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RB300 tweaking problem

I have an RB300 mounted on a Townshend Rock Mk. III. This turntable incorporates a damping trough at the cartridge. To use this trough, a outrigger assembly is mounted at the headshell. The RB300 came from Townshend. It came with the tungsten CW w/ an additional weight epoxied to it to offset the added mass of the outrigger. The diameter of the hole on the additional weight is larger than the shaft. Its weight is being supported by the tungsten cw.

I am using the latest Shelter 501.

I thought I would try one of the cw upgrades. I went with the Mitchell. The problem that I am having is that in order to load the cartridge at 1.8 grams, the center of the main weight is a full 2" behind the pivot.

Any suggestions here? Should I add more mass to the Mitchell? If so, how?

Thanks for any help.
smctigue
smctigue OP
9 posts
 
The tracking force is set at 3.5. According to the Mitchell literature, doing so deactivates the spring.
tafka_steve
115 posts
 
>>The tracking force is set at 3.5. According to the Mitchell literature, doing so deactivates the spring.<<

Correct. The spring applies upward force in Rega arms, not a downward force. But deactivating the spring means that you have to move the counterweight further from the pivot. If you want to operate with the spring deactivated, you'll have to add more mass to the counterweight to move it closer to the pivot.

FWIW, I use a Expressimo Heavyweight on my Townshend-modified Rega and with the Lyra Helikon tracking at 1.8 g. I have the counterweight hanging off the end of the arm tube as far as it can go. If I used a heavier cartridge or more tracking force, I'd have to add mass to the Heavyweight.
smctigue OP
9 posts
 
Tafka, thanks, very interesting. Our cartridges weight the same. I also load mine at 1.8 grams. Are you happy with the Heavyweight? How has it improved over the Townshend supplied cw. Thanks.
tafka_steve
115 posts
 
Honestly, I can barely detect the sonic difference (slightly cleaner transient/dynamic peaks with the Heavyweight). I think the front-end damping paddle/trough of Townshend's arms removes arm resonance colorations (certainly the tonearm/cartridge resonant peak is nullified) and this is why the difference is so minor.
smctigue OP
9 posts
 
Agreed. I felt the same way about the Mitchell.

Where are you getting your damping fluid? I've emailed Townshend a few times with no luck.
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