Do Rega 'tables run fast?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by eyeCalypso, Dec 6, 2016.

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  1. thxphotog

    thxphotog Camera Nerd Cycling Nerd Guitar Nerd Dietary Nerd

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    33.6 for my RP40
     
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  2. Sir Talbot Buxomly

    Sir Talbot Buxomly Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland
    For what it's worth, if you have a Rega deck that has the motor attached to the plinth via the sticky pads, it may have drifted forwards slightly due to the belt tension. If possible, try re-seating the motor a bit further back, i.e. move it north away from the main bearing. This should slow it down a touch. Of course it may drift back, but my recommendation is an off-plinth motor support like the Michael Lim Isolation Base. This can be moved around under the plinth until you're happy with the speed, and it has the added advantage of completely eliminating any motor vibrations.
     
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  3. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    Wall voltage would affect the speed of a DC motor if the power supply were unregulated, but it isn't. AC motors ' speed is set by frequency, not voltage.
     
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  4. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    Not to people with perfect pitch....but that's a tiny section of the buying public.

    There was an experiment done years go with a turntable and a variable frequency drive with an unmarked dial in which people were asked to set the speed of the turntable where they thought it ought to be.
    Almost everyone ran it be higher than it was really supposed to be.

    My guess is that there is a spread of manufacturing tolerances and they put the "bogey" value a little over the correct speed because slower (flat) gets complaints faster then higher (sharp).

    Commercial products are usually built for merchantability over correctness if there is a conflict between those two.

    As I have said before.....there IS a fix and it isn't that hard. There needs to be a tonewheel on the platter, a sensor and a small counter board to indicate true RPM. But no one is interested.
     
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  5. Upinsmoke

    Upinsmoke Well-Known Member

    Location:
    SE PA
    33.3 on my RP10. 33.3 on my friends RP6 and 33.3 on another friends RP3. From what I have seen newer models have no issues. Jeff Dorgay even said every Rega he's tested has been spot on too. I wouldn't put too much faith into cell phone measurements. It's not like they were designed for that purpose or calibrated in any way to perform that with 100% certainty.
     
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  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    There's a platter speed app.
     
  7. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    The only way to measure speed accurately is with a strobe disc.
    100% analogue and 100% reliable.
    The best strobe that I know is the KAB strobe disc BTW.
     
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  8. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    Turntalulator. Can't say how accurate it is, but I have a strobe disc and now use Turntabulator.
     
  9. empirelvr

    empirelvr "That's *just* the way it IS!" - Paul Anka

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    Which is why the great majority of Pop/Rock radio stations "back in the day" used to run their turntables 3% to 5% fast. All the NYC stations did it. WABC and WMCA (in their Top-40 music days) WNEW-FM, WPLJ-FM... it was a very common trick to make the music sound more forceful and shave time for more music or commercials. It was done at my college radio station too. In fact, it was such a set policy you got reprimanded if you played records exactly at speed.
     
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  10. The FRiNgE

    The FRiNgE Forum Resident

    As a music lover as a kid, I remember the sped up songs of WABC, WMCA, etc. and did not mind at all. As a musician from my early teens, I grew to hate it. Fast pitch drives me insane, removes the soul and musicality of a song.
     
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  11. FashionBoy

    FashionBoy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Sorry this is OT but what did you prefer about the RP6 over the other tables? PM if you prefer.
     
  12. dianos

    dianos Forum Resident

    Location:
    The North
    The Rega tolerances are as below.

    P3/RP6 33.266 - 33.5
    RP8 33.266 - 33.42
    RP10 33.30 - 33.366
     
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  13. delmonaco

    delmonaco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    They run fast for the first couple of years, then starts to run slow, and at the end they just stops running at all.
     
  14. Cute !
     
  15. dynamicalories

    dynamicalories Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peekskill, NY
    I just tried Turntabulator out on my RP6 and got 33.58, which is says is "ideal."
     
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  16. edmondbob

    edmondbob Forum Resident

    Location:
    High Desert
    Changing the subject a bit from turntables making all discs run fast but for all the speed accuracy worriers out there think about whether the cutting machine that made the master lacquer is running spot on. Of course lack of QC in any studio and/or pressing plant is unheard of so no need to freet.
     
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  17. ellaguru

    ellaguru Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milan
    somehow my 10 year old P1 with a glass platter and a white belt is right on with the strobe disc a friend brought over and the phone app. another feller i know has a P3 and my deaf ears can hear that thing running fast.
     
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  18. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    Good Bob Dylan lyric :)
     
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  19. AmericanHIFI

    AmericanHIFI Long live analog (and current digital).

    Location:
    California
    Yes, just a bit. Depending on your cartridge's stylus profile you may get a bit of help in slowing it down due to stylus drag. I wouldn't worry about it. You can't hear it. Much better to be slightly fast than slow, IMHO.
     
  20. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    Just for a sense of perspective, Fremer says the Rega he reviewed ran 0.2% fast. 33-1/3 plus two-tenths of 1% of 33-1/3 is 33.4. That's a very small variation, smaller than most of the report here, which seem to range in the 33.6-33.7 range.
     
  21. AmericanHIFI

    AmericanHIFI Long live analog (and current digital).

    Location:
    California
    Yes, I read the report and know Michael. He's known to be very forthright and somewhat picky. Yet, he loves everything Rega turntables.
     
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  22. Gaspode

    Gaspode Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Aylesbury, UK
    So I've a new (as in brought last week)with a few day 1 upgrades namely the Edwards Audio Little Belter (Blue Belt), TT-AH sub platter and there basic acrylic platter and i'm reading on Turntabulator 33.26 RPM which seems more than acceptable to me but the opposite of everyones faster running (I suspect thats the little belter) ..
    so is the same 0.2% as Fremer but the otherway. to be honest I dont see this as an issue ... you can get too hung up on this stuff lol
     
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  23. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    My old P3-24 ran fast, that's with Groovetracer upgrades as well. By how much I do not know. It was very stable speedwise though so you'd never ever notice it unless comparing playback to digital versions and the vinyl versions ended up being a few seconds shorter. Certainly didn't ever detract from the music enjoyment.
     
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  24. Morbius

    Morbius Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookline, MA
    SandAndGlass gave me a like on this post and when I gave it a look I realized from someone elses correct post in another thread ( I don't remember which one) that the Rega motor is actually 24V AC motor. I verified this with my TTPSU instruction manual where it states (...fed from a stabilized DC power supply, generates a 24V AC balanced signal...). If I have this straight, sorry for any misrepresentation.
     
  25. brillwill

    brillwill Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Texas
    my RP40 ran at a constant 33.5

    traded it for a VPI, and ultimately Technics SL1200GAE. Now the speed is perfect
     
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