My new Rega Ania sounds grainy/etchy--anything I can do?

Obviously that is what the poster above was doing, he's just relaying his experience after getting an even more disappointing replacement. I'm not sure why there is such a lack of sympathy for fellow consumers here sometimes.

 

This may not work at all. It was an issue I remember on the last Rega arm setup I had. The plastic nut that holds the arm tight to the arm board, make sure it is not over tight. I used a wrench to tighten it so it was super tight. I noticed a lack of dynamics and hash on the vocals. This was using a brand new AN IQ3 (goldring). I tried every adjustment possible. TF, VTA, VTF, Azimuth, arm height. Nothing solved it. Then due to nothing else I could possibly adjust, I loosened the arm nut and only hand tightened it. My god it sounded so much better. All the issues I was having were mitigated. Have no idea if this will work for you or anyone else. But it worked for me. The table was an Audio Note badged Systemdeck with the acrylic platter. No guarantees given or implied. Takes less than a minute to try it.

 

Yes there was a bad batch if Anias last year, and Rega and their US distributor, knows it. But you or your dealer needs to push them for a replacement.... If in fact this is one of those bad carts.

 

Apparently ongoing if the poster above has gotten two bad ones in a row.

 

Maybe I should have been more clear. I wasn’t responding to any one individual. I’ve had great success with my Rega gear. I also think very highly of Rega’s engineering approach. But obviously there are some other issues at play here as others have pointed out. Even I would only be willing to put up with so much myself. Hopefully both Rega themselves as well as the dealers involved make things right without too much grief on the part of the customers. The Ania is a wonderful cartridge when it’s working properly. But there are plenty of others to choose from as well.

 

That would depend on where the additional cartridges were sourced from.

 

It may not be ongoing, just two from the same bad batch. Any new ones made this year have been corrected.

 

OK, but if people are still getting bad ones then the problem is ongoing

 

The probably is that unlike the Tylenol® scare, they don't do a recall. Some older stock may have issues. You just have to have your dealer order new and request and make sure it is a new manufacture.

 

That's how mine sounded.

I'm beginning to think the Ania is like that dress that some people saw as gold, others saw as blue.

 

I’m not sure. I know that I have a pretty neutral/revealing system. If I’m getting warm and detailed from it, that’s the signature. It is warmer and has more detail than the exact which I’ve used for years. I also have mine loaded at 100ohms.

 

I believe you, but for me the Exact was much warmer and fuller than the Ania, which only bested the Exact in detail retrieval. I was using Rega's specified settings for both carts. The Exact is a great cartridge and is what I would get if I ever go back to MM on my RP3.

 

I second that Exact is much warmer and fuller than Ania, I've tried them both on my Rega (both setup by my dealer). If you like your carts uncolored, then Ania beats Exact, and it has better instrument separation also. However Exact has a wonderful 'drive' that Ania doesn't IMO.

 

Might as well - I assure you, interconnects are not the issue - seems like is a hugely noticeable problem, more like a performance issue.

1.- Check level of the turntable
2.- Try a different alignment
3.- I do not believe break-in will make a huge difference, but in your case as you mention I suspect performance parameters/conditions - things might get better in 50 hours or so

v

 

I don't know. All I can report is what I hear and that is the Ania is a stellar cartridge for the price. Much better than the Exact and the Exact is a fantastic cartridge,. Maybe the difference is a RP8 vs RP3.

 

I adjust my tracking force by ear, and the lightest which does not mistrack or distort. Varies depending on cartridge and tonearm. Like this post x 1,000 times. Great advice.

 

I just got my first Ania and so far am really liking it with no issues. I read tis thread before purchasing it as I was reading up on reviews, etc. and now I just want to check that it's installed correctly as I know you can't always trust factory fitted. My question is this, should the cantilever sits exactly in line with the part of the pointed part of the Ania headshell?

 

Good question. My cantilever is perfectly in line with the point on the cart body when the tonearm is in the lifted position...pretty much the same when in the groove also. If your cantilever is pulling to one side while listening to a record it could be a bias/anti-skate issue?

 

I got my Ania back in early March. It sounded good for a couple of hours I seem to recall then went downhill (like the flick of a switch). Terrible mid range distortion and excess surface noise. I checked all aspects of the turntable, arm and cartridge set up, swapped the Ania for an old Ortofon MC15 and finaly bought a stock Denon DL-103 just to have something to play my vinyl. Both cartridges are totally listenable (unlike the Ania) and I quite like the Denon considering it's price. Having eliminated every other aspect of the system's performance in an atempt to isolate the issue I've concluded the Ania is a dud. I'ts going back to the factory for investigation as soon as lockdown has lifted and Rega reopen. There is no way I could get to 100-150 hours usage with the listening experience as it stands. It's truly awful.

 

I'm several hours into a just broken in Ania purchased from a forum member. It replaced an Exact and is clearly better IMO. It has the same general frequency balance, with a welcome dash of top end extension and air. Its more dynamic, more transparent, and improved the soundstage width. Tracking force at 1.78 right now and haven't experimented with it yet. Also, no hum in the runout groove, which wasn't really noticeable during playback but you always wonder. Not going back.

 

How many hours to you actually have playing the cartridge? Have you allowed sufficient break-in time?

 

Seller said about 100 hours on it when sold to me. I’ve added about 5 to that total in the last few days.

 

Yeah, that doesn't sound right. New or used?

 

I just got an Ania MC with my Rega P6. It has about 50 x hours on it.. I'm not happy.. I literally play records muted just to break it in hoping it won't always suck.. I'm extremely unhappy.. I hate to return this after 100 hours of break in.. But.. I have to wait at least that long before it will sound decent.. I even got the traction force weighed on a digital scale. It's 2 grams exact.. It made a very slight difference.. I guess I'll wait it out and reply here with my findings.. I'll really want this to work... But.. At this point my Pro-Ject vertical with the custom Ortofon Blue install blows this away.. I have a Pro-Ject Tube Box S2.. And running 100 ohms and the max Impedance . As I understand the 100 ohms is the most important.. My config is correct.. I just feel it needs to break in...

 

If it does sound so bad out of the box I would not expect any wonder with break-in and send it back !
Mine sounded fine from new ...