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Rega and VPI tonearm owners - READ THIS

I have just spent the past two evenings listening to a wide variety of LP's after installing Express Machining's "The Heavy Weight" counterweight on my Rega RB900 tonearm (which is mounted on a VPI HW-19 Mk 4 turntable, and has a Grado Reference cartridge). I was prepared to be disappointed, thinking that changing the counterweight on the tonearm would be, at best, barely noticeable. Holy mackerel, was I wrong!! This replacement counterweight is the best $80 addition I have ever made to my analog front end -- and if you own a Rega tonearm, you need to buy this gizmo.

The "Heavy Weight" replaces the standard counterweight on the Rega arm, and is also available for the VPI and AudioQuest tonearms. (I can't vouch for what it will do for the VPI or AudioQuest tonearms, but it made a major improvement on my Rega.) The "Heavy Weight" is made with its mounting hole off-center, near the edge, so that the weight hangs below the plane of the tonearm like the counterweight that's mounted on the end of railroad crossing barriers. The counterweight is secured with a set screw, unlike the standard weight on the Rega arm which is held in place by a rubber donut lining the mounting hole. The "Heavy Weight" is even supplied with a hex key that fits the set screw -- nice touch.

Folks, if my experience is representative, I've got to tell you that the improvement provided by this counterweight is NOT subtle. In addition to tightening up the deep bass, the modified tonearm yields better focus, imaging, detail, and the soundstage is deeper in both directions (both in front of the speakers and behind them). I know, I know, that seems like a ridiculous improvement to attribute to a counterweight, but I listened to some 20 LP's that I know VERY well (classical, jazz, vocals, etc.) and it is NOT my imagination. To verify what I was hearing, I put the original Rega counterweight back, did some more listening, and the improvements I had noted with the "Heavy Weight" disappeared.

In addition to the improvements I heard almost immediately, I also noted on further listening that the high frequencies seemed more extended and natural -- particularly cymbals, triangles, and bells, as well as the upper frequencies of violins and brass instruments.

If you own one of the tonearms mentioned, I strongly urge you to buy the Express Machining "Heavy Weight". I feel like I've made a wonderful discovery, and would have been very pleased with this performance at twice the price. It's almost like stepping up a notch in the quality of your cartridge.

The "Heavy Weight" is sold by several retailers. I got mine from "The Elusive Disk", and I think that The Audio Advisor also sells it. Now, stop reading this post, and get online and order one for yourself. I firmly believe that you are going to be very pleasantly surprised.
sdcampbell
rwd
695 posts
 
I just read your post and have a question for you and all.
I just purchased a VPI JWM 10.5 and the counter weight and the is also off center as you described......
I am, believe me, a non-techno, so what you are describing and what I'm explaining may be two different things....however, just wanted to know if maybe the VPI JWM 10.5 (and 12.5) does ALREADY come with the mod you're talking about.

Thanks Rick
sdcampbell OP
2,136 posts
 
Hi, Rick: I happened to look today at a review of the VPI Aries/JMW 10.5 and 12.5 arm, and noticed that the counterweight is designed almost identically to the "HeavyWeight". Hence, the "HeavyWeight" might not have nearly as much effect on the JMW as the Rega arms. Harry Weisfeld of VPI is a very competent designer, and I doubt that he would miss anything so obvious as a good counterweight design. If you are willing to spend $100 on an experiment, I'm sure the rest of us would be very interested to learn if using the "HeavyWeight" on your JMW arm yields any improvements...
audibleguy
147 posts
 
I can tell you that the Heavyweight works wonders on the Audioquest PT tonearms. I have recently installed one and it is great.
sknnyc
51 posts
 
Someone mentione the Origin Live mods so I checked out their website. They claim that by far, the largest improvements in the stock Rega arms can be had with the addition of the counterweight (yup, more than internal rewiring, more than replacing the cheap-o tonearm cable that comes with the RB300). I figure for this price, I just can't go wrong.
jayboard
301 posts
 
Good to hear comments about Heavyweight. Just to clarify, the OL mod to RB250 and 300 arms, which does cost a lot more than a Heavyweight, is not just changing the counterweight. It involves machining a new rear end stub that attaches in such a way as to greatly improve the rigidity of the connection between the counterweight-bearing stub and the main part of the arm. I have an OL arm but haven't heard the Heavyweight so can't make any comparisons.
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