Rega P9 specs Re: spacers


Hi: could anyone tell me if the Rega specs on spacers are a good starting point to tell how many spacers I will need with a certain cart.

For instance Rega says their carts are 14 mm. Therefore if I have a cart that is 16 mm I would need one 2mm spacer. If I have a cart that is 19 mm I would need a total of 5 mm in spacers.

Is this is correct? If so, does anyone know if the height measurment is to be taken with the cart,mounted on the arm, and sitting on a record (i.e suspension engaged) or if the measurment should be taken without the action of the suspenion. I guess the question here is: does anyone know how rega get the 14 mm measurment, so that I can measure potential new carts the samy way, and gauge the spacer requirements.

Also, how do I short list potential carts for the RB1000 tonearm with regards to calculating resonance frequency. I cannot find specs for effective mass on this tonearm.

I'd appreciate it if any P9 owners out there could give me some tips on using this table with anything other than a Rega cart.
wfsf75d
Thanks Plinko: I understand what you are saying, and it is exactly what I plan to do.

Initially, I was trying to follow the instructions (from the REGA website) for calculating spacer requirements. They say. All REGA carts measure 14mm. The height specs for my cart are not published, but I got them from the distributor (which I double checked myself) and thought i could go from there.

Unfortunately it did not work out as planned, so Yes, I am going to have to play around to find the correct height instead of being able to calculate it beforehand.

I think I have found what works, but the mismatch got me to wondering if something else could be wrong, which is why I asked the original question. It seems no one else is gettng tied up in knots over the measurments, I guess I'm just funny that way.

Thanks for your reply, I'll try to relax a bit. :/
Hey wfs, forgot about your question about resonant frequency. try the cartridge database at vinylengine: http://www.cartridgedb.com/

You can look up cartridges or plug in your own arm mass and will tell you what range of dynamic compliance is suitable for your arm. But remember, it is not 100% accurate and you can listen to carts on the out range of specified acceptability. The Rega arm should be decent or very good with most cartridges.
Do you know the effective mass of the Rega RB1000 arm. I can't find that information.
also at vinyl engine:

http://www.vinylengine.com/tonearm_database.shtml

dunno. it's probably 12 or something similar to the other arms. wonder if Rega will tell you.
Thanks Plinko - I'll plug the (-) into the cartridge database and see if I get any matches. If that doesn't work I'll try "or something"