Show us your turntable

My pre has a lot of buttons, like 0 db, -6 db, -12db, 12 ohm, 47 ohm,…which allows me to fine tune the right load by ears. Vu meters help me too.
The settings I choose are often different from the cartridge factory recommendations.

Second bite at this Rega cherry, with the Rega planer 25 ( in cherry).
Now on its Rega bracket and with the Rega neo speed control.

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Hmmm I have a 100R Z-Foil Airplug, but could try the oem 500. (I have the Aphelion2).

Can you share any more info – where the suggestion came from etc?

Should I be using a clamp or weight with my RP10? I am a reborn record user, so I guess you could say, not very knowledgeable about the latest decks. Back in the 80’s we just threw on a record and played it.

Clamps/weights aren’t generally recommended for Rega. They didn’t design the motorc and bearing for it, but people do use them. Try one if you like, use your ears to decide, but you could risk premature bearing wear. :man_shrugging: When I had Rega I did not use one.

I use a 850 gr spindle weight and a 1500 gr outer ring, but my TT is designed specifically for using them.

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Thanks JDP, I will run it bare then, I just got curious seeing a lot of the photos usually have some kind of clamp in place.

Interesting i bought mine in Australia 1975 perhaps Gold being a more advanced stylus profile? they were not cheap for a std Blue however. I think by then i had transitioned to a Grace 707 a arm that seems to work with anything and a Fidelity Research MK11 MC. The difficulty being how to boost it into the then MM only Amps.

Yeah, it really depends on the TT. You can always try. Just make sure it doesn’t put too much stress on motor and bearing. Rega doesn’t design for it.

…regardless of bearing wear, many people, including myself, have found that a spindle clamp destroys music from a Rega TT. Counterintuitive I know…but you cannot argue with what you hear!

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I tried it - and quickly put the clamps away. Roy knows his onions, and if he felt that the RP10 sounded better with a clamp, I’m sure he would have designed one for purpose.

Similarly, be careful with alternative mats; I recently tried the much lauded Herbie’s Audio Mat on my RP10. Not a success…

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I once asked the manufacturer of my turntable. The reply I got said that he doesn’t see the point of using a clamp. If your record is warped, you’d need a weight on the outside of the record, not the middle. So the only thing it does is risk damage to the bearing and possibly influences the speed.

This wasn’t Rega BTW.

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The standard Sonus Blue certainly wasn’t cheap, but it was wonderful. I think the Gold or Blue Gold came along (in the UK anyway) a few years later, and I think it was a more advanced stylus profile. My first MC cartridge was the Audio-Technica AT-F5 which I bought in the mid 80s with a Manticore Mantra turntable and Moth (Rega 250?) arm. I recall my initial reaction when I first heard it being that it sounded very much like the Sonus Blue.

Cymbiosis - Peter Swain - who supply the Airplugs too. Try the 500R (caveat attemptor should anything break, but I wouldn’t expect it) - it’s worth experimenting !

Cool! The person I bought my Superline from had a 435R Airplug, but I had AV Options mod it to a 100R for my Apheta2. If I end up going the other way…well I’ll try the OEM one later today and see what I hear (so to speak).

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My Clearaudio turntable – on the other hand – is designed for a clamp and outer ring, and Clearaudio offers both as accessories. As far as dish warps are concerned, you need a clamp to flatten the concave side and an outer ring to flatten the convex side. I use both, but more because it sounds better.

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I really like the idea of an outer ring, this is the first I’ve heard of it.

…and these points illustrate very well that the designers, engineers and auditioners come up with the best implementation for their own products. Rega and Clearaudio taking the opposite route in these aspects…and I would bet that mixing the features would not have an improved result.

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Only if your bearing and motor can handle it. On my TT the center weight and outer ring combined are 2350 gr. Also, the ring is made specifically for my turntable. It has a locator ring underneath that is fixed to the platter. There are third party rings for various TTs, but again, use one only if you know your bearing and motor can handle the extra weight. Regas need not apply.

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On the right deck, an outer stabilising ring used in conjunction with a central clamp can work really well. I think the Kenwood/Trio L-07D was the first deck to appear with such an arrangement as an alternative to the Vacuum platters that were starting to be offered by Micro-Seiki and Luxman. The L-07D is a deck that I have still to get hold of and try for myself - one day, perhaps…

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Another one is of my old bouncy classics is the 3-motor Voyd with Helius Cyalene. Absolutely lovely record player.

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