Hi
I have an RP3 and its a bit of a love hate thing for me.
My main gripe is with horrible thin chipboard plinth.
If I were to make a new plinth out of mdf or ply or composite board or whatever, how difficult is it to get right?
I would have thought that as long as all the mounting holes were exactly perpendicular - which they would be as I would CNC machine it and the arm hole was the correct distance away from the centre of the platter there shouldn't be any problems? And surely even that distance only needs to be within +/-1mm as cartridge alignment would sort that out?
I have an RP3 and its a bit of a love hate thing for me.
My main gripe is with horrible thin chipboard plinth.
If I were to make a new plinth out of mdf or ply or composite board or whatever, how difficult is it to get right?
I would have thought that as long as all the mounting holes were exactly perpendicular - which they would be as I would CNC machine it and the arm hole was the correct distance away from the centre of the platter there shouldn't be any problems? And surely even that distance only needs to be within +/-1mm as cartridge alignment would sort that out?
If you think that mdf or ply will perform better than the stock one you might be very wrong.
The point of the thin and light chipboard is to store as little mechanical energy as possible and reduce the resonance. Rega has been developing this for decades now. If you don't like the sound you might find a better choice in different concept turntables.
All this said, go ahead and show us the pictures! 🙂
The point of the thin and light chipboard is to store as little mechanical energy as possible and reduce the resonance. Rega has been developing this for decades now. If you don't like the sound you might find a better choice in different concept turntables.
All this said, go ahead and show us the pictures! 🙂
Hi,
There is more to the Rega plinth designs than you imagine,
and assuming simple substitution of something more
substantial will be better is not a good idea.
rgds, sreten.
There is more to the Rega plinth designs than you imagine,
and assuming simple substitution of something more
substantial will be better is not a good idea.
rgds, sreten.
If you're looking for looks, rega isn't the way to go... if you really want a great sounding TT, you have a really nice one at a great price point.
Hi
On another forum, someone mentioned buying an RP6 plinth and fitting it (or more accurately fitting the parts to it). It's basically the same but in a nice gloss finish.
This suggests you could refinish your existing plinth for a similar effect. Mind how you go when dismantling the RP3!
HTH
Mark
That's it really. I mean I got an ex display one with the TT PSU for less than £500. It really is good value. Just fugly.
I think a different plinth is worth pursuing - It's my opinion that the performance of the Rega is mostly due to their fantastic arms, and the rest of the bits have always struck me as really quite cheap.
I like Rega decks - I owned and was very happy with my Planar25 for more than a decade. 🙂
I like Rega decks - I owned and was very happy with my Planar25 for more than a decade. 🙂
Hi,
A different plinth, e.g. slate or hi quality ply of various thicknesses
will change the nature of the beast. I'm also more of a fan of the
bits that are attached to the plinth, but Rega have had years to
experiment with how and what they make their plinths out of.
Refinishing the plinth should be easy enough if you want to go there.
rgds, sreten.
A different plinth, e.g. slate or hi quality ply of various thicknesses
will change the nature of the beast. I'm also more of a fan of the
bits that are attached to the plinth, but Rega have had years to
experiment with how and what they make their plinths out of.
Refinishing the plinth should be easy enough if you want to go there.
rgds, sreten.
Custom Plinth Build for Rega RP3. Help please...
I'm keen to use baltic ply to make a deep plinth (approx 50mm) a la the Inspire Hi-fi Quest concepts.
My questions are:
1) Is dismantling an RP3 safely within the abilities of the beginner DIYer?
2) I'm assuming the motor will have to remain at the same depth, necessitating a hole in the rear of the ply block. If this isn't the case, what are my options?
3) How to you maintain access to all the necessary parts for maintenance?
Thanks for your help. I'm new to this forum thing.
Cheers,
TC
😕
I'm keen to use baltic ply to make a deep plinth (approx 50mm) a la the Inspire Hi-fi Quest concepts.
My questions are:
1) Is dismantling an RP3 safely within the abilities of the beginner DIYer?
2) I'm assuming the motor will have to remain at the same depth, necessitating a hole in the rear of the ply block. If this isn't the case, what are my options?
3) How to you maintain access to all the necessary parts for maintenance?
Thanks for your help. I'm new to this forum thing.
