You are surprised how much sonic improvement you would enjoy with just a simple upgrade like stainless steel pulley and silicone belt combo :

Hi Michael, Succeeded. I installed a new metal pulleys and a new silicone strap.                                                      Finally, it works great.  Thank You for Your help. It was worth it! Best Regards Marek (from Poland)

Thanks Marek!

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Yes, Zenons, I agree with you. It doesn't matter ....Our sense or Physics or both??? Or even placebo effect ???

The most important thing is we are happy that we can enjoy music better!

Take a look at Zenon(from Riga, Latvia)'s detail procedure on motor base and stainless steel pulley upgrades feedback and pictures!

Hello Michael,  After few days of working motor noise disappears! You know, sometimes we are speaking about placebo effect what works well if we trust.  But in this case I can say that motor isolation and metallic pulley really works for my ears and brain. Now sound is more lively with deeper bass I think.  And does not matters is it our sense or physics or both. Music is a great part in our lives and if we can enjoy it we are happy!  Thank you! With best wishes,  Zenons  Riga, LATVIA

Thanks again, Zenons! 

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If you have the same 50Hz/60Hz, you should take the opportunity to upgrade to the stainless steel pulley ( single or double). Do not go back to the plastic or aluminium pulley. You should reward yourself with better music from the stainless steel pulley after your hard work in removing the pulley!

Francois of United States shares his experience of 50Hz/60Hz issue with you: 

Dear Michael  I was able to remove the plastic unit. It just came off through pulling it it slowly but firmly. Then I placed the 60Hz pulley: it took a bit more time, and a bit of oil (had to wait a while for the oil to be effective), but it went down to the right level eventually, without rubbing anymore against the plateau. And the speed works perfectly well!!!  Now we discovered we have to replace the stylus - since we had not used the turntable for a while (and it's a bit beaten...), but that's a different story.  I have attached a few pictures. feel free to share on your blog. Thanks a lot for the pulleys. I recommend it to anyone who is struggling with the 50Hz/60Hz issue, and all the more since you seem to be the only person on this planet offering this solution. Also payment + delivery was very reliable.  Francois

Thanks Francios!

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Dual Pulley (33.3/33.3pm) suitable for all Rega Turntables including P3-24, P5, P25
DPS1-50Hz: USD 45.00
DPS2-60Hz: USD 45.00

                                                                
This shorter version dual stainless steel pulley (33.3/33.3rpm) is suitable for P3-24, P5/P25, RP3/RP6. Just remove the "old" pulley with a pulley puller and this pulley will fit nicely without any further modification.

If your TT does not come with a TTPSU and you do wish to play 45rpm records at times, then the following shorter version of standard (33.3/45rpm) stainless steel pulley would be a good upgrade for your stock plastic or aluminium pulley.

You may even keep both the pulleys and it's easy to change them back and forth -  using grub screw. No messy glue involved!

Standard Pulley (33.3/45rpm) suitable for P3-24, P5, P25
(Shorter version, 60Hz only)
MPS2: USD 42.00

Additional note: It is advisable to remove the stock aluminium pulley (P3-24, P3-2000, P5 TT and for 110V and 24V upgraded motors) with a pulley puller.

Pulley puller , PR1 : USD12.00

Thomas from USA commented (with dual pulley and silicone belts upgrades on RP6) :

Hi Michael Got the pulley,puller and belts.Installed great instructions made it a snap-thanks.Love the improvement everything improved ! I also changed the feet on my RP-6 to Golden Sound ceramic cones.Impedance is better using with my Neuance shelf.  THOMAS DOHERTY

Charles Thornhill of UK commented (with dual pulley and silicone belts upgrades on P3-24) :

Hi Michael  The international post to the UK was very quick and no import duty to pay! I've installed the pulley today and it was very easy to do.  I did not need to remove the motor from the plinth because there was sufficient room to get the pulley puller in between the existing pulley and the plinth. With a couple of drops of acetone and your pulley puller, the original pulley came off very easily. Your new pulley was installed and everything in-place within 15 minutes. Very pleased with ther results and the sound improvements. I've attached a photo.  Thanks again  Charles Thornhill

Carl Mack of  Kansas City commented (with dual pulley, silicone belts and aluminium feet upgrades on P3-24) :

Greetings Michael  I have received and installed the dual pulley on my P3-24. The install went well with the aid of the pulley tool, just under ten minutes.  I have also installed the aluminum sub-platter and feet. I had installed the sub-platter (by others) three months ago. The music was improved on but not focuses. Once I added your dual pulley upgrade the detail to the sound stage became music once again. The music is more transient, timing is outstanding and the sonic imaging if off the hook. Miles Davis….  The music speaks for itself!  Thank you

Chris Clark of Florida commented (with dual pulley, silicone belts on P2) :

Hi Michael,  Well you sure were "spot on" about the improvement that just the SS pulley and two silicon belts would make!  The base is cleaner, Presents is greatly enhanced, and sound stage is much expanded. Of particular interest to me are both drums, and guitar through fuzz box. Base drums are much tighter, I think I could even name the brand of the skins on tom toms and have never heard snares reproduced so cleanly with every detail of timber clear. The distorted (fuzzed) guitar is so clean, you can hear the sharpness just as if it was live. Piano is just spectacular too! Can't wait to listen to some really good reed instruments. (Album used here: Yan Hammer, "Escape from Television")  So far incredibly pleased.

