"My first Rega upgrade - Groovy baby! " ........

You can't miss this thread started by Rolf (RoDa) of Norway if you do log in to Rega forum, vinylengine, I believe.

In this interesting thread, he shares his Rega P5 TT upgrading experience in details with full enthusiasm (you can see from all the wonderful pictures posted by him). In addition, the lively inputs and discussions from fellow Rega enthusiasts all over the world in this thread also provide us lots of ideas and tips when comes to upgrading our turntables...

Let's look at his system in his living room :

Pictures : courtesy of Rolf ( RoDa) of Norway

He has recently upgraded to my "limm" dual (double) pulley assembly. I would like to thank him not only for emailing me these pictures very promptly, but also for including the text below for me to publish; and more importantly, he has highlighted (with pictures and explanation) how he has mounted the pulley by lowering the motor 2-3mm to accommodate a different sub-platter. This solution indeed would benefit many who intend to go for similar upgrading. It also helps me to better my pulley design.

Here's what Rolf has to say :

Since I'm using an aftermarket suplatter where the area of contact is a bit lower than the original subplatter, I had to lower the motor a few milimeters. I did this using a rubber mat of approx 2-3mm. After installing the dual pulley with two belts, the first impressions are in the OMG area! Chris Rea is playing on my turntable and singing "Nothing's happening by the sea", and I'm like "HEY Chris, Nothing?? What's wrong with your ears, man?!?!" My first thoughts are ROCK and SOLID, Rock solid! The sound is more controled and strong, still loads of PRaT and at the same time added weight to the presentation. After playing more records with this dual pulley upgrade, I'm blown away by the improvements!! Chris Rea, Dire Straits, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Loreena McKennit etc..... The same ROCK SOLID impression is there, but there's more to it. Better focus, hidden details stepping out from the dark, background and surface noice reduced and moved away from the performance. And the sound is so controlled and stable without loosing any of the life'n'speed that is Rega! The bass is tighter but most of all stronger/ more punchy. The music is richer and the presentation is more lifelike and believeable. Thanks for supplying this tweak Mr.Lim, I didn't think my P5 had much more in it but you proved me wrong!!

Thanks again, Rolf !

*Shorter version double pulley is available now.... read more >>

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The Goldring GR1 turntable, developed in association with Rega, has close resemblance to Rega turntables. It's not surprised Rega upgrades also play a part to give sonic improvements to this humble turntable.

I would like to thank Serge Lodotchnikoff of France for sending me these beautiful pictures of his system : Xindak, JBL L250Ti, Goldring GR1 (on a 16kg granite base) with my aluminium metal subplatter and some other upgrades:

Pictures: courtesy of Serge Lodotchnikoff, France

Serge commented :

The sensations are very supernatural, the sound is very clear, deep and many details come to ears.

Another upgrade by Serge recently:

Replacing the plastic pulley with standard stainless steel pulley.

Serge's comment on the stainless steel pulley:

The turntable works very clear. The finition is very professional ....

"Merci, Serge ! "

"Appréciez la musique!"

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I have never expected myself to be enjoying so much in tweaking turntables after my retirement.

You might be thinking for a retiree sitting at home, not alone, but with another retiree (my dear wife), I'm doing all these just to kill time...

You would not understand what I mean unless you have the same experience of seeing your own turntable being "transformed" by different tweaks to give you sonic improvements.

And my advice to all my fellow retiring friend is : by all means get a turntable, waste no time to enjoy music ..... and ....... enjoy life!

Look, a simple tweak for P25 TT  - stainless steel double pulley replacing the original plastic pulley. A P25 TT owner, nabil of Oklahoma, USA mentioned that this simple installation took him 5 minutes only. He also shares his P25 TT pictures with us here.

Thanks nabil!

Pictures : courtesy of nabil, Oklahoma, USA

nabil's comments in vinylengine :

Very, very easy installation-took me all of 5 minutes. I put on my two new white belts and after letting it run in for a few hours, sat down to do some critical listening. Several things immediately stood out: imaging is more stable, increasing in both width and depth, the sound is tauter without being constrained, musical timbres are more clearly defined allowing for subtle, but clearly audible, differentiation between similar instruments. (example: first and second violins in a string quartet). Substantial improvement is all I can say.

To be honest, I am not too good to spell out the sonic improvements in detail. I think I must thank nabil again for putting it in better terms for me.

Jpittman2 (USA), also a P25 owner commented in vinylengine :

Better pitch stability and better delineation of instruments and vocalists within the soundstage.  Have Rega P25, removal of plastic stock pulley and installation of Mr Lim's pulley was a BREEZE. Recommend this as a very cost effective upgrade and haven't even put the white belts on yet. If you are on the fence on this upgrade.....just do it!

