Rega P25 Tonearm Lift

Ok a couple of thoughts...

First of all what you need to do is simply adjust the tonearm lift. There is a hex set screw that adjusts the height of the lift and you simply need to get that hex key from Rega. I suggest you contact your local dealer or if that doesn't work, email me off list and I'll get one for you.

It is not terribly unusual for a Rega table to come in with the lift a little off. Sometimes in shipping things move around, etc. It's a quick fix and not a major problem.

Second of all we sell Rega and Grado (among other cartridge brands) and we sometimes put a Grado on a Rega table. The combo can be very musical. Aside from the hum (I'll get to that in a moment) I do not know of any real problems with Grado/Rega combinations.

As for the hum... yes it does exist in some systems. We always test first. Part of the problem with the hum has to do with the fact that Rega arms have no ground wire. But the important thing to remember is that the hum does NOT occur during playback. I do not mean that it gets drowned out sonically. I mean it actually does not occur when playing, only when the stylus is off the surface of the record. Don't believe me? Try putting a humming Grado/Rega combo on the lead-out groove of a record. No hum - dead silent. For whatever goofy reason, as soon as any signal passes through the stylus, the hum is blown out of the circuit. I do not have a good explanation for this, but it is not B.S. when I tell you that the hum only occurs when the table is idle. Most customers see this demonstrated and then they don't care.

Hackmaster-Check the archives.I've tried to get this across several times about the rega/grado 'hum'being a non issue.
Actually I dont care anymore other than I bothers me a bit seeing bad advice given out to 'philes looking into this combo.

Okay, David99,I promise to never mention it again. And when the threads come up about "How come my Rega hums with my Grado cartridge", I'll just let you explain to them that it doesn't happen. And how you didn't want anyone to be told about the possibility, because you thought it was "bad advice". And how these people wound up with a humming TT, because you sought to silence those who may have warned them about it. Yes, I'll keep quiet about it, and I'll let you do the talking when the time comes.

Sure TWI,thats fine.
I wonder though,why anyone would be bothered by a hum when the arm/cartidge is past the lead out groove of a record but not be bothered by the surface noise many LP's have...can you answer that? Or anyome else?
I think Hackmaster described the hum issue very well and I agree with him 100%
My findings are the same as his.

David, I don't know why they are bothered by it, they just are. They post threads looking for answers why. So I tell them why. If they can live with it, fine. If it doesn't happen to their table, fine. I don't want people to have problems with their analog rigs. If they are happy, they feel better about their music.

As far as saying that it doesn't make an audible difference, I wouldn't be totally sure of that. Just because the hum is reduced below audibility when signal is running, does not mean that it is not affecting the cartridge's magnetic field.

My opinion is that if there is enough hum field strength to make an audible hum, then it is strong enough to influence the magnetic performance of the cartridge, whether the influence manifests itself as hum, or not, while playing.

My point is that even though many people like Grado cartridges, and find them musical, there are other cartridges that are also musical, that do not behave this way on Rega TTs. So I simply conclude that to avoid potential problems of this nature, use a different cartridge on Regas. I really don't think that this is a radical point of view. To me it seems to make alot of sense.

I understand that you have this combo, and are not experiencing this problem, and that is good. I also understand that you may be sensitive to statements like the one I made, because it goes contrary to your selection. But I did not make the statement to irritate you. And I specifically said it did not happen in all cases. But it is quite common.

As far as people not wanting hum, but accepting pops and ticks, perhaps they feel that hum is an avoidable circumstance, and would rather do without it. I know I feel that way.

And also, if I started a thread, as a new TT user, and asked a question about using a Grado with a P3, and everybody said it was fine, and I got a hum problem, I would be wondering what was wrong. Then when I found out that is was a fairly common problem, I would be wondering why nobody told me about it when I asked about this combo. Doesn't this make sense to you? Am I wrong to tell them?

Anyway the subject is closed as far as I am concerned.
Enjoy the music.