The most obvious replacement for your Mayware tonearm, if you intend to keep the Rega turntable, is the Rega arm, either the Rega RB250 or the Rega RB300. The word on the street is that the cheaper Rega RB250 is actually the better tonearm, as it has no resonating spring for downforce. If you intend to "move up" your record player entirely, then the obvious choice is a new Rega turntable, which has a better motor and comes with the Rega tonearm. Your Fidelity Research is actually considered a classic, so if it's in good shape you should keep it. But as to the Mayware, I own a few "high-end" turntables and tonearms, and it has been unfairly dissed in the media, as it was being marketed at a time when unipivots were unpopular, dogma being that they were inherently inferior. Now unipivots are breeding like flies, new designs being released practically weekly, and most very expensive. In addition, the Mayware has "variable mass loading," meaning its mass can be adjusted via the weight on the tonearm tube to match any cartridge. On my "high-end" Audiomeca record player, the Mayware actually sounded better than a Rega, and made excellent music with a Shure V15, if your FR is toast. If you go to the Shure or other high-output cartridge (Dynavector 10X5), I hear great things about the Antique Sound Labs Mini Phono, which goes for something like $200. Their stuff is invariably musical, rhythm demons. To sum up, for what it's worth: I would upgrade your phono stage before touching your 'table, which is actually quite decent (see about changing the wiring to the tonearm, check the bearing for lubrication, get a better mat: Adioquest's Sorbothane mat works great on the Rega), check the state of your cartridge, and if it needs replacement (but keep it for a future rebuild!: it's valuable), get a Shure V15 (works great on the Mayware) and a ASL Mini Phono. Good luck, I think you stumbled onto quite a decent rig!
Subs for Mayware Formula 4 tonearm & FR1 MK3F cart
I recently acquired a nice Planar3 equipped with a Mayware Formula 4 MK1 tonearm(I think its the MK1 as there is no designation on it, I'm guessing that its not the MKII, or III)and a Fidelity Research FR1 MK3F. I will be replacing these over the next year or so and as I'm new to this gear could someone suggest suitable replacements in a comparable price range? Also looking to replace my phono preamp, its a handmade 9v battery powered pooch, it works but I think this would be a major area of improvement. My system consists of Cyrus 781 speakers, a Mission daD5 disc player and a sugden A25. Could someone suggest some models that I can look for keeping in mind the gear mentioned as a budgetary frame of reference?
1 response Add your response