Poll: Do you use a Rega or a 3rd party cartridge on your Rega turntable?

Picked up my P5 used with no cartridge. Ran an AT150MLX on it which sounded good, but running a DV20X2L now which sounds amazing.

 

Question for you...which retip did you get and what did Peter recommend?
I will be facing the same issue at some point!

 

On my Rega 25 I now have a NOS Super Elys. Before that I was running a Dynavector 20Xh. I sent the Dyna off to Soundsmith (for the $250 rebuild) in Nov. and put the Super Elys I had had for several years but was brand new on. I haven't felt the need to put the Dyna back on yet.

 

Not me. I have an RP40 with the Exclusive Elys40 MM and don't wanna open yet another 'tweak' can-o-worms by changing it. Ignorance is bliss for me here. One day I'm quite sure I'll go down that road but not now. At the moment it sounds great to me.

 

On the RP3 I just sold, I tried the ElysII that came with it and I think it is now my least favorite cart I ever owned! I put the 2M Black on it and added three small nylon washers as spacers and all was great until I got my Scout!

 

I enjoyed the Elys 2 on my RP1 but not so much when I had one on a P3-2000. When I bought my Well Tempered Simplex the only decent cartridge I had at the time was my Elys 2 and I had very low expectations. I was quite surprised how good it sounded on the Well Tempered. Had the suspension not failed on it I would have kept it on there for awhile. The Exact with RP6 just sounds right to me. I was pleasantly surprised. When I first ordered the RP6 I ordered it without the cartridge with the intention to use my 2M Blue. Heck I even ordered a spacer. The next morning, after a night to sleep on it, I changed my mind and amended my order to include the Exact and I am glad I did. Splendid.

 

OK, maybe not quite worth the double post (my apologies) but hardly pointless commentary. If a mechanical structure becomes taller in profile by 14%, in effect it becomes (potentially) unstable with 14% less energy input than it did when it was shorter. Depending on the design margin, being 14% less structurally rigid could put the arm into a resonance mode during operation. Probably not, but without analysis and testing, you not be certain. In this anal audiophile world, raising the tone arm 14% higher is a modification that is in the opposite direction of allowing the tone arm to produce optimized sound quality.
The other point was the cost of the spacer shims. Say if you don't care for the Rega carts, one now needs to add 100 bucks to the cost of their non-Rega option. Kind of like a penalty. Not a deal breaker, but a point I would want to understand if I were in the market for a turntable. Especially when you consider the available Rega carts.
The often included Rega Elys does not seem to be universally loved. So if you forgo the "spacer" option required for the third party cart, your next bet is the Exact cartridge that retails for 600 dollars. Hopefully you would like this one or buy from dealer with a liberal return policy. Maybe the dealer would throw in the magical white belt if you weren't happy with the sound quality.

 

RP3 with a Dynavector 20xH. Recommended by Bill, set up by Bill, and thank you, Bill. Great combo.

 

OP here. At this point it looks pretty conclusive. Only 22.2% Rega turntable owners participating in this poll use Rega cartridges. 77.8% use third party.

Thanks to everyone that voted.

 

The best vinyl playback I've ever heard was a P5 with Exact. Magical, and I'm not even a vinyl guy. I think Rega knows their business. So why the (relative) disdain for their cartridges?

 

I wonder that too. There cannot be one single reason, because, for example, Elys 2 and Exact sound NOTHING like each other. Hard to believe they are even made by the same company. There may be reasons for disliking either, but it is impossible to dislike both for the same reason.

 

I have no idea. I was talking to a friend tonight who is a dealer (not Rega) and he has no idea either. We both feel that Rega cartridges are very MM cartridges. I'm listening to an Exact as I type and it's just wonderful.

 

I've owned both and there is some truth here. They share a basic tonality that is similar...and that is about it. Resolution, tracking and so many other elements are better with the Exact. It really is twice as good.

 

I will admit that my bias plays into it - I tend to go for one-brand systems, on the theory that there's coherence and clarity when a given musical/design ethos is adhered to. (I've owned all-Rega and all-Naim systems; hoo boy, why did I stray from the true path...)

 

I've got the Exact mounted on my P25 and love the sound.

 

I agree about the resolution and tracking. Also, Exact suppresses record background noise and crackle dramatically compared to the Elys 2.

I don't, however, hear the tonality as similar. The Exact has tight bass and excellent, yet non-exaggerated treble extension. The upper midrange, however, is just too aggressive for me, fatally so. With the Elys 2, on the other hand, the bass is voluminous, but not as controlled as the Exact, the lower midrange is extremely juicy and exciting, the upper midrange inoffensive, but lacking the resolution of the Exact. The treble is rolled off a bit, especially when loaded with 47k. Overall, the Exact sounds to me clear and precise, but dry. The Elys 2 sounds vintage and charming. Even with all the quirks, I ultimately prefer the Elys 2. But I only listen to 60-70s rock. If I listened to vocal, classical or jazz, I would likely prefer the Exact.

 

Interesting. Nothing at all aggressive about the Exact to me and I am very sensitive to upper mid and high frequency energy. The Exact is extraordinarily well balanced to me. Makes me think something else is amiss. Every cartridge I have owned is brighter with the exception of the Elys 2. I have never had an easier to listen to cartridge than the Exact.

 

I don't know. I have listened to at least seven different setups with the Exact (not always the same cartridge). At home with three different phono preamps and amplifiers, at two dealers' listening rooms with systems way out of my league. Over the period of a year. It's always the same. Something about the sound from that cartridge makes me cringe. My wife feels the same way. We once listened to an RP3 thinking it had Elys 2, didn't like it, then found out it had an Exact.

 

My wife loves it and so does my friends wife...chalk it up to different strokes. Never and I do mean never have I heard of anyone preferring the Elys 2 to the Exact. Folks generally hate them both or prefer the Exact. Strange indeed.

 

Currently 2M Black on my RP6 with 2mm spacer. Sounds way better than the 10x5 I had been using before.

 

I had a P25 with a Benz Glider.
Now I use a P9 with a Benz Wood.
Maybe I get a Ruby or LP in 2016.

 

I had a Rega Super Elys (pretty much what the Elys2 is now, as I understand it), and was severely underwhelmed. Never heard an Exact, but based on my experience (and the non-replaceable nature of the stylus) all Rega carts have never been a contender for me since.

 

Thank you!
-Bill

 

Not really a valid conclusion by looking at the poll results here. Quite a few reasons but perhaps most importantly is that there are many cartridge mfrs and many, many models of cartridges. Rega only offers 4 where Ortofon might have as many as 40, I've never even counted them but the selection and range is huge. So 20% of users, even if from such a small sample is a pretty surprisingly large percentage IMO. Another reason is that one of the options doesn't even include the prerequisite of having ever heard a Rega cartridge, so most users would fall into the category of "only used 3rd party cartridges" without having any comparative experience. I even answered as the last category of having used a Rega cartridge but now using a 3rd party cartridge, and it was because I didn't like the Rega cartridge (I still have it), rather that I like my $1k LOMC cartridge even better than any other cartridge which I might be able to afford, regardless of brand.
-Bill

 

As noted in my original post I had an Exact2, went to the Dynavector. The point of the shims for me is to keep the Dynavector at essentially the same parallel level as the Exact. Other than that I don't worry too much about VTA as some do. Same with attempting to calculate (or even hear) the change in sound due to raising the arm with the sims. Even Rega sells options for raising the arm, so worrying about an arm becoming more unstable due to shims is to me pointless.

John K.