New cartridge?

What is it that makes people not love the OL RB300?

 

They aren't that great?! Half the notes are missing

 

I have always heard all the full notes... Must be something wrong with my hearing...

 

I'd have to agree - the Rega arm has somehow always featured on decks I have been disappointed with.

 

It is quite a cheap arm... seems churlish to pick fault too much

 

you might also consider the zyx airy. i've been hearing great things aobut the zyx range.

 

I'd recommend a Kontrapunkt B having lived with one for a few years now, superb sounding cart and if you can pick one up as cheaply as some are saying here these days, then all the more of a bargain it will be. I can't see mine ever being changed for another model however.....when the next re-build is due I may be tempted to try the "C" or a Jubilee if they genuinely build on the strengths of the "B"...

As for Rega derived arms being unable to do a cart like the Frog justice? I suggest you listen to the Tecnoarm (which fair enough, has undergone major structural mods) against an SME IV and see if you still have the same opinion.

It's a true giant killer.



KxF

 

Yeah except when your using a VDH frog then are looking at spending £1K upgrading the cart

Garmt: Try changing the arm then you might see what I mean. Having directly swapped an OL250 to a morch I can tell you theres notes missing.

 

The part he has described isnt notes missing its the vdh sound - I wouldnt match a vdh with a morch anyway. kind of defeats the point.

 

A second-hand Mørch, for example, should cost about 400quid for a mint example, which would leave 600 if you felt there was a need for a different cart. Bearing in mind that cartridges need to replaced on a regular basis, this seems like a reasonable ceiling.
How about a 47 labs 4723 MC Bee I listened to a prototype earlier in the year; it's a corker.

 

The point of what? Course he isn't describing notes missing, if you haven't heard your not likely to describe it. If I was unhappy with that setup I wouldn't be looking to blame the cartridge.

 

I am not UN-happy, just have heard the table behave differently (and in most cases, better) with other cartridges (not my own), using the same arm. In the past, I have had Grado Platinum Wood (too coloured/warm), Ortofon MC15 (too 'cold'), Denon DL-110 (not bad, but unexciting) and Ortofon Virtus (even colder than MC15, but supremely fast and detailed). The Van Den Hul I have now is very good in suppressing surface noise, has a dynamic sound end is very detailed. But ultimately, not musical enough, because it somehow enhances transients/contours. I am pretty sure that it is the cartridge, because I have heard my turntable take on the sound of most of the cartridges I tried.

 

Hi,

Try a cartridge with a spherical stylus, Denon DL-103 comes to mind. If you run this in the Rega, under no conditions attempt to mount the cartridge rigidly.

You may find the "edge enhancement is caused by inapropriate stlys shapes.

Ciao T

 

I'm sorry but I just don't get the DL-103. If you have a revealing system, I find the frequency extremes intolerable on a lot of music. It most certainly is not in the class of the cartridges already listed IMHO, I'm sorry as I know a lot of forumites use it.

 

Hi,

Using a modern, rigid arm I suspect? No steps taken to break the rigid loop?

The 103 does just fine on the frequency extremes. What it lacks is that fake, added on detail amny line contact stylii give. Given that the person asking for advise seems to complain about exatcly that problem the 103 is the solution.

Ciao T

 

The rega doesnt miss out notes. I have owned regas sme and other tonearms. The issue raised her is of the character of the cartridge.

 

Sorry, I disagree. First thing I noticed when I changed mine was there was far more going on musically

 

That sounds very plausible to me. However, the Grado also was spherical and I didn't like its lack of proper tracking on the end of the record side and its loss of details. Is the Denon DL-103 different?

 

Hi,

I don't have many issues with the 103, it has a somewhat more delicate stylus than most spherical ones.

Ciao T

 

Thats not the same as saying notes are missing. Perhaps you can clarify exactly what you think is missing?