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Rega P5 Benz Micro Glider, Ace, or Stay w/Exact?

I recently purchased a REGA P5 with the EXACT II MM cartridge. When I took my new TT home, I discovered that the volume output was far too low given the output of this cartridge. I just took my TT and cartridge to my local dealer and found that I had a defective cartridge. I have the opportunity of getting a new REGA Exact II cartridge, or changing to a BENZ MICRO Glider, or ACE cartrige for an additional cost of course. I am not sure what to do! I did like the sound of the Exact cartridge, but I am told the performance of the Glider and ACE cartridges will out perform the REGA cartridge! Does anyone have experience with these cartridges? Is my P5 worthy enough for these better cartridges? I listen to a lot of Jazz and some classical. My system components are listed below. Thank you for any recommendations!

Speakers: Wilson Sophia Series 1
Pre-Amp: Ayre Acoustics K-1XE
Amp: Mark Levinson 331
TT: REGA P5
NAD Phono Stage..Next to be upgraded
Cartridge: TBD???
rick_hilton

Showing 1 response by countingbackwards

countingbackwards
138 posts
 
From my experience with my Benz cartridge, expect a significant improvement in the sound of your Glider around the 50 hour mark or so. It'll keep improving subtly after that, but the first 50 hours is a huge night-and-day improvement - the bass will become more full, the sound overall will get "bigger", in my case there was some of that "s" sibilance at first that disappeared around hour 50...all in all, much more dramatic changes than what I've noticed with any other equipment.

I guess the easiest description would be to say that it improves significantly in refinement throughout the break-in period.
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