Cheers,
TC
😕
Personaly, If I would do the move, it would be with lower density such as carbon fiber or bamboo.
the secret is to remove the energy from the arm and bearing/platter and transfer it to somewhere safer but still keep the resonant frequency low/high enough not to cause problems with the audio spectrum. this is why a lot of people like the sound (or lack of) funk firm achromat as it resembles the vinyl and then 'sinks' it away. into the main platter but due to the nature of the achromat it wont let it radiate back to the playing surface. you need a material that works in the same way. for the record the material used to make the achromat is dirt cheep and is used by the sign making industry and thats about as much as i will say on the matter.
the reason Rega use chip board is its cheep and easy to manufacture.
sandwich materials are usually better if designed properly. use the wrong materials and it can suck the life out of the deck. mass or clever dampening on non suspended decks. i have tried MDF a few times and its always resulted in a 'boxy/dull' sound, it seems to rob the upper frequency's.
environment isolation is another factor.
now i seem to recall that kitty litter cast into acrylic makes a superb plinth material and i can see how that would work as long as the kitty litter can still stay a bit 'loose', i see it as the semi loose kitty litter trapped in the acrylic will use up the stray frequency's by turning them into friction and thus eliminating them but still keep a 'live' material so not to rob the audio frequency's.
the reason Rega use chip board is its cheep and easy to manufacture.
sandwich materials are usually better if designed properly. use the wrong materials and it can suck the life out of the deck. mass or clever dampening on non suspended decks. i have tried MDF a few times and its always resulted in a 'boxy/dull' sound, it seems to rob the upper frequency's.
environment isolation is another factor.
now i seem to recall that kitty litter cast into acrylic makes a superb plinth material and i can see how that would work as long as the kitty litter can still stay a bit 'loose', i see it as the semi loose kitty litter trapped in the acrylic will use up the stray frequency's by turning them into friction and thus eliminating them but still keep a 'live' material so not to rob the audio frequency's.
I've an older Planar 3 that has been enjoyable but I'm itching to upgrade either it or at least rewire the RB300 arm and do the 24v motor upgrade, I'll DIY the PS later on, etc.
One approach that occurred to me, just because I use a DIY cork mat (vs. the wool) that I think is great (my carts - MM is Shure V15+, MC is 3 Denon 103s, breaking in #3 with new Jensen SUTs now 😉 is to create a DIY engineered ply of good/high quality thin plywood, or even veneer, with 'cork' and make it same thickness as my original Planar 3 and then use the older motor and another RB300 (or same), etc, to compare. What's worrying me is moving or mounting the RB300s, I hear there is a jig needed to align to the plinth? On my old, i guess i could mark that and align by eye, but I'm definitely rewiring the tonearm, heck, i have to since this last cart replacement destroyed what was left of the original clips and that wiring is tight... thank goodness for teflon tape dope ;^o
Which will lead me to the next question, what wiring, from where! 33+ gauge anything seems to be a challenge for Mouser and DigiKey to stock. PartsConnx has a 36 gauge i may explore since those are a buck a ft., but wow, that's like angel hair!
One approach that occurred to me, just because I use a DIY cork mat (vs. the wool) that I think is great (my carts - MM is Shure V15+, MC is 3 Denon 103s, breaking in #3 with new Jensen SUTs now 😉 is to create a DIY engineered ply of good/high quality thin plywood, or even veneer, with 'cork' and make it same thickness as my original Planar 3 and then use the older motor and another RB300 (or same), etc, to compare. What's worrying me is moving or mounting the RB300s, I hear there is a jig needed to align to the plinth? On my old, i guess i could mark that and align by eye, but I'm definitely rewiring the tonearm, heck, i have to since this last cart replacement destroyed what was left of the original clips and that wiring is tight... thank goodness for teflon tape dope ;^o
Which will lead me to the next question, what wiring, from where! 33+ gauge anything seems to be a challenge for Mouser and DigiKey to stock. PartsConnx has a 36 gauge i may explore since those are a buck a ft., but wow, that's like angel hair!
the thinner the better to a point, 36gauge would be ideal. any wire will hinder the movement of the arm while playing across the record so just sticking the new wire in is half the battle, you also need to 'dress' the wire properly as well. another thing about the RB300 is the way it grounds the arm out. Rega use a small copper tab with the ground wire soldered onto it then stuff the tab into the back of the weight stub threads, its not ideal and to better it you need a more solid fixing such as a small 2mm bolt drilled and tapped into the arm then the ground fixed to that. also there is another small copper tab in the 'bung' at the bottom of the stem which is connected to a small circuit board, the circuit board is there to terminate the arm wires to the phono cables. next up is the way Rega return the ground to the end of the phono cable and they use one of the shield wires to do this. adding a full run of new cable for the ground is also a better option as then its ground out at the phono stage/integrated amp casing.
