Rega RP3 Bias/Anti-Skate

Anti Skate on the REGA RP3 should be set to the same as tracking force.Yes you can play around with it while the record is spinning. Be careful ,make small adjusts.

My experience is similar to Viridian's. With Rega style arms and others, I've obtained optimum sonics (to my ears) by setting A/S to one half or less of the scale on the arm. Many high end arms don't have a scale at all. They assume you'll adjust A/S by listening.

The VTF and A/S scales on Regas are notoriously inconsistent from one sample to the next. I'd recommend using a decent scale to get VTF in the ballpark for your cartridge, then adjust both parameters by listening (to music, not test tones).

My $.02.

My experience is also similar to Viridian's. I would not, however, try adjusting it on the fly, but that's just me. Viridian has much more technical expertise than I.

Also try no Anti-skate at all.... you may very well like that the best.

I've adjusted the VTF with a Shure scale and got the Ortofon Salsa dialed in at its supposed best tracking force of 2.2 grams so I'm confident of that setting, but I imagine that's assuming a lot.

I'll try easing up on bias and see what kind of difference that makes.

I'm using zero antiskate on my RP6 after adjusting it on the fly. That eliminated all inner groove distortion I was getting on some records.

You can adjust antiskate on the fly with no problem (unless you #$%# it up, LOL!)

Many Rega owners bypass the spring-loaded VTF mechanism on their tonearms by setting the tracking force dial to minimum and then using the counterweight's position to set VTF. No matter what, I would use a good scale rather than rely on the arm's VTF numbers.

Hi everyone, Yes ON THE FLY, like everyone has said BE VERY CAREFUL. been setting them arms up for years and Zero of 1/2 is where they tend to sound good.

Interesting! I most likely forgot this, and went for the 'most logical' approach. Thanks.

I set the VTF with the tonearm dial but checked it with the simple Shure balance scale.

I backed off on the bias just slightly and it seems to sound pretty balanced. I think I need to let the cart run in a bit. I've got a Rega Elys 2 cart coming. I thought I would give it a try since it is the recommended cart. I've heard reviews that the low end is slightly bumped so it may be just what I am looking for. If that isn't the solution, I've read the Ortofon 2M Black is a highly detailed cart PLUS a robust low end response.

I have been playing cart swap and at the same time experimenting with the bias adjustment. Thanks for the advice on adjusting bias on the fly. Nothing has exploded or snapped yet. Making the adjustment very slowly as suggested you can hear small differences.
I've got a Goldring 1012ex coming and hope that might be my permanent cart.