Vinyl Asylum: RE: Can a cartridge be too good for a table? by DRCope

Yikes, quite a lot going on here. As someone who has sold and owns both Rega and AN tables, I can't help but jump in here. (Note: Yes, I do marketing work for Audio Note, as it says in my profile, so apply whatever grains of salt you like.)

First, the Thorens. While I had a TD166 and then a TD160 (which I loved) with various arms and carts back in the day, the one you're looking at is just another unsuspended table with an arm and cart which isn't likely to get you better sound than you've already got. Forget it.

TT1 vs. TT2 - I did this comparo repeatedly when I had an AN-dedicated (plus Rega) shop. The first thing you notice with the Two is a greater solidity and weight in the bass and lower mids, then you realize that low level detail is better, as is imaging. Everything sounds more "grounded", if that holds meaning for you. I would hold out for the TT2. So what do you do in the meantime? The Rega P2 and RB250 can be fine-tuned in a number of ways, some of which are quite cost-effective.

First, replace the arm stub and counterweight. If you go with an AN Arm 1, 2 or 3 down the road, you can transplant the new parts. The Rega arm stub is plastic, and the counterweight has a very loose grip on the stub via a rubber o-ring. Neither is good news sonically. The Expressimo Heavyweight and Arm Stub make solid improvements across the board, resulting in a noticeably punchier, weightier sound with a greater sense of solidity. The Michell Tecnoweight is streets ahead in terms of fit and finish, and brings with it a degree of subtlety and refinement - particularly noticeable on well-recorded classical and jazz - which the HeavyWeight lacks. Expressimo has stopped producing their weight and stub which cost about $120. Michell's Tecno is about $160.

Second - The rubber feet on the Rega table, perched on "whatever" piece of furniture are, umm, sub-optimal. You can take one step up with a trio of Mapleshade's brass Heavyfeet, or preferably Triplepoints. Another step up can be taken by adding a 2" Mapleshade maple platform and a trio of Mapleshade IsoBlocks. I have a P3 with AN Arm 2, IQ3 on Triplepoints on a maple slab on Isoblocks currently, with the Michell Tecnoweight and acrylic platter. (See image above or via link below.)

Third - You can replace the metalised HDF platter with an after-market acrylic platter. I hated the wood platter on my shop's P2, (don't know if it was metalised or not six years ago), and wasn't much fonder of the P3's glass platter. Replaced them both with

Fourth - You can replace the internal wire in the RB250 with the wire used in the AN Arm 2 and 3. You are playing with veerrrry fine wire here, though. Each conductor consists of three 0.05mm (yes, 5/100's of 1mm) braided together, so a delicate touch and a light soldering hand is required.

I just read about the Deep Groove sub-platter kit, which I haven't tried, but may now try, just for fun.

I haven't heard that particular Shure, but I very seriously doubt it can keep up with an IQ3, or an IQ2 for that matter. A couple points on the IQ cartridges: They all share the same body. You can start with a 1 or a 2 and upgrade to a 3 by replacing the stylus down the road. The IQ3 uses the same square cross-section titanium cantilever and stylus tip as Audio Note's IO1 moving coil cartridge, which retails (in the U.S.) for over $3k. Audio Note suggests that one is likely to get 2-3,000 hours from their styli, vs. 500-1,000 from typical styli. So unless you play LPs 6 to 8 hours per day every day of the year, annual stylus replacements are a thing of the past.

Wow, that may be the longest post I've ever made. Sorry, or you're welcome, depending on what you think of epic posts and the material/opinions contained . . . .

Keep your ears and your mind open.

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