How many people with Rega tables and running a non Rega cartridge shim for VTA

I have a Benz cart which is 2mm taller than Rega carts and I use a 2mm spacer from Acoustic Signature. These spacers are in two pieces which slide together so you only have to slightly loosen the arm and slide each piece under. Excellent design imo.

Edit - I see they have already been mentioned above.

 

I second this question. The Classic is my dream table. I can't imagine liking any Rega more than the Classic line. Really interested to hear why you don't like the VPI.

 

Sorry, can't get into it on the forums. It will just get deleted anyway. The Ministry of Truth ideology prohibits it. haha

 

I have non-Rega carts on my two tables & use the Rega spacer with a 4mm shim on one and have a continually adjustable micrometer on the other.

Both are set to leave the base of the cart horizontal & parallel with a 'standard thickness' LP (whatever that is !) and any supposed differences are probably going to be imaginary rather than real at the sort of tiny variations we are talking about.

As vinyl thickness varies from pretty thin on a 45rpm single or EP, up to to a 200gm LP, I preferred to set it and then just enjoy the music !

 

I was using the Denon DL103R without any VTA adjustment om my RP3 for a while but I found the treble very rolled off and the whole thing was a bit dull and slightly muddy in the midrange. Now, I put washers under the arm mount to give a 2mm lift. The difference is not subtle! Far better treble and no muddyness.
Roy Gandy may say VTA does not matter but for the Denon DL103R I found it matters a great deal! I also prefer Berwald to Stevenson for this cartridge.

 

I'm using a 2mm spacer (Acoustic Signature) on my RP6 with a Dynavector 20x2L, and it sounds amazing. I did change out the counterweight to the tungsten to deal with the dustcover issue. Actually, I started with a Groovetracer counterweight, but I just didn't like it....I never felt like I was getting it set right. I'm going to be selling it on here soon.

 

I'm using the 4mm setting of the rega 3 point adjustable spacer with a 2m bronze on an rp3. It sounds great to me. One of these days I'll try the 2mm setting, but I'm in no hurry to do so.

 

I'm using a Dynavector 20XH on a Rega P9 with no shim.

 

When in retail, sold 100s of Rega turntables, all without shims, but did use some Rega shims when mounting RB300s on Roksan turntables.

Some customers had fitted different shims, but usually had the arm collar loose - any advantage in VTA was immediately lost, along with the mechanical integrity and musical information.

A good spanner and common sense not to smash up the bearing housing (seen a few of those destroyed), is required.

Mechanical integrity is desirable, broken isn't!

 

Used to use the 2mm shim but then got a thinner mat so removed it - much nicer solution IMO.

 

On my RP3, I just used simple nylon washers from my local hardware store on the three tonearm screws under the arm base. Worked perfectly. About 5 minutes and 75 cents to try!

 

2mm shim on my P3 to accommodate the AT440-MLa cart.

And IMO, a much better solution is for Rega to VTA on their turntables.

 

Don't hold your breath. That's one of the reasons I don't like Regas and finally sold my P5.

John K.

 

I'm basically just using the 2mm shim because I have it. It would be extremely hard to say if I hear any difference between having it on or not. There are a lot of arguments between both sides of that matter. To my ears, using very revealing equipment it's left in the realm of maybe/maybe not. Given my cartridge is 4.8mm off from the factory setup using a Rega cartridge I figured it couldn't hurt. The old VPI table I had was using the adjustable tower and I'd be dammed if I could hear any real difference there outside of an extreme adjustment one way or the other, but at a $1000 difference on some tables to have that adjustment I can see why manufacturers (and their hired gun supporters on the internet) would want to push this matter.

Here is a quote from Roy Gandy :

Hi-Fi+: Why don’t Rega tonearms offer provisions for VTA/SRA adjustment?

RG: Basically, knowing what we do about tolerances for stylus positioning within cartridge cantilevers, we do not really accept that the concept of VTA adjustment is valid or beneficial. Consider this: to the best of our knowledge, even the best cartridge makers are only able to achieve stylus positioning accurate to within about a 2 degree tolerance window—but not better than that. Now ask yourself why it is desirable to trim stylus positioning by fractions of a degree, when the stylus’ starting position might fall (and in practice does fall) literally anywhere within a two-degree window. We aren’t saying you won’t hear sonic changes when you attempt VTA adjustments, but we think those changes could just as well be due to minute changes in tracking force, or even to the tightness of set screws, etc. used in VTA adjustment mechanisms. This same line of thought, by the way, is also why we do not see the need for radial tracking tonearms.

Link if you want to read the whole interview:

Meet Your Maker: Hi-Fi+ Visits Rega Research »

Sounds fantastic as is so I'm happy.

 

Strange thing. He agrees on that their own cart manufacturing is having tolerances on +-2 degrees. And in the same time say he don't want people to have a chance to correct this tolerance by allowing VTA change. The whole thing with adjustments on stuff is to cancel out tolerance issues from production. But maybe not at Rega then.

Btw, really recommend this 3 point VTA adjuster from Michell Engineering.

New Rega 3-Point VTA Adjuster | Michell Engineering »

 

Personally I don´t think that VTA is that particularly important, within limits of course. For some styli it´s better to look at SRA. But in principle the adjustments is done more effectively by adjusting the VTF, not raising or lowering the arm pivot.

 

Last week I've bought a new Rega Planar 3 with Ortofon 2M Bronze.
The cartridge was installed by my retailer and his advice was the same as that of Rega (Roy Gandy): shims are not that important.
I feel comfortable with it and it sounds great.

 

Actually, no, what he said was even the best cartridge manufacturers can't get the tolerance down. So at some level, these very expensive cartridge manufacturers are suggesting that +/-2 is quite acceptable.

 

95 bucks!!!!! hell of a price

 

I run a humble 2M Blue on mine. Couldn't hear difference with or without a 2mm shim, so I'm running it without one.

With my SL1200 I came to the same conclusion as you did. VTA had to be way off to hear a difference. As in the whole tail up vs tail down thing.

I've always thought if you could hear big differences with minute VTA adjustments you'd have to be in hell with all the slightly warped vinyl out there

 

As an update, I recently purchased a Planar 3 and put the 2M Bronze on there with a 2mm spacer. I can't detect any major differences from the same cart on an RP3 at 4mm, and any improvements I do notice may be because of the new table.

The RP3 now has a AT 440MLa on it at with the arm at 4mm. I could go higher with the adjustable spacer, but it sounds quite good the way it is.

 

Just installed the 2M Bronze on my RP3 a couple weeks ago, it sounds great with no shim but I am awaiting a Isokinetik 3 mm shim in the mail to see if there is an difference or improvement.

 

Some stylus profiles are more sensitive to VTA and azimuth than others. The blue- not so much.
However- if you do the trig- 2mm height change is equivalent to only 1/4 degree of VTA change. You ain't hearing that small of a change! I have found that it takes at least 4mm height change (1/2 degree VTA) to hear a difference in stylus profiles that are sensitive to VTA.

 

Totally agree. But no other spacer is as quick and easy to install and adjust and nothing even comes close to how great these look. The Rega universal is a fugly afterthought.

 

Actually, these should be easy to replicate with a 3D printer..