sknnyc, just so you're aware, what o-l is talking about on their www has *nothing* to do w/the express machining heavyweight - these guys are competitors! ;~) o-l's mod replaces the counterweight stub w/a more rigid stub, & a different non off-center weight.
for what it's worth, i asked mark baker of origin live about getting a heavyweight for my ol-modded rb250. i was actually just hoping to be able to gain some clearance, to put the dust cover on my oracle when not in use... ;~) mark specifically said the heavyweight is a sonic degradation to the o-l modified arms. he didn't get into all the technical reasons - he *did* say there's some benefit to the lowered center-of-gravity offered by the heavyweight, but he said it's offset by some other things, he wasn't specific what they were (but, i didn't press for details, either). i don't know his feelings about the stock regas or the other arms these things can be made for... i also don't know if he's just bashing a competitor, but i doubt it - his dealings w/me have always been above-board & fair. he also suggested i try it myself, & post my results to the interested audio newsgroups, so i really think he believes what he's saying...
extremephono - did you get your little chart's numbers reversed? you said the o-l hardware sounded better than the heavyweight hardware, yer you show the heavyweight ranked 5% higher...
speaking of rega arms, there's a vendor currently advertising on a-gon what is supposedly a *great deal* on rega arms, because he buys in bulk, etc... well, you can save a tidy sum over his prices (including shipping) if you just buy them direct from origin live - they'll be happy to sell you an unmodified rega arm, if that's what you want... as galen carol's o-l modified regas are also competitively priced w/buying o-l arms directly, perhaps it would also be worth checking w/galen for a stock rega arm.
doug s.