It's now time to ditch your Sound Hi-Fi/Herbie's mats...

[Marco]

I think we have to define "significant" and "expectation bias" here Marco. I've been there, remember.

And I haven't?

When I had a P5 a few years back (before I got into Techies) I sent the RB700 arm to J7 to have it Cardas-rewired and stripped and polished, a la RB1000, and when it came back it was a totally different beast, visually and sonically, and it had f*ck all to do with "expectation bias", I can tell you....!!

For me at any rate, setting up an RB300 on a Spacedeck was a revelation, the sound appearing to "free off" in a way that this arm on a Linn or Planar 3 never really achieved. An RB300 on a LPT and an SME V on a Pink Triangle Anniversary was sort of similar as well. Once heard, never forgotten and I can assure you this transformation is an order of magnitude above re-wiring. Different experiences and different feelings of "significant" I suppose

Indeed, but it's a case of dotting ALL the I's and crossing ALL the T's, and realising that in order to achieve the best sound EVERYTHING makes a difference, and thus it all must be taken into consideration, not just simply targeting the procedures that pacify our belief sets.........

Unquestionably, in my experience, rewiring Rega tonearms with high-quality cable transforms their performance - and significantly for the better, too!

Marco.

[DSJR]

Then why does a company who created such a great range of products not do it? Surely it's not because of their blinkered minds?

[Marco]

I've no idea, mate (I can't read other people's minds) - all I know is it makes a bloody big difference to how their arms sound!

Marco.

[prestonchipfryer]

Is that 'different' 'better'! or just ''different''. Another thing the cartridge mounting arrangement on a stock Rega is far from ideal and the tags break all too easily. The new Funk arm I see has at least tried to address this. The last Rega arm I owned was an RB700 but I just could not get on with it.

John

[Marco]

Hi John,

Is that 'different' 'better'! or just ''different''.

It's 'different' in terms of 'oh, bloody hell, I never realised there was a bass guitar on that track before', and 'different' in terms of 'oh, bloody hell, there's a real drum kit there, rather than a Fisher Price one' - and 'different' in terms of you'd need to be bloody deaf not to hear the freakin' difference, type difference, if you see what I mean!!

Marco.

[DSJR]

Is that 'different' 'better'! or just ''different''. Another thing the cartridge mounting arrangement on a stock Rega is far from ideal and the tags break all too easily. The new Funk arm I see has at least tried to address this. The last Rega arm I owned was an RB700 but I just could not get on with it.

John

Cartridge mounting on a stock Rega arm is fine if the nuts are on top and you use the small Allen key provided. The tags don't break if you use them properly I've set up loads, mostly in front of the clients who'd just bought them.

I'll have to email the Rega Rep to get his views, to see if the party line on re-wiring has changed. I'll admit, a good few years ago, the only person properly trained *by Rega* to dismantle and service Rega tonearms was Mike Harris from Moth Marketing. He alone at the time had the tooling and jigs to be able to properly dismantle and re-build RB series tonearms outside of Rega themselves. This may have changed now though..

[prestonchipfryer]

Cartridge mounting on a stock Rega arm is fine if the nuts are on top and you use the small Allen key provided. The tags don't break if you use them properly I've set up loads, mostly in front of the clients who'd just bought them.

Yes probably me being hamfisted and short-sighted maybe.

[worrasf]

Spoke to Arthur yesterday evening and placed my order - my mat arrived today - pretty impressive

I won't event attempt to make Jimmy Hughes type comments just to say on first hearing I echo everything Marco said in his review. This is way better than the Herbies Way Excellent I was using.

I also listened to the Achromat with my Origin Live flexible upgrade mat on top and it made things worse - dulled the bass and transients so definitely better just on it's own in my system.

Thanks for the tip Marco and thanks to Arthur for such a stunning service.

Steve

[Marco]

You're very welcome, Stephen.

This is for me what makes it all worthwhile - when I recommend something I think is good, someone else tries it and uses their own own ears to judge, and it results in their increased listening pleasure. Wonderful!

It's NOT like some deluded and cynical people elsewhere think, and all this is simply 'egotistical Marco' shouting from the rooftops about how wonderful his system is (or the components it consists of)!!

What's an audio forum for if you can't be passionate about what you believe in, and thus try and give others the benefits of your experience??

Anyway, I digress.... Stephen, I'm glad you like the Achromat - it's a great bit of kit, designed by someone who knows exactly what he's doing

Who's next to try one, then?

Marco.

[MartinT]

Marco - I should receive my PH SR5-21 power supply soon. I'm going to let that settle in first, but I must admit I'm intrigued and may order an Achromat just for the punt. One question: since I don't have a lip I guess I can order the standard one, or are there any other differences?