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Upgrade path conundrum

S

Surreygraham

New Member
Some years ago I bought a Wilson Benesch Full Circle turntable but at the time could not afford the ACT 0.5 tone arm so fitted a Rega RB300 with a Shure V15VxMR (of which I now have 2 following an acccident which broke the stylus on one and the I had the whole unit replaced). The stylus was broken for a second time and I fitted a N87xE stylus on advice but have never been that happy with it.

I am now in the fortunate position to afford an upgrade and am unsure of the best path.

I’ve read the various forums and the recent article about the Jico SAS in the V15VX and it looks like I might as well go for the Boron version as the more expensive versions don’t seem to add a great deal. This is a reasonably priced upgrade but I do t want to throw my money away.

So,

Should I also replace the arm with a better Rega arm or go all out and spend about £1000 to get an ACT 0.5 or even £1800 for an ACT 2.0 as I do t really want to replace my ‘Circle’.

Or

Is there a better upgrade approach? I’m using a Meridian 502 Analogue controller with their MM phono stage through a Meridian 556 amp which I don’t plan on changing.

Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated.
 
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Definitely replace the the Rega arm as it is a very grey sounding arm. If you can spend 1800 K then you certainly should get a fantastic upgrade & the arm will be well beyond the V15MR. Also you need to remember that the cart & arm must match so the combination together are in the correct resonant frequency range of between 7 & 12 hz.
To do that check with the Korf Compliance calculator before buying for an estimate. But the only way to tell for sure is to measure it (easy job) AFTER you have bought!!
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...m/calculator&usg=AOvVaw3TZBwCCUJnkZylN5_xdzus

And again with that type of money you could afford to go MC & even a 12'' arm

Cheers
 
If you are set on an MM cartridge, and are keeping the table, ACT 0.5 is the most logical upgrade. It will work fine with high to mid compliance cartridges, and almost all MM's are just that. ACT 2.0 makes no sense without switching to MC cartridges. As for the V15MR, you can try SAS-B, but it will not be as good as original, how much to you, it is a personal thing. Alternatively, you can change cartridge to high output MC like Hana EH for $475, or best in class MM like Grado Opus3 (high output version) for $275. Switching to Ortofons (Blue or Bronze) might be too brutal after the smooth V15MR. Audio Technica AT-VM95SH might also be a contender, it is very balanced and refined (like Shure), and I have heard it work great on much more expensive turntables (various VPI's) than it has any right to be on.
 
I'm aware of only one poster who I've ever seen post that the Rega arms sound 'grey', which IMO is an absurd assertion. If you've been happy with the Rega arm I would suggest buying a brand new Rega/Moth RB880, which will preserve all of the ergonomics you've come to expect but will bring better tolerances and superior all-around performance. One thing to consider is that the newer Rega arms use a three-point mounting system so the arm board will need to be considered here as well. The RB880 is available from Brit Audio in the US for just under $1K, a smashing value for an ultra high-performance tonearm.

On the Shure cartridge, it's become common for posters to down-rate the venerable Shures, but they are still competitive with any MM cartridge on the planet IMO and were well ahead of their time when produced. It's also become popular to assert that these cartridges are downgraded when using the JICO styli, another point I'll disagree with. The SAS styli are obviously not the same as the OEM styli but are widely praised for their outstanding and predictable performance.

For about $1300USD you could upgrade your tonearm, maintain the feel and look you're used to, and upgrade performance of a cartridge you own and love. You can also offset some of the cost by selling off the RB300, FWIW.
 
''Rega arms sound 'grey', which IMO is an absurd assertion.''

I was talking about the OP arm the RB300, which needs extensive modification to sound good, which is why Audimod's made such a killing selling their modded version of the arm. The newer Rega's are from what I have read quite good sounding, but the range of arms still have two MAJOR drawbacks.

- You have to use Stevenson's arch for cart alignment, which gives the worse overall distortion of all the 3 alignment system, Log B being the best.