Charles Hansen of Colorado, USA commented:

Michael,  Thank you for sending me the pulley and two belts. The new pulley has allowed a clearer and deeper sound to emerge from my P25. Just terrific!  Thanks for including the great intallation instructions below. I did have to lower the motor with a few washers to get it all to line up correctly. I also added the Music Hall Cruise Control 2.0 to my P25 shortly after I replaced the pulley. Ah! I'm really liking what that control does for the sound and pitch.  Thanks so much for your great work!

Keith Roberts of New Jersey, USA commented:

Thanks Michael,  I've only played a few records but do notice subtle differences in definition, noticeably better. The big surprise is BASS, there are new lows that just were not present before. Very nice. After reading the posts and getting into my P25, do you have an isolation base for this Rega let's keep going!  Thank You and Regards Keith

Let's enjoy this analog experience together!

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It has been quite some time that I do not look at my P1 which is quite similar to P2 except with smaller 12mm diameter main bearing, RB100 tonearm and lighter MDF platter (~700g).

I have to admit that I am a bit busy recently - enjoying music with my new little pulley on different tweaked Rega TT's.

And of course not forgetting to mention also, I am even more busy "ENJOYING" - "MUSIC" of various frequencies stirred up everywhere by this little pulley.....

"It's time to take a break ...." I tell myself, feeling kind of tired.

I decide to try the tweak recommended by my friend Dennis of North Carolina, on my P1. And at the same time I can install my serrated stainless steel VTA spacer, motor thrust bearing and dual pulley on it. It's going to be a totally transformed P1 together with the rest of my earlier tweaks!

Dismantle the tonearm and drill( 1/8" or 3.5 mm) through the three screw mounting holes on the plinth for fixing the serrated VTA spacer:

Put back the tonearm and fix it with three long screws (M3x50mm). Secure using butterfly nuts as it's easier to hand tighten it (+ 1/4 turn as advised by Dennis):

Fixing the motor thrust bearing and double pulley to P1 takes minutes only and I am done with my P1 to test out now...

I sit back, sipping my cup of Bon coffee while listening to my favourite Dave Brubeck's album...

I am amazed by the details ..... very live-like ..... very much better than my stock Rega Px-xx!

It doesn't matter what model of TT's you have. The most important thing to remember is :

we are in to enjoy music ....

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Sharing with you here a picture of the dual pulley installed by bacobits on his Rega P5 TT.

Pictures - courtesy of bacobits, North Carolina

I am really glad to hear from him that there is significant sonic improvement after changing to the stainless steel dual pulley and it's worth his effort.

However, to remove the stubborn glued-down aluminium pulley from the motor shaft took him quite some time and effort. If only the puller he purchased (just for this purpose) didn't fail to work ....., job could be much easier, I think .....

Let's hear what he says in vinylengine forum:

"The small gear puller I purchased was not usable because the original Rega Pulley will not fit into it. See pict. Per Michael's direction I carefully used 2 same sized screw drivers, and it worked, go slowly. I used some Acetone on a cotton swab, not soaked, dabbed the top of the old pulley, let it set a few minutes. I also had paper towels around the shaft of the motor to not get any down the shaft......"

Yes, go slowly. Patience is what we need here.

And the next concern when removing the pulley is : will the motor be okay?

Actually as long as we do it carefully, increasing force slowly and evenly using the two screw drivers (taking care not to apply lateral force), the pulley would definitely "surrender" to you! The motor would be fine too. In fact you don't have to worry too much; I find that Rega motors are hardy!

For those of you who are using Rega Planar 2/3 , P3 & P25 with the plastic pulleys, you are lucky because over time, the glue has deteriorated and it is easy to pull out (even by hand).

So it's worth the effort as he says in vinylengine forum:

I was going to wait but these are first impressions I heard immediately.  First noticed pace of songs picked up PRAT and a lot of it. Some of Rega's PRAT might have been lost in the other upgrades, maybe the platter?? It's all back now. Worth the price of that alone.  Piano will show this immediately, I listen to a fair amount of piano. Bob James, Joe Sample,Dave Grusin, Dan Siegel, etc.  One Particular album that is really hard to sound right on a TT Is Bob James, Hands Down. The song is Janus. If the table speed is not correct, wow, flutter, and speed will show on this song. CD sounds fine as does the Turntable now especially with this dual Pulley. Very natural sounding piano. A single white belt did this too but not as much as this. Who knows the double pulley might be machined more accurately, but it is there.  You can hear the PRAT and slam on Herb Alpert's Fandango album. Just excellent!  Things do sound more "human" as someone else stated. Just toe tapping good. Instrument and musician separation is nice. Voice breathy, real sounding. Sade, Diamond Life Album.  So I think the mod is worth the trouble.

Thanks, bacobits!

Shorter version of 60Hz double pulley is available .... read more >>

Read more >> on various pulley pullers for removing pulley ......

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