Rega upgrade news

[JohnMichael]

Rega has announced a new precision belt for their turntables. The belt is white and is reported to be stronger yet softer. The cost of the belt is $75.00. Since my Rega table will be 10 years old this year guess what it will be receiving for it's birthday. The new white drive belt of course. It is supposed to help with pace and timing.

I do not know if this will truly make a difference but I did find out that buying an off brand belt was not a good thing. After a time listening to my 45rpm vinyl and I returned the non Rega belt to the 33 1/3 pulley the belt remained stretched. Yes it was half the price but not worth it if it could not return to normal size. I now use an older Rega belt strictly for 45rpm and use my newer Rega belt for 33 1/3rpm.

[basite]

Interesting John, I'd love to read your thoughts on it...


Tweak away

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[FramerKat]

Hmm..makes me wonder if the belt is what's causing my speed problems...quite erratic and having a hard time nailing it to the correct speed. Mines not a Rega, but thanx for the info...it's helpful anyway!


EDIT: Nevermind...just peeked at the turntable and it says "Precision Direct Drive" so I guess a belt is not the problem. Oops! Sorry about my ignorance.

[JohnMichael]

Hmm..makes me wonder if the belt is what's causing my speed problems...quite erratic and having a hard time nailing it to the correct speed. Mines not a Rega, but thanx for the info...it's helpful anyway!


EDIT: Nevermind...just peeked at the turntable and it says "Precision Direct Drive" so I guess a belt is not the problem. Oops! Sorry about my ignorance.

When the table is turned off spin the platter and see if it spins freely. If it slows down quickly or varies in rotation you may need to check and see if there is a place to lubricate the motor.

[FramerKat]

It seems to be spinning freely...I spun it and it went for about 30 secs after.

[JohnMichael]

Today is my first day spinning vinyl with the new belt. My other Rega belt is only 11 months old so it is in good enough shape to compare to the modified belt. Initial listening makes me think the precision white belt does improve the sound. What I have noticed is a smoother overall sound. Regas are known to run a little fast and the belt seems to help. I will be taking the new belt off to compare to the old belt. I think the new belt is slightly smaller in diameter than the standard Rega Belt. I will be switching belts as I listen to make sure if there is an improvement or not. I wish I had a micrometer to measure the belts thickness. Either way I am having fun with a new tweak.

[Gerard]

I have a 16 years old Planar 3. One of earlier production models that c/w RB300 arm. Use to suffer sound deterioration. That's when I realised maintenance is required. Among P3's reviewer's, I think Ray H did mention the need to lubricate the centre spindle. Like wise, I use manual transmission oil ( SAE 80/90W ) and it works great. I also replaced the arm bearings with instrument grade ones. Threw out the spiral spring as fiddly to re-install. Use RB 250 weight now. Surprise! The Planar 3 now is very revealing. A big jump in performance. I'd really like to share notes on how you all maintain your TT.
Rgds. Gerard

[JohnMichael]

When I replaced the stock subplatter with a machined subplatter it came with new lube and a ruby bearing. I am about due for another oil change. The reason I went with the Planar 2 was because of wanting to avoid the spring downforce adjustment. I recently added the Michell Technoweight to replace the stock counterweight and in the instructions for the RB 300 arm it suggests not using the spring vtf adjustment and using the weight to set tracking force. The Michell Technoweight is a step up in performance that you might want to consider.

[Gerard]

Thanks JM for sharing useful info. How often do you change your oil, and is there any dedicated lube that you use, and may I enquire the source of your machined subplatter. I am from Malaysia ( far east ), and good stuff are hard to come by. As such, I usually buy on line. Local outlets & stores here either sell stuff from Hong Kong, or home grown ones, and half of the time, those stuff hardly worked as claimed. By the way, you are right about the spring vtf, after I threw it out, my TT sounded much, much better. Oh yes, the Michell Techno Weight, any reliable "buy on line" source you can recommend will be helpful.
Thanks & Regards,
Gerard

[Luvin Da Blues]

Hi Gerard,

The Michell Technoweight is a definite improvement. The lower bass has more slam and surface noise is reduced. Here is one link for you

http://www.needledoctor.com/J-A-Mitc...c=2&category=6

Cheers,

LDB

[Gerard]

Thanks LDB, for needledoctor's link. Just browse thru' and my! do they have serious stuff there. Pity it's way out of my budget, hang on, I can afford the Technoweight.
Thanks & Regards,
Gerard

[JohnMichael]

www.musicdirect.com is another source for the Technoweight and also the Deep Groove subplatter I mentioned. While on their site they have a number of Rega tweaks you might enjoy seeing.

[Gerard]

Thanks JM for the musicdirect link, you must have read my mind, musicdirect has stuff that is within my budget. Others carry stuff that I can only dream about. Once again, Thanks & Regards,
Gerard