[Bleemv1]

hey guys,

well i've got a rega planar 3 sitting around at home, but it needs a new stylus or cartridge, and also a pre-amp.

I don't know what cartridge is on the tone arm at the moment. If I took a photo of the arm, would you guys be able to help me out in choosing a cartridge/stylus for it?

also, I would need a phono stage too. What's a good cheap one to try out? I found a behringer one on ebay - LINK

I live in Australia so I guess that would affect prices and product availability.

I'll get some photos up later today.

Thanks

 

[memepool]

Best cheap phonostage I know of is this T-Preamp TCC TC754 - 3 inputs preamp with MM phono stage - [English] which you can find on ebay down under.

TCC TC-753LC Phono Preamp w/ Aux Input; SILVER VERSION - eBay Other, Turntable Parts Accessories, Home Audio, Electronics. (end time 15-Jan-09 10:33:36 AEDST)

Rega make their own carts which are totally idiot proof to mount but they are pricey. Does your current cart have any logo or numbers on the front. Post a pic maybe?

 

[lator]

Cost effective cartridge would be Audio-Technica AT95E. I used it in P3-24 myself.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I used to have a Planar 3 - great deck! Your arm is most likely a Rega RB300. Does it look like this?

I used a Grado Gold cartridge on mine and it sounded great. I gave the deck to a friend who runs a Shure MX97E on it now, that also sounds great. I think the Grado sounded a little better, but I can recommend either of those.

I used a NAD PP2 phono preamp with that setup. You can find them worldwide and they're quite good. If you've considered setting up with speakers, as well, be sure to consider a receiver with a phono stage, too.

 

[Bleemv1]

hey guys,

That's the arm I have. Cartridge is Goldring G920 IGC. I'm trying to look for a replacement stylus. Current one is a D170 IGC.

thanks

edit: hold on a second, what's the difference between a phono stage and a phono pre-amp?

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleemv1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif That's the arm I have. Cartridge is Goldring G920 IGC. I'm trying to look for a replacement stylus. Current one is a D170 IGC.

Musonic (UK) Ltd - Stylus, Styli, Needles, Cartridges, Record & Audio Accessories in the UK have quite cheap replacement stylii for your cart. You might be better off just getting a new cart though. It depends how much you want to spend.
The Goldring 1000 series have interchangeable stylii so you can buy a 1006 cart and upgrade the stylus later right upto a 1042 Fritz Gieger profile.

https://shop.mantra-audio.co.uk/acat...artridges.html

Don't know how expensive Goldring are in Oz but they do work very well with Rega arms. Otherwise I'd look at the new Ortofon 2M series

Ortofon

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleemv1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif edit: hold on a second, what's the difference between a phono stage and a phono pre-amp?

no difference. A phono stage is I suppose, so called because it used to be a stage in a pre-amplier or integrated amplifier back in the days when vinyl was the main source. These days though this is far from being automatically the case and the need for active pre-amplifiers, is more questionable per se with digital sources, do so standalone phono pre-amps are the norm.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleemv1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif edit: hold on a second, what's the difference between a phono stage and a phono pre-amp?

It's like the difference between a tube and and a valve.

 

[Bleemv1]

alright

I'll start looking for a stylus. Does anyone know if the Goldring G920 IGC is "goldring UK" or "goldring". I know where to get a stylus D170 IGC, but the seller didn't know if it was for my cartridge..?

otherwise I'll be finding a new cartridge

so the Audio Technica AT95E will work with my tonearm? I can get this for about $50 AUD. I can also get an Ortofon 2M Red for about $110. Which one is better bang for buck cartridge? (also, i'm assuming that it will include one stylus...is this normally the case?)

edit: I'll probably go for the AT95E if someone can confirm that it's compatible with the RB300 tonearm.

edit: If I used the turntable with my headphone amp (Ming Da MC66-AE) would I still need a phono stage before the amp?

 

[MASantos]

What's your budget?

If you can, get a MC cartridge. I have a Dynavector 10x4mk2(which broke yesterday actually

) and it sounds really great for the price. That TT and arm are a really great entry level setup.

If you can get one, the Audio Alchemy Vac In The Box is a great Phono stage for the price! Around 100 used!

 

[memepool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleemv1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif edit: I'll probably go for the AT95E if someone can confirm that it's compatible with the RB300 tonearm.

Yes that should be fine. It's a very basic good value cart for that money. Also look out for the other AT's around this price. The AT110 and 120 are slightly more polished while the AT440 is a total giant killer. AT's in general have a very incisive treble but feeding them through a valve / tube amp like yours will balance this out nicely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleemv1 /img/forum/go_quote.gif edit: If I used the turntable with my headphone amp (Ming Da MC66-AE) would I still need a phono stage before the amp?

Yes you do as the phonostage also eq's the sound with the RIAA curve as well as boosting the signal from a few milivolts to a few volts, line level.

 

[Bleemv1]

thanks for the help guys

 

[shallbehealed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MASantos /img/forum/go_quote.gif What's your budget? If you can, get a MC cartridge. I have a Dynavector 10x4mk2(which broke yesterday actually ) and it sounds really great for the price. That TT and arm are a really great entry level setup.

I wouldn't call the dynavectors "entry level" by any means. The cheapest dyna cart is like $300. The availibility of the HO versions means you wouldn't need a MC pre pre though. The Denon 110 and 160 are also high output, and aren't any more expensive than the goldring cartridges mentioned in this thread. Several ebay sellers have these at a discount.

 

[Bleemv1]

In the end I went for the AT95E. Got a cartridge and stylus for about $50 AUD. Still need to get a phono stage though. I'll probably go for one on ebay as well, or maybe the NAD P2 or P3

 

[Bleemv1]

hi again guys,

just found an Akai PR A06 Pre-amp for sale. Does anyone know how this would compare to a NAD P2? It's quite old so I'm not really expecting anyone to know about it

 

[4heckssake]

Hi Bleemv1,
don't know much about these Akais other than I had some Akai gear back in the 80's and it was only average stuff but they probably made some high end gear as well. Google is your friend here.
What part of Australia ya in?
I've seen some Nad PP2's go cheaply (like $60) on StereoNetAustralia - you looked there?
4hecks