just fixing all the above in a better fashion results in better audio so its not so much the original wiring that is the problem its more the way it has been implemented.
also the fancy cartridge tags you see on ebay and such like are just computer monitor receptacle terminals and you can buy them for peanuts on Mouser or rob them from old cables.
regards the plinth, as long as the motor is the exact distance from centre to centre on the spindles it wont matter where you put it on the plinth as for the arm you just download the Rega arm mounting template.
one top tip about the older single hole RB300 when fixing it to a plinth, dont over tighten the nut or you will rob the sound out of the arm, the nut should only be finger tight enough to make sure that it wont move when in use. the bias casing should move if you give it a good old nudge with your finger. any tighter or looser than this will result in everything sounding muddy.
just fixing all the above in a better fashion results in better audio so its not so much the original wiring that is the problem its more the way it has been implemented.
also the fancy cartridge tags you see on ebay and such like are just computer monitor receptacle terminals and you can buy them for peanuts on Mouser or rob them from old cables.
regards the plinth, as long as the motor is the exact distance from centre to centre on the spindles it wont matter where you put it on the plinth as for the arm you just download the Rega arm mounting template.
one top tip about the older single hole RB300 when fixing it to a plinth, dont over tighten the nut or you will rob the sound out of the arm, the nut should only be finger tight enough to make sure that it wont move when in use. the bias casing should move if you give it a good old nudge with your finger. any tighter or looser than this will result in everything sounding muddy.
Ive made a couple of plinths using acrylic resin and bentonite clay. Run a 40/60 resin/clay mix, you have to be careful that it doesn't go off too quick (depends on the weather and catalyst , best experiment first) or it can shrink and crack. Dont know having it lose would achieve much as it is just a clay, also would absorb moisture in the air. If you were to use it for a thin Rega deck I would use a top layer of carbon fiber to get a bit more stiffness. My build seemed partial to static electricity.
I made a base for my latest turntable build and filled with dry river sand and sealed it up, will see what that does.
Agreed with the rega arm wires need to be thin, had to change mine to 33 AWG multi strand as the first single strand silver wire I tried was too stiff and prevented the arm from moving easily.
I have been working on a Roksan Xerxes project for a good while.
First I removed the bottom part and replace dit with one I made of Corian.
I have a one inch (25,4 mm) that I want to use as a top plate, the most rigid and the lightest material I could find.
I abandoned the idea of the peninsula cut and in order to avoid the vibration of the bearing to reach the tone arm and think of having a round heatsink attached to the bearing sleeve sank in a silicone oil bath.
Anyone have an opinion on that ?
First I removed the bottom part and replace dit with one I made of Corian.
I have a one inch (25,4 mm) that I want to use as a top plate, the most rigid and the lightest material I could find.
I abandoned the idea of the peninsula cut and in order to avoid the vibration of the bearing to reach the tone arm and think of having a round heatsink attached to the bearing sleeve sank in a silicone oil bath.
Anyone have an opinion on that ?
I have an RP-1 and would rather consider building a sandbox with a isolated platform for the rp-1 to sit on. To me, that would make the most difference, while keeping the rega stock for resale.
i think that you might be trying to use the silicone trough idea that a few manufacturers have use on arms. the way the silicone trough works is to dampen the micro movement of the arm that is imparted from the shaking of the cart by the cantilever so the cantilever can get on with what is supposed to do and transfer the energy into the coils instead of into the cart/arm. having the main bearing housing sitting in a bath of oil is going to do nothing, ok so it might act as a 'sink' but i doubt it. you could always try and see though as i could be wrong. the bearing and arm need to be coupled as rigidly as possible to each other and for that matter the motor as well. problem is as you say the mechanical noise from each interacts with the arm which is having a hard enough job trying to control the resonant frequency's from the cart. this is why 'plinth' material choice is vital. the absolute last thing you want to do is have a plinth material that amplify each individual arm/cart/bearing/motor resonant frequency.
i could be wrong but the whole idea behind the Xerxes and the LPT cutout was to let the unwanted frequency's hit the edge of the cutout then march along the edge away into the main plinth/suspension.
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