Rega Planar P3+Grado Gold cart possible issues

[mikeliao]

Wow, when I said the cart rides a few mm off the lp, I meant a FEW mm. Yours seem to be right at 1mm. The stock RB300 had no VTA adjustments. Sorry about the bad advice without checking all the details first.

My setup looks exactly like the one in Jahn's picture. And feeling much like a parrot, Lini is probably right in that the VTA is off.

 

[gloco]

Hey Guys,

I finally got around to adjusting the cart yesterday and it sounds much better, for the most part. My cart rides as "high" as Jahn's in his pic. The only issue I noticed is that I was listening to Madonna's Confessions on a dance floor LP (2 LP's, pink vinyl) and man, there's a hell of a lot of sibilance when she sings. I also tried Simply Vinyl's release of the Taxi Driver soundtrack and it sounded great, no sibilance in tracks featuring speech. I'll try some more LP's out to make sure its just the Madonna LP that suffers from sibilance. I followed studeb's instructions and they made perfect sense once I figured out what the heck the anti-skate weight was, lol.

Lini: I couldn't figure out "metal ring with three screws directly above the base" part from looking at the TT. I snapped some more pics and I'll pos tthem up by tomorrow night.

Hey Jahn, wanna borrow the Madonna LP and see if it has the same issues on your rig?

Thanks again to lini and studeb for providing much needed help!

 

[Jahn]

haha, i have Madonna "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" 12" Extended Play singles and they both sound dandy on the rig, so mebbe it's just your album - invest in EPs!

 

[gloco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn haha, i have Madonna "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" 12" Extended Play singles and they both sound dandy on the rig, so mebbe it's just your album - invest in EPs!

LOL. EP's?! Nah, not enough space for singles.

 

[fran]

If the sibilance is near the end of either side, it may well be mistracking... if this is the case you will need to realign the cart - just being out a very small amount can make quite a difference. Usually you will hear it on LPs that have loud passages towards the end of a side, say in the last 3rd of the LP. If this is the case, please fix it right away as your vinyl could be damaged...

Also recheck your tracking force after you have rechecked the alignment, try adjusting it sligthly upwards of the recommended (I think its 1.8g for the gold, so try between 1.8 to 2.0g). See if it all makes any difference. Lastly, as a general rule, you are better off with the VTA a bit high, ie the back end of the arm a bit high, might be worth your while adjusting this back up a bit with a shim or two, even made from single ply cardboard.

Fran