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I've got an RB2000 on an RP10 that has a decent amount of bearing play both side-to-side and up-down. Does anyone have any experience in this? Anyone know if there is someone in the states that could do the necessary repair, and/or what the Rega factory charges?
Thanks.
Follow Ups:
It is a common myth, that a tonearm bearing should have zero inflow - or zero play. There is an article written by Laura Dearborne that floats around the internet which suggests that if you can detect any lateral movement in your tonearm, when grasped by the headshell and rocked from side to side, then you should have it repaired because it will damage your records - this is nonsense.If you look at arms like the Origin live, they have loose bearings; they call it 'decoupled' bearings - it's the same thing - play. Unipivots, and knife edge bearings are also loose, because the bearing is held in place by gravity.
I had a lengthy conversation with Brian Laker of SME several years ago about bearing adjustment; after many experiments swapping out bearings with different levels of adjustment, I finally came around to the conclusion that some looseness in the bearings - the way tonearms are shipped from the factory by SME - is good, and sounds better.
Pick up an old SME3012 and take a look at the horizontal bearing - probably 1 mm of inflow in that model.
Of course, there is the other extremes - such as the Breuer arm, which can be adjusted down to zero play - but this is very rare and very expensive. Most modern tonearms - at least based on my collection - have some degree of play, and there is nothing wrong with this.
Best regards,
Edits: 04/03/17 04/03/17
You may be interested in looking at the care that Rega put into their manufacturing tolerances in the linked video from Michael Fremer. I think that this part actually shows them working on a an RB2000 bearing ( if not it's in part 4).
You may guess from this that it is pretty unlikely that their top arm would leave the factory with maladjusted bearings.
Did you or someone mishandle the arm in some way? Because otherwise I would think that there is a good chance that the arm may still be under guarantee seeing that the Rega 10 was released less than three years ago. It may, however, be a used model and that the guarantee is not transferable. Nevertheless my first course of action would be to phone Rega (remember the time difference) or their US distributor and talk it over with them. They would at least give you a good idea if what you are reporting is in any way normal. You would also find out what they charge if a repair is involved or, possibly, whether or not they would want to make a charge.
No, I didn't "mishandle" the arm.
And I'm not the only person who's seen such a defect, either:
https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=87557
Hey Paul,
I have the RP10/RB2000 and do not have any bearing play as described in the vinyl engine thread. It's smooth across the arc when playing an LP but does not move at all when using the finger lift to see if any slight back and forth wobble exists. That's unfortunate for such an expensive table/arm to have this issue.
Was yours purchased new from a dealer?
I would contact the Rega N. American distributor, The Sound Org if you don't have a dealer. I've had nothing but excellent customer service when dealing with them.
The Sound Organisation
159 Leslie Street
Dallas
Texas 75207
Tel: 972 234 0182
Fax: 972 234 0249
Email: support@soundorg.com
Web : www.soundorg.com
Thanks. Table was bought used from a dealer. I had no choice but to return it. He was gracious.
I have had a number of other Rega arms, including an RB900 right now on a Basis table. None of them ever had the slightest bit of bearing play.
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