"To Upgrade or abandon? " This is a common question frequently asked by old TT owners!

If you happen to be one of them, why not just spend some time reading the following post in vinylengine:

Upgrade or abandon
Post by :lrpLakeSide » 28 Dec 2015 22:40 
( Vinylengine) 

Upgrade or abandon  I was finally able to complete the P1 upgrades. $200 on a new machined aluminum subplatter, brace, thrust bearing, and a bearing sheath.  thrust bearing, hub nut The brace required the removal of the tonearm and bearing well, so while those were off I fitted the thrust bearing, I couldn't bear leaving the motor cover off or using spacers, so a hole was made to allow the thrust bearing through. Once flipped back over I fitted the brace, gluing it down, while aligning the bearing well and tonearm. Once in place two small screws were added to hold the brace in place. Now that the bearing well was back in the plinth I attached the bearing sheath. It certainly added some strength to the bearing well.  Subplatter, brace With the brace, thrust bearing, and bearing sheath in place I refitted the tonearm (which also received a new lift mechanism since the last one crapped out after about a year) and it was time to drop in the new subplatter. I dropped the newly supplied ball bearing in, lubed it up and waited for the subplatter to seat itself. I added a Rega white belt and was off and spinning.  Everything was sounding much more stable, consistent, and accurate. Because all four were added at once I can't say what each did to the overall presentation, but here's what did happen..... If you remember this was my secondary system, which was admittedly built to be low-fi and mainly play back cd's, I pulled the P1 out so I had a back up table, but still preferred to listen to cd's on that system until now! :o Needless to say the cd sound quality hails in comparison to the modded P1 now and that was certainly not the case prior to the modifications. I have done several cd vs vinyl comparisons after the mod on this system and the P1 puts the cd player to shame now (as vinyl always should). $200 well spent and enjoy my P1 more then ever!   Thanks again for helping,  Luke

Read also on >>> Luke's P5 upgrade 

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Eric Lew of Singapore upgraded his P3-24 TT in two stages. If you are skeptical about tweaking your Rega turntable, you can always take a small step first. Tweaking turntables is not just a crazy hobby, you want to HEAR the difference....

Let's HEAR what Eric has to say ...

Hi Michael, As promised a review with pictures attached. Upgrades installed this time as below : 1) Acrylic platter 2) Underslung counterweight 3) Stainless steel double pulley / silicone belts Previously 4) Aluminium feet 5) Aluminium subplatter Modifications were easily installed with simple and clear instructions from you, i progressively change out the components over a few days to assess the improvements Overall sound improved tremendously. Background noise floor was reduced significantly, Soundstage and depth layering much better, Transparency and dynamics increased.  Music is much more live and natural. Rediscovering my collection once again and it sounds like a new turnatble.  Many thanks again to you Michael Regards Eric Lew

Thanks Eric!

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" Hi Mr. Lim, A few words for my satisfaction, this upgrade parts are really good....." said Arif DML of Jakarta, Indonesia after he has upgraded his RP6 with most of my accessories. I am glad to hear that he is happy with the upgrades!

Sharing with you here his feedback with beautiful pictures:

"At last, the assembling process and cartridge setup are done. Regardless which cartridge I used (exact 2 or ortofon 2m black), My Rega RP 6 is really in different level than it used to be. Background sound disappear, so quiet now. High, mid, and low are more accurate. The soundstage and transparency are much better.  These upgrade parts are really worth the money. I basically buy everything that Mr. Lim have except the acrylic platter (I owned it already). I am worry at the beginning that the setup will be difficult but it turn out quite easy. I have sent some photos of my new turntable. :)" Acryllic plinth with orange skeletal top Motor isolation base, adjustable aluminium feet aluminium sub-platter, stainless steel triple pulley, silicone belts Underslung Counterweight Nice acrylic Cover Arif got it done  himself

Thanks Arif!

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Take a look at Jorge's Rega upgrades in stages ! Now it's a completely new Rega TT with triple pulley with 3 silicone belts plus etc...etc... ! 

How it sounds after the upgrades? Of course Jorge (of Canary Island) will tell you : 

Hi Michael, I have managed to install all the upgrades and I am very happy with them. Dinamycs, firm and no bloomy bass, nice midrange and absolutely no noise. The soundstage has become wider and more 3d like. I am stunned.  Best Regards,  Jorge Castellano  Here are some photos: Triple pulley and silicone belts, Underslung counter-weight Acrylic platter, Acrylic plinth, Acrylic platform Adjustable aluminium feet  Top and bottom bracing Aluminium Sub-platter  Job completed! New look!

Thanks, Jorge !

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Triple pulley with silicone belts upgrade is the newest upgrade for Joe Borzetta of USA. If you are one who is skeptical about this upgrade, his feedback here probably will interest you :

Hello Michael!  I wanted to send you my results regarding the triple belt upgrade. I am very please with the results!  I’ve sent along some photos, and I’ve added captions to describe the installation.  A. Three belt fully installed. Removing the two belt pulley was very easy as I already had a two belt fully installed on the Motor Isolation Base and simply used the hex nut tool.  B. Positioning the pulley/isolation base under my plinth took a few adjustments so I could assure proper belt alignment with the sub-platter. It was necessary to add an additional washer to the motor isolation base to adjust for the dfference of height of the 3 belt pulley.  C. Positioning the pulley height took some final adjustments once in place, but that was quite easy using the hex nut tool. As can be seen in my photo the belts align perfectly with the sub-platter!  D. I am able to see the results of the addition of the 3 belt pulley immediately using my Falcon Industries PSU and Road Runner Tachometer. As can be seen the 2nd and 3rd decimal places are showing great accuracy. Falcon states that a tuned TT will show a stable second decimal place with the 3rd fluctuating.  However we are talking about some very small values here! When I had the two belt pulley on the tach the stability was good but the tach always showed a constant varience in the second and third decimal place. So the addition of the 3 belt pulley shows measurable benefits immediately.  However good test results and numbers are there is only one thing that makes any upgrade worthwhile and that is, does it make your TT sound better? In this case the triple pulley upgrade did just that! I’ve been listening to a lot of solo violin pieces as well as solo piano and female voice passages and the differences are not subtle. The sustain of the notes and pitch stability are excellent! The music just sounds that much more life like and musical.  I was a bit skeptical about how much a benefit adding the 3 belt pulley would be, however I am a convert now. Just like any other upgrade it adds noticeable improvements. All in all I am quite pleased. This upgrade would be worth it for users of the isolation motor base or one’s using the standard Rega motor mount. Thank you Michael for providing us with yet another awesome upgrade product!  Best Regards,  Joe

Thanks Joe!

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