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Tonearm comparison, Rega vs Zeta, anyone?

Rega RB300 (giant killer) $250 - $400, - - - Zeta tonearm (Giant) $1350 NOS. sold for $800 on US audiomart.

I’m stepping up a level in the cartridge dept, and wonder if the benefits of doing so might be further augmented by stepping up a level in the tonearm dept, and if doing both would make a sonic improvement greater than the sum of it’s parts?

A gain of that level in sonics would make such an expediture intriguing, Eg: 1+1= 3.5. (ajusted to compensate for the law of diminishing returns).

Has anyone out there used "both" an RB300 and a Zeta? And would you feel that moving to a Zeta is closer to a lateral move, or more reflective to an exponential improvement?
My Rega has been rewired with Discovery interconnects, and uses the heavier counterweight.

(Cartridge move is from a Grado Reference Sonata 1, to a Dynavector 20x2 High Output).

thehorn

Showing 3 responses by bimasta

bimasta's avatar
bimasta
227 posts
 
I also had the RB300, and very high hopes. I was very disappointed. No cartridge, from high-compliance MM to LOMC, sounded nearly as good on the Rega as they did on other arms. Everyone conceded the wiring in the Rega was lousy, so I rewired with VDH pure silver — there was little improvement if any. I was doing a tonearm survey at the time — starting with low with the original Rega (made by Acos; I blank on the name, RB-200 maybe?), the SME 3009 II Imp, then Technics RB500/501, Grado Reference, Linn Ittok, Syrinx PU3, SME 309. Oddly, the only arm as lifeless and dull as the Rega was the Grado.

The 300 is praised by so many, and so widely hyped, that mine is a lonely opinion — but at least Boxer12 agrees. I simply can't imagine a  Zeta in decent condition won't blow it away. 
bimasta's avatar
bimasta
227 posts
 
I forgot to mention, the RB300 I had was mounted on an Oracle — not the Delphi but the Alexandria, a step down but using exactly the same design principles (suspension, platter/bearing/motor, etc). All the other arms I mentioned above were mounted to that Oracle, and Rega was runner-up for last place. If you liked the Pirelli analogy, this may strike a chord — Putting a RB300 on a Delphi is like using Chevy parts on your Porsche.
bimasta's avatar
bimasta
227 posts
 
The Syrinx LE1 was the bottom of the Syrinx line, their offering in the "budget" arena, and unlike Rega they weren't geared up to mass-produce, crucial in that low-margin market. Quality control was all over the place.
I have and still use the better Syrinx PU3 and it's superb. It beat the SME 309 (IME) — the 309 is a pricey high-end arm — in a strict head-to-head comparison. And I didn't want it to, so there was no confirmation bias. It destroyed the RB300.
I've not heard the Zeta, but it was reputed to be competitive with the PU3, one the "super arms" UK seemed to produce in abundance during vinyl's so-called Golden Age.
Viridian's suggestion is a very good one, and he notes the Oracle/SME connection. SME made an arm specially for Oracle, though it was a variant of their TOTL V, as is the 309. Again, I've not heard the M2-9 but I've owned several SME arms and they never disappoint.
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