RB300 with broken finger lift

There are two categories of used audio purchases that require higher-than-normal caution: tonearms, and cartridges. Hence, a major concern occurs to me: what happened to break off the finger lift? My question is not academic, as the structural integrity of the tonearm is vital to its performance.

Was the tonearm dropped, or did someone pull up too hard on the lift? Unless there was some metal fatigue or other flaw in the metal (highly unlikely, given Rega's QA procedures), the RB-300 tonearm is a single-piece casting and quite rigid (one of the reasons it is such a good tonearm). If the finger lift was broken as a result of rough treatment, the tonearm tube could have been torqued (and thus be slightly out of alignment), or the bearings and/or bearings race could have been damaged. The bearings in the Rega arms are very close tolerance (again, one of the reasons their arms are so good for the price), and if their tolerance has been disturbed, the arm may not track correctly, or may have undesirable resonances not present in an undamaged model.

Aside from the issue of the resale value of this tonearm, I personally would be very leery about buying this unit and would wait for another one to come on the market that is known to be in excellent condition. (I own a Rega RB-900 arm that I bought used several years ago here on A-gon, and I deliberately waited to buy from someone that could give me solid assurance about the tonearm's condition. My patience was repaid by getting a tonearm that was in pristine shape, and it has given me flawless performance and great pleasure.)

I am in no way casting aspersions on the seller, or his honesty, in my remarks. My comments are meant solely from the perspective of "caveat emptor". If you conduct "due diligence" by having the tonearm inspected by an authorized Rega dealer and determine that the tonearm is not damaged (except for the finger lift), then perhaps a low price might justify the purchase.

... but then he will have spent money on getting that opinion which he could have put on a mint arm in the first place...

I bought a new P-25 with the rb-600 tonearm.
The finger lift was broken off when I opened the box.
I caller Lauerman Audio who at the time was the Rega importer.
Steve told me this is a problem with all Rega arms.If you look at the finger lift where it meets the arm,you will notice a indentation around the finger lift.This is where they break off.
Steve sent me a new arm that arrived unbroken.
I've read a tweak to the Rega arms is to saw off the finger lift as a measureable vibration emits from the finger lifts.
If the bearings are OK then I wouldnt be overly concerned with a broken finger lift,although I was. :~)
Rega (and others) need to sell their tables with the tonearm OFF the table and properly boxed to prevent this and other problems (bearings coming loose)

I have the RB 900 with the same problem. It was replaced with the finger lift from the naim aro. The naim is not as fragile or prone to vibrations. Rega makes a great arm, but the finger lift is another issue!!!

So, Nrchy, you do not say if the missing lift is any kind of problem.

Sdcampbell, you are risk averse. Me too. Expensive way and time consuming way to be. Doubts make nice things sound bad.

All due respect, David, but it sounds as if you decided you didn't want the experience for the benefit of which I asked my question (correct grammar an be so snooty sounding). Still, thanks for the input.

How about those Moth rb300s? Are they as good as Rega badged ones? Any quality difference *at all*?

Rmn4- I bought my table/arm brand new and was upset the lift was broken off.
I didnt read until later about the 'cut the lift off' tweak.
I still didnt cut it off as I was planning on reselling it in the future.
What do you mean by "correct grammar an be so snooty sounding"?

dave

The missing lift is not a problem because I replaced it with the finger lift from a naim aro arm as I said the first time!

I just meant that my phrase "the experience for the benefit of which I asked my question", though grammatically correct, sounds snooty. (I have got to learn to type better, too!)

Nrchy, I didn't mean a problem in terms of getting the arm on and off a record. There are plenty of arms out there without finger lifts, so I know one doesn't "need" one. I meant sonically, proper tracking, etc.

I just meant that my phrase "the experience for the benefit of which I asked my question", though grammatically correct, sounds snooty. (I have got to learn to type better, too!)

Nrchy, I didn't mean a problem in terms of getting the arm on and off a record. There are plenty of arms out thee without findger lifts, so I know one doesn't "need" one. I meant sonically, proper tracking, etc.

Rnm4:

I bought an RB250 from Curtis (Audiophileanswers) a few months ago. It had the finger lift intact, but was a demo. It arrived in perfect condition and exactly as described. The broken finger lift problem is pretty common to Regas, as the alloy they use is pretty brittle. Depending on how it got broken off, it's possible that it might affect the bearings. As David99 stated, removing the finger lift is one of the common Rega tweaks, so it might have been removed on purpose. Rega seems to have engineered a score there so it will break off cleanly, but that's specualtion. Rega has never admitted that any of the common tweaks are improvements.

I had a great transaction with Curtis and he was very helpful and easy to work with. If he says the arm is in good shape save the finger lift, it probably is. His feedback here reflects that.

I asked him and he didn't admit to it, but I suspect he has a reliable and regular source for demo and B stock Rega goods, as he seems to have something for sale here almost all the time.

David