Hi. As I am a newbie to this forum (and to vinyl as well, half a year) I need your insights on upgrading my low end setup. Current set up: Rega Planar 1 with Rega Carbon Cambridge Audio Topaz SR20 Wharfedale Diamond 225 Wireworld Luna 7 I want to upgrade a cart, but I am stuck with deciding the right one. I listen various genres, mostly from old releases (50-70's soul, jazz, funk), as well as newly issued releases from ECM, a bit of psychodelic rock and electronic music. My budget for the new cart is up to 170€ (150£). After long searches through various forums, reviews on youtube, I have few choises: 1. Nagaoka MP-110 (130€). I am sure that I would need at least 2mm spacers from Rega (which is no problem), but after that the lid would not close up. Groovetracer counterwight (189$ exl. shipping) does't look a reasonable choise in my case. Maybe there are any counterweight alternatives to Groovetracer? 2. AT VM95ML (170€). I think that it would take a lot more efforts to set up it properly because of its more advanced stylus. Am I correct? I would ask local dealer to set up it for me, however It would be good to know that he would not inccur any surprices when setting it up However, I did not find any info wether I will need spacers and (or) different counterweight. As my Rega is the most basic model you can get and it does not have customizable features, is it a good idea to put ML cart on it in the first place? Maybe elip. nude? Comparing this model to VM540ML (259€) is it the upper league or just 10% improvement to VM95ML? What other cart choises do I have? Hopefully by the summer I will buy a preamp. My No1 choice was Schiit Mani, but then those RFI forum threads were found. Now I am thinking about Rega Fono MM mk3 (259€) or Cambridge Audio Solo (179€). What are the alternatives? I know there we a lot of questions, but I had too many sleepless nights of thinking and the decisions need to be made finally. Any help would be very appreciated.
There is a Michell Technoweight on sale for $140 on eBay. A single 2mm shim shouldn't be a problem though. 4mm could be.
Personally speaking, I find changing carts on Rega arms to be a PITA. I have swapped out carts on Project arms and countless Technics headhsells and never had a problem. During the install of a 2M Blue on a new Planar 3 I broke the lead wire since the pin was very loose and required some crimping. Anyway, if I were you I would just upgrade the stylus on the Carbon with an AT3600 elliptical ($31), hyperelliptical/vivid line ($85/$79) or shibata ($160) from Turntableneedles or LP Gear. I bought the Chinese version of the Rega Carbon and found it to be shockingly good regardless of the price. This way, you don't need to mess with spacers and thus lose the use of your dustcover or drop a lot of money on a counterweight that is probably overkill for the Planar 1. Just swap in the new stylus, adjust your VTF, and be done with it. When you have a mono record or a less than stellar pressing, you'll be glad to have that conical close by. I wish I had the option to use a conical on my Planar 3, but I am wedded to the 2M Blue for the moment. The tradeoff: I never play anything except flawless records on that system. When the Blue is done, I may just get an AT3600 for all the reasons mentioned above.
Follow this link and read the first post: you can listen to a few samples of how the conical compares to the elliptical and vivid line. $11 Chinese AT3600L Thread Mk. II - Champagne sound on a Beer budget!
I will definitely take some time to read that thread about others experiences with AT3600 elliptical or vivid line. The thing is that my preinstalled Rega Carbon isn't worn out yet (max 300 hours), however I feel that improvements to the sound would be made with better cart. OR maybe the better results would be achieved with a new preamp (Rega Fono MM mk3 or Cambridge Audio Solo or other at your suggestions) rather than upgrading cart/stylus? What would affect sound quality more - a stylus (i.e. AT3600L elliptical or vivid line) upgrade or a new preamp?
Cartridge upgrade or speaker upgrade will make the most noticeable immediate difference in sound if upgrading equipment. Biggest issue with upgrading a cart on the RP1 is non-adjustable anti-skate. There are other issues with the RP1 that can't be corrected either. Before spending more than $100 on a cartridge for that turntable I would look at getting a better turntable. Re: the phono preamp if forced to choose between the options mentioned I would buy the Rega. If other phono preamps are fair game I would set up an in-home audition with the best Graham Slee unit you can afford.
As i have no intentions to spend at least 800 Eur on new turntable in near future, i am left with upgrading the cart. Well.. I was really into buying that LP Gear vivid line stylus, but after doing some math i found out that total cost (incl shipping, taxes from US to EU, declaration and etc. ) would be 130 Eur. So, the VM95ML (170 Eur) doesn't seem a such overpriced option currently. AT's VTF 2g recommended, as Rega's antiskate is pre-set to 2, theoretically speaking i should not suffer from antiskate issues, am i correct?
Theoretically it should work okay. You won't know with certainty until you try it and give the cart time to break in, test with several records, etc.
I would choose the at, I tried a mp110 on my rega and did not like the sound compared with at. And don't worry, a 2mm shim won't block the lid
Is there anybody out there who knows if a ATN-VM95ML needle fits to an AT-XP7 body ??? The XP body has higher output...and both cartridges looks the same...thank you very much !!!
From what I can tell, the stylus replacement for the VM95ML should fit the AT-XP7 without any issues. The XP7's higher output may not jive well with the VM95ML stylus however.
Check the specs for the XP7's body. If the resistance and inductance are the same, then it will work well. If not, it might not work so well. Often higher output on an MM cart has to do with stronger magnets in the stylus assembly.
Thank you - I checked it. It lacks some treble and sounds a bit nasty...so I will go with the original AT-VM95ML as it is. Compared the frequency range with my AT33PTG-II - it's almost the same !!! Great MM catridge !!!
The LP Gear CF3600le elliptical stylus is very good and cheap. It also tracks like a champ. Pop it right on your Carbon body. I track mine at 2.5g but you can go lighter. Great sound.
The Carbon is an AT body so look for a compatible upgrade that fits. @Boltman92124 has made the most sensible suggestion so far.
Well, i did as most of you recommended - sold my Planar 1 and decided to buy a Planar 3 (can't find something decent for that price range ~700Eur, unfortunately P6 is a bit too high for me at the moment). I will not be choosing Elys, but rather vm95ml, or vm540ml or maybe Exact, or even something else?
Hi! You can also look at the new Projekt X1 which is also about 700€ in Europe. I have the AT-VM95ML for over 6 month and really enjoy it. Some guys here convinced me to buy this one. I had a Nagaoka MP 110 before and this was a big upgrade for my system. Bye Andrea
Why don't you just get the 2M mono stylus (.7 mil nude spherical) and put it on the Blue cartridge? It should work fine, and in stereo.
Me too. Since then I bought a used Technics SL-1700 II. Mounting and adjusting cartridges is easy as pie now.
i just got a planar 3…the elys 2 that came with it sounded good but couldn’t handle sibilance that well. i put a vm95ml on it and now it can rival my digital hi-res setup. takes care of the IGD and sibilance issues and has details for days. the elys 2 did have a bit more bottom end but i can always turn up the sub a little bit. i used the geo disc for alignment and got better results than the rega factory protractor
