Well maybe not actually fun but... Some of you may have read Michael Fremer's comments recently in Stereophile about the Rega P3 turntable running too fast. I have a Planar 3 that I bought new in December 1997, and in my experience, this is true. Over time I noticed how it ran slightly fast - about 1% - but I didn't know how to fix the problem, until recently. Between a few private e-mails with Michael and remembering Steve's posts from a while back about how they used to vary the speed of the tape decks at Gold Star Studio back in the day by putting masking tape on the capstans, I decided to put some masking on my Rega. If you have a Planar 3 or a P3, take off the glass platter. Then remove the belt. Get some masking tape that is either the same or of slightly smaller width compared to the plastic subplatter on the Rega. If you can't find the correct size tape, then just cut what you can find to a narrower width. Try to get tape that is not too smooth or "slick" feeling on it's non-adhesive side (but not abrasive either - use your judgement) so that the belt makes contact with something that's not slippery, or otherwise it'll probably cause audible W&F. Now start taping. Take care to make sure the tape goes on smoothly and evenly and doesn't "overhang" the top or bottom of the subplatter. When you get to the point where the tape is going to meet the spot where you originally started to apply the tape, stop taping. Be careful to not leave either a "bump" from tape overlapping, or a "gap" from the two ends not meeting. You may have to have the "tail" of the tape just barely overlap and then leave a little bit of tape out not adhere, so you can more easily remove the excess after you do the following: Get a fairly sharp pocket knife with a nice thin edge and CAREFULLY, gradually score the spot where the two ends of the tape meet, so you can remove that little bit of excess tape without leaving a gap in tape or a "bump" due to overlap. Make sure the spot where the each end of the piece of tape meet is smooth. I just did this earlier today, and in my experience so far, it's worked well and sounds fine - I got rid of approximately half of the speed error - it's probably around .05% fast now (instead of the previous appx. 0.1%). Before putting the belt back on, you may want to try putting a little bit of talcum powder on the belt. Make sure it's coated evenly, but not excessively and without any "lumps" of powder - try running the belt between your fingers (have a little powder on your fingers while doing this) to ensure it's coated evenly. I've been doing this for a little less than a year now, and it hasn't caused any damage. BTW - I accept no blame or responsibility for anyone causing harm to their turntable by trying any of this out - YMMV
