Vinyl Virgin seeks additional advice

I would:
1. Call local audio dealer to come back and get it right
2. Check anti-skate to see if that will cut down "skipping."
3. Check VTF with a scale to make sure you are in the right range for your cart (if you don't have one, you can get a scale for as little as $20 from any of the online audio retailers). You definately do not want to be adjusting the VTF without knowing that you are within the correct parameters for your cartridge.

The TT should NOT be that finicky. It just needs to be set up properly. Good luck.

The table should not be that finicky, but you could have inadvertently made the problem worse by lessening the tracking force (VTF). If there is adjustable anti-skate, and you reduced teh VTF, anti-skate would need to be reduced as well. Its also possible that you have gunk on your stylus from used and new LPs. Buy some Magic Eraser at your grocery store and read the thread on this forum on its use. If that does not work and if there is no binding of the arm due to improper dressing of the tone arm wiring, bring it back to the dealer for re-set. Also you will need a stylus force gauge if you want to experiment with changing VTF. At that level, a $20 shure balance type gauge should be sufficient.

If you were playing the same record both days the first thing that you should have done was to get your best magnifing glass out and just make sure that the stylus is sill intact.

I agree with 2002ss335. I don't know why everyone on these discussions are fixated with Anti- Skate. I makes very little difference if any at all.

Thanks for your input. I'm going to call the dealer who replaced the cart and see if he can take care of it. Any thoughts on why it would play great the first day and then not play after that?

I good stylus brush may be all you need. It is quite possible from your description that it simply got a significant build up on the stylus. Swampwalker got it backwards. As you obviously guessed you increased the VTF, but possibly way too much. That's where the VTF gage comes in. Also, the set up for that table is very easy. Nonetheless, your dealer may or may not care enough to do a proper job of it. Get a gage and protractor and do it yourself.

Hey Stringreen, the anti-skate on VPI 'tables is quite correct the way it is, very few are. On my kit it is easy to discern 1/8g differences in anti-skate, and the differences are important. On my kit, I helped dial in a friends deck and it was mis adjusted at 2.5 with 2g tracking force. I set the anti-skate at 1.5 and the improvement was very large, unanimous by all 3 of us listening.

So the guy who put the cart on came by last night to fix it. It appears that the problem is with the pivot bearing, the arm wasn't swinging freely. he fussed with it and fixed, but didn't really know how to adjust the rega pivot. has anyone else had problems with the pivot bearing on the Rega RB100 arm? It's working now, but he thought I should send it back to rega if it started binding again.
On a separate note for the P1- whats with the cover? why doesn't it stay open? am i supposed to remove the lid every time i put a record on? or is it meant to be a one handed operation?

btw
piedpiper- stylus brush is in transit from acoustic sounds as we speak!
and for what its worth, the dealer has been very helpful and friendly. i only bought a budget phono pre-amp (cambridge 540) from him, this setup help has been a favor.

Panamared,

Your guy's final advice was correct. If the problem recurs, contact Rega for service. Repairing or adjusting the bearings is a warranty issue, not a user or dealer adjustment.

A stylus brush is useful and necessary, but it's not sufficient on its own. As Swampwalker already mentioned, do a search for "Magic Eraser". Keeping your stylus clean requires more than dry brushing.

Good luck with the arm!

Re: the lid, Rega makes it shot at you have to press it back extra hard at first to acclimate it to stay ing open. design flaw but not a fatal one. The binding issue does arise but is usually not a bearing problem per se. It may have to do with the arm wire or some other such thing, easily fixed for a lot less hassle than sending it back.