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Tonearm comparison, Rega vs Zeta, anyone?

Rega RB300 (giant killer) $250 - $400, - - - Zeta tonearm (Giant) $1350 NOS. sold for $800 on US audiomart.

I’m stepping up a level in the cartridge dept, and wonder if the benefits of doing so might be further augmented by stepping up a level in the tonearm dept, and if doing both would make a sonic improvement greater than the sum of it’s parts?

A gain of that level in sonics would make such an expediture intriguing, Eg: 1+1= 3.5. (ajusted to compensate for the law of diminishing returns).

Has anyone out there used "both" an RB300 and a Zeta? And would you feel that moving to a Zeta is closer to a lateral move, or more reflective to an exponential improvement?
My Rega has been rewired with Discovery interconnects, and uses the heavier counterweight.

(Cartridge move is from a Grado Reference Sonata 1, to a Dynavector 20x2 High Output).

thehorn

Showing 3 responses by thehorn

thehorn OP
111 posts
 

No worries viridian,

I purposely left out the name of the table in an attept to get an unbias, broad sample lot based on personal experience, as opposed to a possible infiltration of conjecture based on speculation.

But since you asked, I’m using an Oracle Delphi MkII.

BTW, the Pirelli anology was a good one.


thehorn OP
111 posts
 

Bimasta,
on some points we agree, others ..... well.

I’ve had the RB300 on the Delphi for 4-5 years now, & there’s a number of things I like about it.

The tonearm I had be for the Rega was a Syrinx LE1. I used it in conjuction with a MM Grace F9 from 1984-2012.

Never really like the Syrinx for various reasons, but set up properly it did sound good.

As for comparing the two set-ups (Old): Syrinx LE1. MM Grace F9.
(Current): Rega RB300. Grado Reference Sonata1.
(Next Week): Rega RB300. Dynavector 20X2.

I never found the Syrinx sounded any better than the Rega .... but I prefered the Grace.



thehorn OP
111 posts
 

I hear ya wspohn,

I’ve heard a ton of systems, & aspecially from the price point, the RB300 is a good tonearm, and it’s mustard. It’s never given me a spec of grief. Are there better options - - - you bet, or I wouldn’t have typed this post.

Pullies, counter weights & wires may look aesthetic on tonearms, but as Mr.Scott so eloquently put it "the fancier the plumbing, the more likely you’ll clog the drain". That’s why I’ve been leaning towards the Zeta & the SME V .... no clutter.

That said, "SME V" - ahhhh - it’s only money, make it every day, LOL. If money wasn’t an issue I wouldn’t be looking at tonearms from the 90’s.

$2500 bucks for a used V, then ship it off the SME to be rewired & refurbished (they have a service shop just north of Toronto), there’s another $450-600 clams, that’s an easy three G’s for a used arm .... forget it.

In 1984 I paid $1800 dollars for just the table, I’m not throwing $3 grand at an arm, I’m caping the tonearm budget at $1800 bucks. That’s why I’ve been seriously considering the Wilson Benesch 0.5.

True, there is a counter weight at the fulcum, but it’s not as complex as a Graham, VPI, or Tri-Planar, and cost a lot less.

So thanks for the heads up on the Zeta wspohn. On that choice we agree, but SME V, it’s too rich for my blood.

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