Cartridge for Rega Planar 3?

I’ve tried several MM carts over the years on my Rega, including one of the Rega offerings and compared to even my stock Denon DL103 MC cartridge, they paled in comparison.

I switched around 5 years ago to a Denon DL103 MC cart and the improvement in performance amazed me. Cost$230

I now have a re tipped DL103 from Soundsmith and the improvements were staggering. Cost $650 for the Optimized Contour Contact Line version.

The Denon is a pretty good match to the Rega Arm, but it does benefit from a little more mass at the head shell, so the model from ZU, with the alloy head shell, is also a top performer.

Soundsmith also has wood head shells that they install the "nuded" Denon into. They also have their own line of "Fixed Coil" cartridges which are very good high output carts and start at a reasonable $480

So as you can see, you can start with some very good and affordable MC carts that are well suited to the rega arm for much less than $1000 and then move up to some top performers.

Granted, you may need to change your phono stage if it is not MC compatible, but they are getting better as time goes by also - e.g. the Schiit Mani starts at $130 and is pretty good from what I have read

Don’t get me wrong, there are some exceptional MM carts out there in your sack bracket - I just thought knowing some of the other options/costs might also prove to be of use.

Regards...

Erichsh - ....

Willie, did you have to shim your Rega arm for the Denon DL103?

if you are referring to shims under the arm post to adjust the VTA...

If I recall correctly, I already had shims under the arm post for the previous cartridge.

It's pretty standard practice to shim Rega arms for VTA adjustment - so I have a supply of shims on hand. 

Now it's no longer concern, because I upgraded to the Audiomods Series III "Classic" arm with micrometer adjustment.

Thanks

Mtrot - from reading your posts - you have a MM input and would like to use it.

But having been down that route, I would still recommend you to consider the Schiit Mani phono stage. It is more likely to provide much better SQ and give you full MC capability for a very reasonable price.

Granted - it is yet another component on the rack, but it is pretty small and can be hidden easily.

The total for the Denon DL103 + Mani is $360.

Regards...

Greg makes a valid point, but if the Denon DL103 is a little low on the output side, consider the Denon DL110 - another top performer. Should be a great match for the Mani, but you will need to add a spacer to increase the mass to be compatible with the Rega arms.

Read the reviews at http://www.needledoctor.com/Denon-DL-110-Cartridge?sc=2&category=369

In the past I’ve tried a couple of Nagoka’s, but despite their Very clean, extremely detailed and well behaved performance, they were not quite as warm and as well balanced as the Denon’s.. Perhaps compliance was the issue?

The Goldring was an OK performer, but lacked the dynamics of the Denon 103.

The Rega Elys was just an all round disappointment - lacked details, clarity and dynamics. Perhaps the phono stage was the problem? Maybe, but the other carts fared much better. It should have been excellent, not mediocre.

The Grado I had was returned because the hum increased as the cartridge got closer to the motor on the Rega. It was a very nice cart, but has poor shielding - if any - such a shame.

I must admit I have a bias towards Denon, but that’s because they are so easy to setup and they are very forgiving when it comes to less than perfect setup. They are also top performers if you get setup spot on. And they can be tweaked to a level of excellence reserved for carts costing much much more

As far as turntables - I own(ed) a Rega and have spent 30 years tweaking and upgrading to get it to where I am happy - if I had my time over I’d look at a VPI. But there are some stellar performers from Music hall and Project.

Here are my tweaks - http://image99.net/blog/files/category-turntable-mod0027s.html

Try to get a turntable that has the drive belt that goes around the edge of the platter - it puts far less stress on the drive belt and gets the platter up to speed much quicker. Having the drive belt driving a subplatter, like the Rega, requires the operator to perform the "Rega Nudge" to reduce startup time.

Also - the glass platter on the Rega looks cool and keeps wow/flutter to a minimum - and that’s all it’s good for. you will spend time and money trying to get the perfect mat, or end up replacing it with an acrylic platter for best results

Hope that helps

@metin - since the "generally accepted" audio range is 20Hz to 20kHz then the extended output above 20kHz would not be in the audible range of humans.

Only young people can hear 17-18 kHz and even 20kHz is beyond their capability

Tannoy has a super tweeter that goes up that high and they claim to be able to hear the "impact" of frequencies that high.

Since most musical instruments tops out around 14-15 kHz - like cymbals - then (for me) anything above that is superfluous, so I do not worry about it.

Since it's only the very best Phono stages would be able to process  higher frequencies,  I would have to guess that the Schiit product would not be able to reproduce those frequencies.

Maybe you should contact Schiit - they could give you a definitive answer

Regards - Steve