Rega Planar 3, RB300 & Linn Kx(?), Q!

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Hi,

as the subject states that's the setup of my TT.

The only thing I don't know for sure about is the Linn cartridge, it's many years ago I bought this TT and a weak memmory tells me it's an K7 or K9...?
The "housing" of the cartridge is partially of yellow/orange plastic.
Does anybody know anything about Linn cartridges and how I can identify my cartridge?
Search didn't gave anything.

The sound is kind of a full bodied and engaging, It's quite good but sometimes of some reasons something feels annoying with the sound, I guess I would make an upgrade of the cartridge so I would also like to hear from you "pro's" what would you suggest for my Rega.

Another thing I wonder about is the re-wiring of the RB300, I have searched and red some threads, is it really worth to do it on a RB300, what's the gains in sound quality?

Bear with me, I'm not a TT pro! :)

/Michael
 
dnsey said:
Isn't the K9 a rebadged AT95E, or is my memory playing it's usual tricks?

The "yellow" model in the Linn Basic, which is a very apt description.
A basic Audio Technica cartridge.

Somewhat worse than the excellent Audio Technica AT95E,
£23 from Mantra Audio in the UK.

There were two better models, the K5 and K9, pretty similar
except the K9 has a better stylus, both have metal bodies
as opposed to the usual plastic, made by Audio Technica.

Somewhat better than an AT95E, one would hope.

An Audio Technica AT120E/T is an excellent budget alternative
to the the K5 and K9, the nude stylus is K9 quality level.
(Buy a spare stylus with the cartridge - its very cheap)

http://www.garage-a-records.com/atcart.html

Apparently the AT95E stylus fits the K body,
but with a gap at the front I think.

The Grado Prestiges are are a good choice if you like
a richer sound with restrained treble, worth importing
from the states, the Black is a $35 bargain.

There are a lot of good cartridges that will work well in a P3.

:) sreten.
 

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sreten said:


The "yellow" model in the Linn Basic, which is a very apt description.
A basic Audio Technica cartridge.

:) sreten.


Sreten,

your post made me unsure if I really have a Linn cartridge, as I wrote my cartridge is partilly of Yellow plastic, actually it's the front end, as in your attached picture.
I guess that's the stylus which is sitting in the yellow plastic part whatever it's called, the cartridge body is metal.

So do I have still a K9 or could it be something else, as it's probably 15 years ago I bought it I don't remember very well but the seller talked about Linn.

My cartridge looks like the one on the picture you attached except the blue collored part is on my cartridge yellow, there is no text but on the front end is a "K" laying down inside a circle.

/Michael
 
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/189

AFAIK the yellow Linn is this spherical tipped Audio Technica.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


It its not, that is stylus mounting does not have the
"hook", then checkout to see if the AT95E stylus fits.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


If it does have the "hook" the AT110E stylus should fit.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Both of these will be an upgrade (for a 15 ! year old stylus).

Try mantra audio UK for the styli.

:) sreten.
 
Hi Sreten,

thanks for all those colorfull pictures! ;)

I actually took my stylus of to look closer and it reminds fully the green one you attached, but precisely below at the point where the diamond on the needle is attached, is an opening like the yellow one has.
It also has a slight "bump" on the right side as the green one.

I did check my junk box with couple of diffrent cartridges and I found two Pickering XV-15 but without the stylus.
Surfed the net and it seem to be possible to buy a replacement stylus which seem to be in the range of 40-100 British Pound, http://www.pickeringuk.com/stylii.html

Checked also a couple of other pages and it seem that the Pickering XV-15 is a DJ cartridge so I wonder how much Hi-Fi value it is in that cartridge....

I will some day try to get a digi-camera so I can take a photo of my cartridge/-s.

/Michael :)
 
Well forget about the Pickering IMO.

Checkout mantra audio and their exchange offers.

for ~ £80,

Denon DL110, Goldring 1012GX (exchange)
are both excellent choices for a P3.

For outstanding value import a AT120E/T or AT440ML from the States.

http://www.garage-a-records.com/atcart.html

Buy a spare stylus at the same time.

The Goldring tip and even more so the AT440ML tip will
last much longer than the elliptical DL110 and AT120E/T.

:) sreten.
 
Cartridge choice

One thing to note when choosing a cartridge for the RB300 arm is the cartridge resonance/tonearm match.This Rega arm is about 11 gms(effective mass) and something like a Denon 103 with its low compliance (6cu)would be theoretically a perfect choice for this arm.I personally would choose a lower compliant cartridge(i.e 6-15cu) and one with with good frequency response out to at least 40Khz.The Denon has a range of about 20Hz-45Khz I think and is a low output moving coil.I am using an Ortofon X5-MC which is great value,on a modded RB 250,check it out.Also the Sumiko Blue point Special and the Dynavector 10x5.
 
Re: Cartridge choice

Aquarium said:
One thing to note when choosing a cartridge for the RB300 arm is the cartridge resonance/tonearm match.This Rega arm is about 11 gms(effective mass) and something like a Denon 103 with its low compliance (6cu)would be theoretically a perfect choice for this arm.I personally would choose a lower compliant cartridge(i.e 6-15cu) and one with with good frequency response out to at least 40Khz.The Denon has a range of about 20Hz-45Khz I think and is a low output moving coil.I am using an Ortofon X5-MC which is great value,on a modded RB 250,check it out.Also the Sumiko Blue point Special and the Dynavector 10x5.

Well I suggest you get your facts straight, IMO you haven't.

Arm effective mass + cartridge weight needs to be balanced
against cartridge compliance and the turntable suspension.

Lots of cartridges will work well with the Rega, and IMO
your observations on cartridge compliance are inaccurate.

:) sreten.
 
