Rega VTF

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Tablet Man, Sep 13, 2018.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Tablet Man

    Tablet Man Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Midlands
    What do you guys use to fine tune VTF on Rega arms? The dial on the right hand side or the counter weight?

    Cheers
     
  2. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    No, the dial below the arm is for anti skating, if thats what you mean. The Rega decks dont have any way to tell what VTF is in use, you need a digital scale to check.

    I see you have an RP8 as well, impressive. Did you just get it?
     
  3. Tablet Man

    Tablet Man Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Midlands
    I'm on about the VTF dial on the right hand side not the anti skate.
    It's an rb808, I have a digital scale and wondering which is best to fine tune
     
  4. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Didnt know it had a VTF dial. How does that work?
    Digital scales are always more accurate however, I would recommend that.
     
  5. Tablet Man

    Tablet Man Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Midlands
    I don't think you get what I mean.
    I know what the tracking force is as I use my digi scale, but what's the best way to adjust it, counter weight or side dial
     
  6. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Oh I see. Dont dare to comment as I dont know how the dial functions. Therefore I would use the counterweight. But lets see if other users have tested both.
     
  7. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    I find balancing the arm with the counterweight as Rega recommends and then getting it within the ball park based on the indications on the dial then fine tune with a scale. The dial gets you to within a few tenths of a gram of where you want it to be. I use a Shure beam scale to set my VTF and find it very accurate.
     
    Robert M., macster, dbsea and 2 others like this.
  8. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    I set the VTF dial to it's maximum setting, and then adjust the counterweight for tracking force.

    Supposedly, setting the VTF dial to "max" takes the spring in the VTF dial out of the equation, so that it doesn't ring/vibrate.
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  9. Dougr33

    Dougr33 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Twin Cities, MN
    I had read years ago, when I had an RB300, a tweak was to zero out the dial (to take its spring out of play, and thus reduce some 'effect' on the sound) and just use a scale and the counterweight. Can't remember the details.

    Edit: per the new, above this one, post... I couldn't remember which way the dial was turned to remove the spring's affect.
     
    33na3rd and Leonthepro like this.
  10. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Thats a good idea. Since you mention its a spring function I imagine that any slight kilter then can affect the bias in the table somewhat as well.
     
  11. Vinylanswer.net

    Vinylanswer.net Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York,NY
    I've tried this a few ways with the goal being to get the counterweight as close to the pivot point as possible while also getting the spring in the dial to where it's not effecting the sound. I found, with help from a friend who is a distributor for several great cartridges, that turning the dial to 1 and then Moving the counterweight was the best sound for me.
    I should mention though that I've swapped the original counterweight with a groovetracer weight that is heavier than the stock rega weight.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  12. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    I've got a Michell TecnoWeight on my RB-600. It was Michell's advice to move the VTF dial to max.

    https://www.takefiveaudio.com/PDF/Michell_Technoweight.PDF

    I admire your patience & stamina to test the different combinations of both methods to get the best from your set up!
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  13. Tablet Man

    Tablet Man Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Midlands
    Thanks lads, gonna have a mess around
     
    33na3rd and Leonthepro like this.
  14. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I got the RB202(newest version has auto anti-skate which I do NOT like) instead of the RB303 to avoid the spring 'issue'. Plus it was cheaper. LOL. What I do with my Garrard Lab 80(and this will work with any tonearm with 'dialed in' tracking force): float the tonearm using the counterweight to level. Dial in one gram(or whatever you like), check with accurate gauge like the Shure balance beam(which is also great for adjusting the vertical bearings on old AR XA's and XB's) and then adjust the counterweight so that the tracking force on the gauge and tonearm match. I have the Groovetracer counterweight. PIA to set that thing. Wish I had bought the Technoweight instead.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  15. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    The TecnoWeight can be a bit of a PITA too. Every time you tighten the allen screw on the counter weight, the scale shows a different value than you were striving for or you notice that the weight is crooked. I almost miss a nice round counter weight with a scale on it! :cool:
     
    PhxJohn likes this.
  16. Leonthepro

    Leonthepro Skeptically Optimistic

    Location:
    Sweden
    Yeah I hate that they removed the anti skate on the new RB arms, further makes Rega less easy to fit with carts of your choice.
     
