hmm. I always quite like a Rega cart on a Rega deck. Bias or Exact maybe? Mind you, for that money you could probably get a better deck/cart combination on here.

[brian2957]

M44-7 has a HUGE output, double most others, so be warned as distortion may be the phono stage overloading and not mistracking in my experience...
Thanks Dave , I'll bear that in mind :)

[hifi_dave]

No idea where this 'forum myth' of Rega cartridges being "dull and stodgy" comes from, as they are anything but. I sell more Rega cartridges than all the others put together and can't recall anyone complaining of them being "dull". They might not be bright but they are not "stodgy" as a quick listen will confirm.

[walpurgis]

No idea where this 'forum myth' of Rega cartridges being "dull and stodgy" comes from, as they are anything but. I sell more Rega cartridges than all the others put together and can't recall anyone complaining of them being "dull". They might not be bright but they are not "stodgy" as a quick listen will confirm.

I've heard Rega cartridges sounding very good. But never had decent results on my system. Same with Nagoakas. I think it must be a system balance characteristic. My gear is set up to sound just right with Deccas and ZYX MC's (amongst others).

[hifi_dave]

Early and I mean very early, Rega cartridges had a warm balance but the past 10 years or so, they have become far more neutral. I believe this coincides with Rega's manufacturing being all in house.

Put a Rega cartridge on a Rega turntable or on a Rega arm and you can appreciate the speed and neutral balance.

Decca cartridges are very fast and dynamic and they make practically everything else sound "stodgy". The closest I have heard to a Decca is Rega's Apheta MC - a very lively and snappy cartridge.

[walpurgis]

Put a Rega cartridge on a Rega turntable or on a Rega arm and you can appreciate the speed and neutral balance.

Definitely. I've only heard Rega carts at their best on Rega turntables.

[wee tee cee]

Thanks everyone...I have followed the advice and stuck with Rega as I couldn't really fault the basic set up.

Ive ordered a RP1 performance pack-it gives a Rega Bias cart/wool matt/upgraded drive belt.

I will attempt to fit the cart myself as they provide a guide!

If there is a noticeable improvement I have the option of upgrading to the 24v motor at a later date.

I might ask Brian to have a look at the possibility of upgrading the phono leads and plugs as the standard stuff is very basic.

Again thanks folks....

[walpurgis]

I don't know what the guide says, but you may find it easier to fit the lead tags to the cartridge pins before bolting it in place. Sturdy tweezers are good.

[wee tee cee]

I don't know what the guide says, but you may find it easier to fit the lead tags to the cartridge pins before bolting it in place. Sturdy tweezers are good.Thanks for that Geoff-this will be a journey of discovery for me. My sausage fingers are more suited to spannering motorbikes than fiddly wee cables.

My missus has some nice tweezers that may be pressed into service-reckon I wont get too much static because of the guilt factor!!!

The cart set up may prove a challenge....ho-hum-what could possibly go wrong!!!

[Spider]

A tip I was given with Rega cartridges on Rega RB tonearms is to line up the front of the cart bang level with the front of the headshell and you'll not be far off. A rega dealer told me this when I had a rega 3 some years ago.

[hifi_dave]

That doesn't help a lot as there is still sideways movement of the cartridge to correct.