James of U.K. commented (with dual pulley, silicone belts on P25) :

Hi Michael  I’m also happy to report that your double pulley upgrade has done exactly what I had hoped for. Gone is the shudder on start up, and speed stability is much improved. I always thought the deck played slightly too fast as well and it seems to have corrected that. Everything sounds much more natural now and the music seems to have more space to “breathe” which has the benefit of making it much easier to listen to. Thanks again for the prompt delivery and great service – I look forward to ordering from you again in the future.  All the best  James

Ed Lillie of Chorley, Lancashire commented (with dual pulley upgrade on P-25) :

Hi Michael, just to say that I received my pulley yesterday and have now fitted. A quality product and just what I needed, thanks. No customs charges a bonus too. Regards, Ed

rev76 commented in vinylengine:

Just upgraded to the double pulley today with 2x white Rega belts on my NAD 533 and WOW that made a difference! Wow and Flutter is gone. It was more noticeable in acoustic recordings.

pawlas commented in vinylengine:

I just installed a dual pulley and silicon belts on my Planar 2 to complement my other modifications. The parts are well made and my platter starts up much more quickly. A definite improvement over the stock parts.

Kamchatka commented in vinylengine:

Re: Michael Lim Upgrades  Post by Kamchatka » 10 Dec 2015 17:32                                                         I recommend Michael Lim's dual pulley, and also the cork-rubber mat. The pulley works a treat -- fast start-up and very stable operation -- and the mat looks and sounds great. Also, he's very helpful in giving installation advice and solving any problems you might encounter.

Click to read more on the standard dual pulley >>

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This is great news to many of you! Rene of Denmark has discovered a simple, yet very ingenious way to remove the pulley ... without a pulley puller! 

I must thank René, not only for sharing with us this great idea, but for taking the trouble to send me the following photographs. 

Here's the instruction and comments:

Hi Michael I have now got the old standard plastic pulley off and put the new stainless steel on. Oh Yes, THE TIMING is now very close to perfect and the overall sound has improved with it. I´m very satified with the result.  I used a new method, that I think will interest you: "take a selfcutting screw a litte wider than the hole in middle of the plastic pulley, and simply turn / screw the pulley off with a screwdriver. The damage is very little on the plastic pulley, but it´s equal /does not matter, it won´t be used again"  Best regards René Denmark

Just follow the instructions below: 

1. Before action

2. Take a selfcutting screw a litte wider than the hole in middle of the plastic pulley,
and simply turn/screw the pulley off with a screwdriver

3. Job done

4. Cutting off  the allen key to make it shorter

5. Fixing the new stainless steel pulley 

"Thanks again, René for your wonderful gift!"

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Here's the emigration story of Nigel of Ohio, USA and his Rega Planar 3 TT. Let's see how he had overcome the problem of A/C frequency difference (50Hz in Britain and 60hz in USA):
.
 "Hello again Michael,

Here are some photo’s for your blog:

My story is very simple really –

having emigrated recently from Britain to the USA I couldn’t bear to leave my Rega Planar 3 behind even though I wasn’t sure how to make it work over here with the different mains voltage etc. 

So then from reading your blog I realised that the lower voltage supply here wasn’t really the problem.The synchronous motor of the Rega still works, although sometimes it needs a little help to get it turning. The main problem is the different frequency of the supply – 60hz as opposed to the 50hz back home in the UK. The motor was running noticeably faster than 33rpm on that setting. 

So I found out you had a 60hz version of the metal pulley upgrade and ordered the parts from you. 

Your package arrived here in only about a week and I particularly enjoyed the stamps - very colourful!

Fitting it was so easy – it took me only 15 minutes and I was up and running again. The old pulley just popped off with minimal force using my fingers. I didn't need to lever it with any tools.

Removing pulley - 
 using my fingers only

The new pulley slide onto the motor easily 

I then fitted the new silicone drive belt and tested

I even did a crude timing on the rpm and confirmed that, sure enough, it was now running at just over 33rpm – which is exactly where it needs to be, obviously.   Thanks again Michael for your prompt service and support.   Nigel – Ohio, USA "

Thanks Nigel for sharing with us your story here!