Cartridge Resonance

Sreten, I was not giving a lecture or weaving out "home truths" about how to determine cartridge resonance,I did not give out enough info.You are wrong about turntable suspension being included in what I was talking about!You use cartridge weight and the weight of attachments(nuts and bolts),effective mass of the tonearm, the cartridge compliance given by the manufacturer and you use the well-known formula.You can find this out anywhere.
 
Aquarium,

Your post seems to be implying that a low compliance cartridge
is needed for the Rega, when it is a medium mass arm and ideal
compliance is not surprisingly medium.

The Denon 103 with its 8.5g weight and 5cu compliance will go in
just about any arm, but compliance is not ideal for a Rega
arm, it is ideal IM0 for arms with effective masses on the wrong
side of 20g up to seriously heavy weight arms.

The downside of low compliance is poor low frequency trackability,
requiring higher tracking weights, which is not good for stylus life
and record wear in general specially with its spherical tip.

The Denon 103 is well regarded for sound quality, but its still
basically a broadcast cartridge, and too compromised IMO for
HiFi general recommendation.

Turntable suspensions do matter in determining the arm /
cartridge resonant frequencies that can be used without
problems, you can go somewhat lower with solid plinth
designs than suspended subchassis designs.

IMO compliance is not an issue in cartridge choice for a Rega,
ideal compliance is 13cu to 20cu, but lower and higher
values can be used, but personally I wouldn't go over 25cu.

Having said all that the Ortofon high output moving coils appear
to be ideally matched to the Rega arm but I haven't heard them.

:) sreten.
 
Sreten, I was not propulgating a personal view about particular combinations.Perhaps a quote from Paul Ladegaard's paper "Audible effects of mechanical resonances in turntables" will give an indication of the thrust of what I was saying. "...one can conclude that the fundamental problem creating parameter is the frequency response of the turntable below 20Hz.Most modern turntables leave much to be desired,typically they have resonance peaks of 5-10dB at 5-7Hz.The first thing to do is raise the frequency to 15-18Hz and then ideally damp the system to a Q of 0.5,letting response roll off at preferably 12dB/octave.In pursuit of this goal one should not make trade-offs with respect to rigidity of the tonearm and fixture.Flexing in the arm and other spurious resonances could then be the result and destroy the stabilty of the stereo image." Generally we are in agreement about resonance theory, but I do not share your disdain for the Denon.Suffice to say that some rate it above the much more expensive Shelter 501 and thus one of the better value cartridges in the world.Compliance issues were not my real point but lower compliance is something to keep in mind generally I think, mechanical resonance originates from there and there are trade-offs regarding perfect isolation.
 
Aquarium said:
Sreten, I was not propulgating a personal view about particular combinations.Perhaps a quote from Paul Ladegaard's paper "Audible effects of mechanical resonances in turntables" will give an indication of the thrust of what I was saying. "...one can conclude that the fundamental problem creating parameter is the frequency response of the turntable below 20Hz. (a) Most modern turntables leave much to be desired,typically they have resonance peaks of 5-10dB at 5-7Hz.(b)The first thing to do is raise the frequency to 15-18Hz and then ideally damp the system to a Q of 0.5,letting response roll off at preferably 12dB/octave.In pursuit of this goal one should not make trade-offs with respect to rigidity of the tonearm and fixture.Flexing in the arm and other spurious resonances could then be the result and destroy the stabilty of the stereo image." Generally we are in agreement about resonance theory, (c) but I do not share your disdain for the Denon.Suffice to say that some rate it above the much more expensive Shelter 501 and thus one of the better value cartridges in the world.Compliance issues were not my real point but lower compliance is something to keep in mind generally I think, mechanical resonance originates from there and there are trade-offs regarding perfect isolation.

P.L's paper is very old and statement (a) in no longer true.

Statement (b) is impractical, it compromises low frequency
tracking too much by requiring a compliance 1/3 of that
required for the accepted optimum of ~ 10Hz.

If you down this route you have to accept you
will be using a relatively high tracking force.

(c) I do not have "disdain" for the Denon, just realistic appreciation.

Its a broadcast cartridge fitted with a large spherical tip more
suited to 45's than 33's, and an excellent choice for a radio
studio environment, with its somewhat restricted bandwidth.

Compared to your X5-MC LP end of side treble loss and detail
loss would be quite alarming with its 4x larger minor radius.
(The X5-MC has a 3.5x larger major radius to compensate).

Due to the difference in foot prints the X5-MC will last much
longer than the 103 before the treble end begins to suffer.

:) sreten.
 
O.K, I think we can perhaps agree to disagree at this point.A lot of consideration was given to the Ladegaard paper over at the The Vinyl Engine forum particularly statement (b) and the question seems to still be open to some degree.I know the low subsonics of a church organ go down to 15Hz,but we don't hear below 20Hz anyway etc.We are really taking about synergy and that really comes down to the individual system and your own ears.The Denon is becoming a more popular choice among Rega arm owners and you and John Elison at Vinyl Asylum are the only two people recently that I have seen disowning this combination.I am aware of the arguments.Maybe if you listened to one after the 50 hours break-in they require your opinion might change.The glowing raps outnumber you.The Denon also has a frequency response exactly the same as the Ortofon,20Hz-45Khz.Goodbye. Aquarium
 
Oh,

here have really happend things, haven't been in hear for a while! :)

Well, thanks for your both input anyhow even if you have some diffrent views guys!

Would be glad if I could have an explanation about those TT technical stuff, what does the "cu" complianse mean?
How do you calculate for an optimal weight and find out some suitable cartridge?
I guess I have to get an accurate weighing-machine to weigh the tone-arm tip weight (where the cartridge is fixed) when I trim in the counterweight..?
Any usefull link about the theory behind choosing tonearm, cartridge, weight trimming etc?

/Michael
 
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