Rega TT - Fixing a non-Rega cartridge

[CircleGame]

Hi - I need advice on the following. I have a Rega Planar 6 with the stock Ania MC cartridge. While I am quite happy with the sound, I know that when I will need to replace the cartridge (anytime soon), I would like to explore getting a non-Rega cartridge like Hana etc.

- Do you have any experience with using tonearm spacers / shims and where one might be able to source these in India?
- What one needs to take care of while making such a change? Is it too complicated?

 

[arj]

Hi - I need advice on the following. I have a Rega Planar 6 with the stock Ania MC cartridge. While I am quite happy with the sound, I know that when I will need to replace the cartridge (anytime soon), I would like to explore getting a non-Rega cartridge like Hana etc.

- Do you have any experience with using tonearm spacers / shims and where one might be able to source these in India?
- What one needs to take care of while making such a change? Is it too complicated?

Are you sure you will need a spacer, from what I know it comes with the RB3-0 Arm and If so thats a pretty standard arm and will work with all standard cartridges

 

[CircleGame]

Hi @arj - apparently Rega TTs are made for Rega cartridges, but the height of other carts are quite different, hence need the spacers. I needed advice mainly on where one can buy these (given it's difficult to travel abroad now) and if anyone has experience with doing this (hence what one needs to take care of)

 

[stevieboy]

Hi Circlegame,

You should be able to easily buy these off the popular online sites and have em shipped to India. I’d be surprised if they are not available anywhere. Else get your local carpenter to make rectangles of the required height possibly an mm or varying heights so you can stack to get the correct height as per chosen cart. Material can be wood or steel or cork, you may or not hear differences in sound.

You could even get some thin bits of wood leftovers from the carpenters and sand pieces down trying em as you go to get the tonearm level or whatever level you choose, rear slightly lower as some prefer. You can make em with a simple semi circular cut around the mounting holes so the screws don’t have to thread through the shims saving you some drilling. It’s as simple as that I’d say.

The better option would be fixing the issue from the rear end. VTAF is made by Pete riggle. Website available. It’s a collar that replaces your existing tonearm mount and lets you rotate a disc to raise and lower the tonearm with far more precision. Expensive and I forget if you have to drill out your arm board but has sound benefits too since it isolates the tonearm from the deck.

Regards

 

[jls001]

If the non-Rega cartridge is taller than the Rega, you'll need shim(s) on the tonearm base. If the non-Rega cartridge has less height than the Rega, you'll need head shell shim(s). There are after market arm base shims of various thicknesses for Rega arms. The other thing you'll need to consider is cartridge alignment of the new cartridge. Does your TT come with a protractor? Lastly, do you have a scale for adjusting tracking weight?

 

[CircleGame]

Thanks for the responses. I don’t have either of these devices, but will be able to source these. Yes, should be also able to get the shims from online sites, was curious if I could get them here. Will search more on the VTAF option.