Do I keep anything or start again?

[dave2010]

MM cartridges are mentioned above - post 6. Are they now preferred to MC, or are MCs now too esoteric and expensive?

[Barry]

MM cartridges are mentioned above - post 6. Are they now preferred to MC, or are MCs now too esoteric and expensive?

A good fixed-coil cartridge is always preferable to a mediocre moving-coil design, as well as being cheaper.

[walpurgis]

I've had MC's that were shockers and non-MC's that were excellent. But it works both ways.

[AJSki2fly]

MM cartridges are mentioned above - post 6. Are they now preferred to MC, or are MCs now too esoteric and expensive?

If you want a good sound and VFM then to keep in budget go MM, Ortofon 2M Bronze or Black would be worth considering, I would opt for the black possibly for more detail and control,

or NAGAOKA MP-200 see https://worldofturntables.com/nagaok...final-verdict/ not much against this one at the price.

Or the AUDIO TECHNICA VM750SH DUAL MOVING MAGNET STEREO CARTRIDGE WITH SHIBATA STYLUS from a review "This replaced my AT-140LC (line contact) cartridge. The sound is very similar....but more refined. I attribute this to the better body construction. The Shibata stylus profile, like the line contact reduces or hides surface noise. I rarely ever hear a pop or a click. For the money...well, for today's money...I don't think you can do any better! It immerses you in the glorious sound vinyl can offer!"

Here is the link to my JBL's, we can discuss if you are interested, easy to drive as very efficient, lots of detail mid and top, great controlled bass and easy to position as front ported, really they are a largish monitor. Have a read about them generally. https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...33#post1142433

Hope that helps a bit.

By the way your Rega RB300 spec is below, so what ever cartridge you opt for just make sure is is 4 to 11gm, and check that it is compatible from a resonance frequency point see https://www.ortofon.com/support/supp...nce-frequency/, 1µm/mN equals 1cm/dyne X (10-6)

So the Ortofon Bronze and Black are both 22 µm/mN, which means in your RB300 with effective mass of 11.5gm looking at the chart it would result in a resonant frequency of about 10hz, which is good.

Similarly the nagaoka-mp-200 is 20µm/mN so will be very slight less than 10HZ which is fine

the Audio Technica is 40 x 10-6 cm/dyne static and dynamic compliance 10 x 10-6 cm/dyne at 100hz, so working it out the static resonance is about 6hz and dynamic is just over 11hz. so this should be OK as well I think.


Rega RB300
Specifications:
Effective length: 237mm
Overhang: 15mm
Mounting distance: 222mm
Effective mass: 11.5g
Cartridge weight: 4 to 11g

[Lurch]

I would say flog the Rega 3 + rb300, which should net you around £400. Whilst the rb300 is a reasonably good arm you can do better by fitting either an OL Onyx or Silver to the Systemdeck.
Cart wise any of the above suggestions + Goldring 1042 would see you right. Also contact Firebottle about the amp service, this would then see you with around £1k for speakers.

[AJSki2fly]

I would say flog the Rega 3 + rb300, which should net you around £400. Whilst the rb300 is a reasonably good arm you can do better by fitting either an OL Onyx or Silver to the Systemdeck.
Cart wise any of the above suggestions + Goldring 1042 would see you right. Also contact Firebottle about the amp service, this would then see you with around £1k for speakers.

Why not sell the Rega 3 with the RB200 and keep the RB300?

[Lurch]

Why not sell the Rega 3 with the RB200 and keep the RB300?

Sell R3/200 + rb300 was what I meant, the 300 is easily bettered for sensible money (above what could be achieved by R7 or OL mods) giving a much better front end for minimal cost.

[eatapeach]

Hi Richard, £300 seems an awful lot to get the Nytech serviced.
I can take a look at it for you for a lot less if you wish, I service/repair/modify all sorts.

thats a kind offer - one problem is the volume knob has been lost but the plastic post it attached to has snapped - that may be enough to make it not worthwhile to repair. I'll PM you to discuss

[eatapeach]

Well the Systemdek i believe is actually not that bad and was well thought of when it came out, I suspect you could spend £1k or more on a replacement on not get much improvement. The rb300 is similarly a pretty good and well thought after arm. I would consider a good cartridge presumably MM. The Nytech was good in its day and was built well, slightly let down by its balance and volume pots, if the £300 sorts caps and gets it on spec then it may be hard to better, it looks like they sell for £200-300, a tricky one, maybe sell and look for a good amp, £500 to £1k. There are plenty of good speakers around 2nd hand, there have been several on here recently for £300 to £800. I do have some JBL Century L100’s but may be outside your budget, depending what you do.

Thanks Adrian

Thats in line with my current thinking - service and upgrade the Systemdek as it would require quite a bit more to improve on that. The deck has a Roksan blue cartridge

I will look for speakers - sell teh Rega - and it's then a toss up if I sell or restore the Nytech. I know I'm looking at upto £1k for an amp. As to decisions about speakers I think I need to see what I do about the amp before I decide but I'll keep your JBLs in mind!!!

[eatapeach]

The Brio R has been used by quite a few members here and is well liked.

You won't get a modern Sugden A21 variant for £300 and even the original vintage ones are likely to cost that much or more and also likely to need an expensive full rebuild/service adding a few more hundreds to your outlay and to be honest, it's nice, but not that nice.

Have you looked at the Quad Vena for a bit more money second hand, they have been getting popular?

thanks Geoff. For clarity I mean that the £300 cost of servicing the Nytech would go towards an amp - not that I expect to pay only 300 for a Sugden!