- Upgrading your cart to one with an exotic stylus, the arm does not have anyway to set the SRA / VTA correctly. (unless you use spacers, good luck with that)

On a Rega deck using a Rega cart this is not a problem as the cart's are specifically made for that set up. But that is not the case for other decks.

Interesting little tweak from Korf & cheap enough to try.

Cheers
 
Thank you for all of the advice.

I think I’ll try and get an ACT 0.5 as it’s a good fit for my turntable and seems to have good reviews. I remembered that one of the reasons I didn’t buy it originally was due to the minor challenge of it settling on a given track due to its slight instability - something I’ll get used to from what I can see.

I have written to a couple of re-tipping experts asking for a price to fix one of my original Shure styluses Once I have a price then I may decide to proceed or get a Jico SAS. However I will also do a bit more research on high output MC as suggested above as I have often wondered if the V15VX is a bit smooth with the smooth sound of Meridian. I have also seen a second hand Dynavector DV20x2H for just over £500 with about 30 hours use on fleabay which could be a good option.
 
The V15VxMR most definitely has a rolled down treble compared to the V15V-MR. Listening to both this evening, in fact, with original styli. The Jico SAS/B adds an additional slight “numbing” to the sound, whether -MR or xMR cartridge. I have both SAS/B styli also. Using a different arm won’t change the cartridge’s innate sound. It may enhance what’s already there, though.

So whichever arm may enhance the clarity of the xMR cartridge would be a good upgrade.

Now, having compared the Jico vs original beryllium Shure styli, in the world of MM/MI carts, the Shures still measure up with the best out there. MC carts don’t have beryllium cantilevers either, so I’m not sure how much better moving over to MC will be.
 
Thank you both for stopping me making an expensive mistake. I am learning so much.

Back to the drawing board for more research I guess…..this is fun!
 
The problem you have now is that you have armed yourself with a low Eff Mass arm. So most, but not all of the MC range the carts will not be suitable for the arm. The A/T AT-OC9XML may suit as it has a high compliance, spec'd 18 Janpanese. Which when converted to Euro spec is around 30 dynamic compliance.

Cheers
 
Thanks.

After much playing with the Korf calculator I finally understand this aspect (the pictures below show the V15 with different weight arms 9g and 22g and one showing a very low compliance cartridge with a 9g arm). I also found this link below which was very helpful.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3668/12498171283_73596a6845_o.gif

I’ve written to Temaad and asked for some prices on a DIY kit as this may give me a better arm than the ACT 0.5 at a lower cost and I think this may be a better arm.
 

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Just to close this off.

As a result of all of the advice and research I’ve managed to buy a Wilson Benesch ACT turntable with an ACT 2.0 arm at a good price (about $2000). There wasn’t much info about the TT on line but what I did find was positive and the arm always had good reviews.

I appreciate that this is another light arm and probably more deserving of an MC cartridge - particularly as I managed to break the stylus I was using on my VX15xMR today!
 
Surreygraham said:
I appreciate that this is another light arm and probably more deserving of an MC cartridge
Click to expand...
A "light arm" does not necessarily deserve a MC Cartridge. Such an arm, "low effective mass", is more compatible with a high compliance cartridge, more in line with your VX15xMR.
This not to say it won't work with a MC cart if said cart was also a high compliance cart. Most are not. Hence the heavier arms matched with MC carts, typically.
As well, I have no idea as to the qualifications of your arm. I'm sure there are others better informed than I.
Before you go nuts with another cartridge, verify what is considered "appropriate" for your arm and what your budget is. We'll be happy to point you towards good options.
 
Yep the 2.0 is the same as the 0.5 with an Eff Mass of 9. The obvious place to start I suppose with MC is with there own range of carts. But all the carts compliance is 15, so only the carbon which has a carbon body & heavier at 8 grams, just scrap's in of the Korf chart. The other two are a complete mismatch for the own arms, unless you insert a 5 to 10 grams spacer, than they would work.
Very strange that a manufacturer does not know how to spec the cart for their own arms. There's actually a NOS Ply (BENZ) on Ebay at present, I would add a 10gram brass spacer & grab it.

Cheers
 
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