Here on Vinyl Engine, for only one example of free protractors available. Just be sure your printer is set up for a 1:1 ratio between image and copy. Anyway, it further occurs to me that there ARE no set null points for any given tonearm. The null point locations will further depend upon the chosen alignment algorithm, e.g., Stevenson, Baerwald, Lofgren, etc. And of course headshell offset angle. And all of this assumes you have zero zenith error between stylus and cantilever.
Turntable advice / opinion on setup / sound.
Hello all you analog experts. I am seeking some advice, opinions and direction to try, based on my tastes and setup.
I’m not loving my current TT sound but there are variables that could cause this. For reference, my favorite TT I ever owned was the ClearAudio Champion Level 2 (wish I never sold it) because it was warm and had a huge stage.
- I listen to every style of music, smooth jazz to hard metal.
- I have to turn the volume way up to get the get the level I like which at times has hiss and a tiny bit of hum. Compared to digital sources which have none of these issues.
- I find this setup to lack huge stage and warmth.
My current system is:
- Rega Planar 8 w/ Alpheta 2 MC cart.
- Cambridge Audio -> Alva Duo Phono Pre amp
- Mark Levinson -> No 585 Amp.
- Martin Logan 15a Renaissance -> 8FT apart/ 3ft off the front wall and 3 FT from each side wall. I sit 9FT away from the speakers.
The turntables I am considering are:
1) Musical Fidelity -> M8XTT
What cart would you use?
2) Michell Audio -> Gyro SE Turntable
3) Clear Audio Champion Level 2
Thank you all in advance for any guidance and opinions you can offer.
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- 185 posts total
I hope and trust that "BS" is Bill Stevenson and not a remark about my advice. Does this help? |
My ears are ringing. lewm’s advice seems solid to me. I want to stay out of this dog fight. I will offer this observation from past experience. I have so far had an opportunity to check one P8. It was fitted with a Rega cartridge and fastened into the arm with their standard 3 screw set up. I did not need to adjust anything. AnalogMagik confirmed excellent performance and the turntable and arm sounded quite good. I personally would not hesitate to buy and happily use a Rega turntable appropriate to the application from P3 on up and have looked pretty long and hard at their Naia for my own system in NH as a possible replacement for my VPI HW19. |
It isn’t a dog fight, but I am asking for specific answers ____?, not to be told what I am asking for is not needed. The facts are that OP owns P8 with RB880 OP bought an Ortofon Cartridge, made to fit the 14mm height of Rega Cartridges/Arm, but I have not read that it fits the 3 point mount. Even if it does, what about ANY other cartridge? Rega, in it’s magnificence has not given the specifics for the null points for that arm, other than in a provided protractor that OP may not have/be able to locate. Or anyone else buying a used Rega TT. Any and all tonearms I have been involved with have specific specifications for Overhang/Inner/Outer Null Points. Always different from the 3 recognized ’alternate standards’ or whatever you want to call them. The 5 I own, ALL the others I have helped my friends with. I have written the answers for 3 of my arms on my protractor:
btw, printing protractors is tricky. copiers are designed to be slightly off actual size to prevent copying money. I have had to come up with enlargement/reduction formulas to get things accurate. A 1" square, or 30mm square on the original can be helpful when ’fixing’ something not quite right. |
- 185 posts total