    PhxJohn likes this.
  17. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    I set the weight with a Shure teeter totter scale as close as I can get to with the counterweight. I do have a Michell counterweight on my P5 (RB700). Fine adjustments are with the dial. I really don't care what it reads. I adjust from zero to whatever balances the scale. I do the same thing with my P3 with the standard Rega counterweight. Then I move the antiskate plunger until the tetter totter moves and I move it back until it balances. Then if I have to I adjust the antiskate by ear or use a test record. Usually I don't have to do much of a further adjustments on the bias.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  18. Bob_in_OKC

    Bob_in_OKC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas
    I set the dial at 2 and adjusted the tracking force to 2 grams measured with a Shure gauge. From then on, I make adjustments with the dial. I’ve been aware for years of the tweak to cancel out the spring in the dial. I don’t think my ears are quite that good, though.
     
  19. Echoes Myron

    Echoes Myron Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Set dial to zero then use counterweight to "float" the arm. You are now at zero.

    then adjust dial to desired VTF and measure with a scale. Fine tune with dial.
     
    chili555 likes this.
  20. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I have always found Rega's antiskate to be way too much when set to match tracking force. I have already read some posts about excessive antiskate on the Planar 2. I think it was a mistake to add 'auto'(it ain't auto...it be fixed) to the RB220 which otherwise is a great tonearm. I upgraded from the RB101 to RB202. Night and day difference.
     
    Leonthepro likes this.
  21. Vinylanswer.net

    Vinylanswer.net Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York,NY
    I had tried that. I felt like there were odd resonant frequencies that I heard when the dial was at either max or min. At putting it at 1 allowed me some wiggle room to move in either direction if I need to for any reason.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  22. 33na3rd

    33na3rd Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW Washington, USA
    Sounds like a good idea.
    I like the idea of being able to tweak the VTF without having to loosen/tighten an allen screw every time.

    I will have to try this on a rainy day!
     
    PhxJohn likes this.
  23. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I dread adjusting the Groovetracer counterweight. You get the VTF you want and then it changes while tightening the set screw. And the two weights always want to hang to one side or the other. Plus, it looks like bollocks. LOL. Should have gotten the Technoweight.





































    +33333
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  24. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    I know some advocate for setting the adjustment on 3 grams and just adjusting the counterweight, but I basically do the opposite. Seemingly like vinylontubes above, I set the ring to zero and get the counterweight placed so that I have just slightly less force than I need, and then make fine adjustments with the ring. This allows the weight to be placed closer to the pivot point. I'm not concerned with any issues some may have with the spring. I use the original stainless weight that came with my RB-300, though eventually want to replace it with the tungsten weight so it can be place even closer to the pivot point. I don't quite understand the use of a dropped counterweight on a Rega arm, since it's not a unipivot.

    I can't even imagine using an "automatic" adjustment for anti-skate...how does Rega know what kind of cartridge/stylus I'm using, and what type of alignment. I'm guessing it might work if using some kind of Rega cartridge, but even then seems to make as much sense as them saying not to wet vacuum a record. Maybe even less.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2018
    PhxJohn likes this.
  25. PhxJohn

    PhxJohn Forum Resident

    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    I believe the antiskate on the Rega RB220 is set for 2 grams VTF. I apologize for the blank lines on my previous post. Looks like my cat got onto the keyboard. She has managed to fire off emails in the past.

    The reason I have a dropped counterweight is to clear the dustcover when the tonearm post was raised to get the correct VTA for my very tall Ortofon Quintet Blue.
     
    MMM likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine