Which is the Better Tonearm - Pro-Ject or Rega?

Ok, as an engineer, I feel obliged to chime in.  Castings are cheaper than bar or tubing.  Tubing and bar, forged or rolled, have more uniform density than castings. Even if the most advanced casting technics are used, you will still have some internal casting issues, it's the nature of the beast. So maybe Rega uses cast pieces for economic reasons.  Let's not fall for the marketing fluff about castings being more rigid and acoustically inert and all that stuff.  I am willing to bet this claim has never been substantiated. 

Rotarius - here's a link that explains some of the advantages of casting. Granted, it talks to steel, but wouldn't the same be true of any metal?

http://www.afsinc.org/content.cfm?ItemNumber=6931

One valid point about casting...

"It puts the metal where it is needed"

Here's another link that measures attributes of the Rega 301 arm against other arms...

http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/index.php/vinyl-lp/70-tests/104-arm-tests.html

Also a quote from Wikipedia...

"which has a now tapered cast alloy tube[22] that offered greater rigidity and better control of resonance"  

As for your statement...

"So maybe Rega uses cast pieces for economic reasons"  

It took them over two years of R & D to get it right -  "economic reasons" - I doubt it.

What you say may have some merit, but I think Rega's reputation and track record carries more weight than your conjecture.

Regards...

but I think Rega's reputation and track record carries more weight than your conjecture.

+1

Williewonka, that link talks about weldments and welded joints etc.  Please, this is not relevant to the topic at hand.  I design pressure vessels for a living, I know my materials as well as the quality of castings coming out of China (we buy by the boatload).  I am not going to  argue about elementary material science on an audio forum....believe what you must.  I am out.

Seadweller - 

I am on my 3rd ProJect table and currently have the latest incarnation of the carbon 9cc evolution.

Some of its positive virtues are:
- Rock solid bearings without any slop at all
- Tracks exceptionally well
-Setting up VTA is simple and straight forward
-Simple to adjust perfect channel bias (verified w/ test record)
- Achieves ideal LF resonance range (also verified w/ test record)
- Can typically set up a cartridge perfectly in under 30 minutes (with caveat for anti skate noted below)
- Comes w/ 3 weights to accommodate any cartridge and the included scale is within .05g as compared with a digital force gauge
- stock wiring is pretty good (caveats below)

Some of the negatives
- The tonearm lift and arm wand rest are pretty cheap
- The anti-skate post (fishing tackle) only offers 3 settings so I've always generally set them up w/ too little than too much
- Unless purchased with as a bundle with a table, seems a little expensive for what it is.
- Wiring lugs are very very soft and delicate (common)

After looking up the audiomods tonearm after following this thread, I do like the idea of having the micron adjustment for VTA and it might be fun to put one together from kit.  That said, after reading a 6moons review I personally don't see it as an upgrade (most notably the bearing slop noted).

Take care

Greg