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Do you use a wool record mat? Do you upgrade?

I have been in this hobby for many decades, when I hear something said to me from a professional at a store that doesn't make sense to me, I ask YOU the people in this hobby. Regarding REGA turntables do you keep the wooly mat they give you? Do you NOT upgrade the bearing system? and Isolate the table with a platform? Is it BAD OMEN to upgrade the belt, or change the platter from glass to acrylic or delrin? I would think anything that makes your table sound better for a little money would be a welcome investment. After saying all this. I use a Acrylic platter with no mat and a JA Mitchel record clamp on my REGA P3/24 with a Mapleshade ISO platform sitting on Iso blocks. The P3/24 is now dead quiet and with the bearing change (steel ball w/brass post to CZ ball w/solid steel spindle with sapphire thrust plate) It spins effortlessly and has raised the level of this table considerably. Why are some dealers so opposed to tweaks or 3rd party upgrades? My local dealer has lost me as a customer because of their ridged beliefs!
128x128mattmiller
9 responses Add your response
rshak
419 posts
 
I have two P9's. The first thing I did after acquiring each of them was ditch the wool mats - - - attracted way too much static for my taste. I replaced them with mats from Herbie's. Quite happy with the improvement.
a4bfamily
10 posts
 
Hey mattmiller. Sounds like your dealer must be of the same bloodline as a store owner here in Hamilton, Ontario. He wouldn't sell to a guy because he didn't like his make of car (not kidding...). He stopped talking to me when I mentioned I'd be using a bryston. I don't think he's in business anymore lol.

I'd love to drop in the 24v motor with psu into my p2. My dad made the change a while back on his p3 and couldn't believe the difference. I'm currently working on making an acrylic platform for the Rega. It's 0.75" thick and I plan to double it up. The platter sounds so good in acrylic so I thought why not make a platform out of it... The material was free so the only investment is time if it doesn't work well.

Your setup must sound glorious in its current configuration. Especially with the Mac!
gcp
37 posts
 
I switched to a cork and rubber blend mat. Static electricity issues (pops..) disappeared and transparency improved.
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller OP
1,497 posts
 
A4bfamily, I agree with you that turntables are meant to be played with ....good points you made. I took a used $650.00 P3/24 and spent another $600 on improving the bearing, sub platter, platter ,and added a 3mm spacer (custom groove tracer)I placed the table on a Iso platform with iso feet from Mapleshade. Also, after trying a few different cartridges I went with a Dynavector 10X5. All of these changes yielded great results. I tried to share the results with a local REGA dealer here in Austin TX and they shot me down like a duck! Made me feel like I was an Idiot. Never going in there again.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,470 posts
 
mats are a crap shoot....they all change the sound, but with a great variety of success (mostly failure). I remember the wool mat on either my Linn or Rega sounded (well)..wooley. There was a carbon fiber mat that I tried for awhile that changed the sound somewhat better, but in the end, I just got a better turntable. Most turntables are made better by using a very solid foundation (not the Linn).
jetrexpro
506 posts
 
I have done the Groovetracer Sub platter upgrade and the white belt upgrade and both yields very good results. The Groovetracer subplatter dropped the low frequency noise floor to nothing. I also tried Herbie's Audio Lab Mat in place of the felt but it seemed to suck out some of the musicality in my system.
xiekitchen
821 posts
 
Have you tried the Ringmat with the rega? It was better on my P-3 and P-9 than the stock felt or an audioquest sorbothane mat
a4bfamily
10 posts
 
Hey!
Sounds like you are a few steps ahead of me on the path I'm working my way down... Moving to the acrylic platter was the most shocking change I've made so far. The difference was epic, nearly fell off the couch lol. I upgraded the needle which was positive but not as much as the platter.

Turntables were meant to be played with. If Rega wanted you to use it exactly how they sell it, it would be welded into one piece so nothing can be changed LOL.

The fact that there are online stores with dedicated sections for table parts and tweaks should be a hint!

Change as much as you want... you don't like it... You'll switch it back. No harm done :)
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Your local dealer probably doesn't get any money for the tweaks you employ. And yes tweaking is fun but I understand that in some cases it may not be doing the best thing to whatever component is being modified. I know that I would be somewhat reluctant to buy a unit modified by a regular audio person.
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