I just spoke with my old friend Frank Smillie of GrooveTracer about some of his spectacular mods for Rega turntables. Frank machines precision subplatters, platters and counterweights for Rega turntables, and I use one of his subplatters for my own Rega P3-24. The GrooveTracer subplatter, machined from aluminum and stainless steel, lowers the noise floor of my P3-24 significantly, and I wouldn't dream of going back to the stock plastic subplatter.
Here's a pic of the GrooveTracer subplatter on my Rega:
Anyway, I was reading some posts on the Steve Hoffman Forum and one poster had a concern about his Rega P2 turntable. Apparently he installed a Dynavector 10X5 cartridge on his P2, usually an excellent match. Unfortunately, mounting the Dynavector requires a 2mm spacer underneath the tonearm for optimum alignment, which raised the arm to the point where the counterweight now kept the dust cover from closing completely! Evidently the counterweights on the newer P2s have a larger diameter than the ones on the RB301 arm. Rega, of course, wants you to avoid this issue by using one of their cartridges instead.
Frank had the perfect solution. His tungsten counterweight and steel endstub sits lower than the stock counterweight. So the poster can now close his dustcover and enjoy even better sound.
If you are having a similar problem with your Rega, give Frank a call. Everyone I know who has used GrooveTracer products on Rega TTs simply raves about the improvements. And as one of Frank's happy customers, I can vouch for his products as well.
For more information on GrooveTracer products, check out Frank's website at http://www.groovetracer.com/.
Do you have any experience with his platter? I have the sub-platter and may try the platter.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Ken
PS Awesome blog!
I generally don't like the sound of acrylic platters on Regas since they tend to rob the music of its immediacy. I have NOT tried Frank's platter, however, and I have heard good things about them.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've heard from others, the subplatter yields the single biggest improvement of the three products he sells. The counterweight does make an improvement, but it is relatively small in comparison with the subplatter. Installing the subplatter maks a BIG difference!
Marc,
ReplyDeleteHaving tried both Franks products, and kept alternating the platters, can tell you that REGA sound does not get changed at all. I have not tried the acrylic one, but Delrin instead. Kept alternating between the glass platter with felt mat and Delrin platter on the same album over and over again.
No difference in sound colour. The only difference is lack of static and less noise. To be precise, when noise goes away, none of the music goes with it. I used my 5 and 7 year old kids for listening to compare with my ears.
The only problem is: glass platter looks much better.
best regards,
Uros