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If you would remember, Peter Kisilenko, a professional musician in Canada had shared with us earlier on dual pulley upgrade for his fully modded RP3 TT. As he had mentioned that most probably this would be his last upgrade for the RP3 TT, I didn't expect to hear from him again.
.
I was quite surprised (but really glad) when he contacted me recently. Indeed it's good news to me that he'd decided to use my upgrades for his new hybrid mono TT. Also, it's so kind of him promising to send some pictures to share with us here. One important point to take note on his motor base installation is: he had removed the circuit board from the plinth to have a out-board/detached motor. I had also discussed how to do this in my post :"How to make out-board motor". In fact this "outboard motor" can be "shared" by different Rega TT's you have since it is detached completely from the plinth and you won't be playing both TT's at the same time.
.
Try it out ... and you may like it ! (the detached motor not only can be shared, but also easy for moving the TT's around). 
.
Here's the note and pictures sent by Peter : 

"Hi Michael,

As promised here are some photos of my P2-P3 hybrid mono TT. The table consists of the motor, circuit board, bearing, cover and feet from a Planar 2 and the  Rega 303 arm from my RP3 that are mounted on a P3 plinth that was given to me. The cartridge is an Audio-Technica Mono 3 LP. 

.

All the other parts are from you - the acrylic platter,motor isolation, motor thrust bearing, aluminum subplatter, standard pulley and silicon belt. My RP3 now has an Audiomods classic arm.

I decided to mount the circuit board in a small box and use an in-line on-off switch on the power cable (excellent idea! Peter).

Here's how it looks under the table.

Here's a top view showing the subplatter and pulley.

Here's the complete table. 

It's a great sounding TT with rock solid speed stability and zero noise. Your upgrades made a huge difference!

Here are the two TT's side by side. The RP3 on the left has your double pulley installed.

It's great fun modifying Rega TTs and your parts have been a big part of the fun.

Cheers,

Peter      "

Thanks for sharing the experience with us, Peter!

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"beauties on parade..."

When we travel from one part of the world to another, we are always being reminded to pack along a voltage converter for our electrical appliances. Electricity power supply differs around the world in voltage and frequency. This is nothing new to us.

Yes, a voltage converter will suffice - either 110V to 230V or vice versa....

Never occur to us frequency of power supply would be an issue.

You only realize this when you start spinning Lp's on your Rega turntable! What has gone wrong? It's not spinning correctly! But I have not forgotten to use a voltage converter.....!

Where is the trick? Is it the motor?

Bingo! The motor! The speed of the ac synchronous motor for Rega TT is dependent on the frequency of the power supply.

Take a look at the Rega motor (e.g. Premotec 31813 series) : we notice that the motor windings are designed for dual voltage so that the same motor can be used for both 220V and 110V turntables. The difference is : a 6.8K ohm resistor is added in series for operating with 220V supply. Take note also different phasing capacitors are used for different frequencies.

Motor used for both US and Europe TT's

Motor connections for 110Vac circuits

Motor connections for 220Vac circuits

(Motor connections data sheet from mclennan.co.uk)

The pulleys

At 50Hz and 60Hz, the motor speeds are respectively 250rpm and 300rpm. To adjust for this speed difference for different regions, pulleys are of different sizes (smaller for 60Hz) whilst the sub-platter size is kept constant. 

This explains why a US version TT cannot work properly in Europe even if a voltage converter is used or even alteration has been made to the voltage circuit. We've overlooked the fact that motor speed is dependent on pulley size.

Turntable is a bit more "fussy"(like us) .... isn't it?

What if I have a TT PSU?

This would not be a problem if you are already running your system with an external power supply (TTPSU). You may be curious why is it so? This is because TTPSU is already crystal-locked to a fix frequency with a matching pulley (e.g 50Hz PSU/50Hz pulley), therefore the frequency of the main power supply would not affect your motor speed at all. You only need to get a 24v wall wart (AC adaptor) which suits the local voltage for your TT.

<< back of Rega TTPSU

Headaches solved

By chance I came across someone who purchased a Rega TT in Hong Kong (230V/50Hz) which refused to perform when brought back to South Korea (230V/60Hz). In this case, voltage is the same; it's the "50Hz/60Hz" problem.

I also encountered another even more interesting case in Brazil (one of the few countries in the world to use both 110V and 230V for everyday appliances). Moved within Brazil, but happened to be a region of different voltage/frequency, a poor friend of mine could not get his turntable speed right. Again it's "50Hz/60Hz" problem.

I told them where the trick is ....

Glad to know that now they are happily spinning Lp's on their turntables after changing the pulleys.

"Keep both your 50Hz and 60Hz pulleys, you probably wouldn't have problem spinning your lp's on Rega TT's anywhere (in 50Hz or 60Hz region)." I told them.

Now, not only I know electricity power supply around the world differs, I discover besides 230V/50Hz and 110V/60Hz that's common, we do find places with 220V/60Hz ( like South Korea) and 100V/50Hz ( like Tokyo) .....

And I learn all this because of the little pulley.....

David Kelly is staying in Canada and he has a Planar 2 bought from UK. The 50Hz pulley has been changed to 60 Hz pulley : 

Hello Michael,  I received the package last weekend and now have my turntable up and running.  Your upgrade works very well and I've been having a great time getting the vinyl out. My kids are very interested in this ancient technology.  Thanks for your assistance and the excellent service provided  David Kelly.

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