By "Simple steps" to improve or upgrade Rega P1 or P2 turntables in my earlier post, I only referred to simple plug-and-play solutions using readily available parts in the market. I didn't touch on any upgrades involving "installations". But recently I came across some requests by Rega P1 users on how to improve their humble turntable further, other than just the plug-and-play upgrades....

Well, you may also try on these "not-so-simple" steps to further upgrade your Rega P1 :

1. Remove the motor from the board and place it onto a stainless steel isolation base,IB22, to isolate the motor vibration such that the motor now effectively becomes an "out-board" motor (refer to my earlier post on motor isolation base for Rega P1 ( P2,P3) for details).

2. Replace the original Rega RB100 tonearm wires with new ones (end-to-end without joints as the origin Rega wires are joined at the tonearm base and arm tube), and also provide separate earth wire to solve the humming problem associate with using the moving-iron (MI) Grado cartridges as the Rega RB100 uses one of the negative wire as earth.

Just to summarize on the complete upgrades I have done on my own unit of Rega P1 being part of my tweaking experiments:

a) 'Plug-and-play' upgrades

1. Upgrade plastic end-stub and counterweight to stainless steel underslung counterweight.

2. Change the resin sub-platter to anti-resonance aluminium metal sub-platter.

3. Replace the wooden fiber platter to acrylic platter with lower centre of gravity.

4. Upgrade the Ortofon stylus to OM30e.

b) Intrusive upgrades

1. Fix the motor onto the motor isolation base (reversible).

2. Upgrade tonearm wires with separate earth ( non-reversible ).

c) Additional upgrades

1. Upgrade the plastic pulley to stainless steel pulley.

2. Add a 3-point stainless steel VTA spacer.

3. Aluminium feet.

If you are not upgrading your Rega P1 to higher series yet at the moment, have some fun tweaking what you have in hand. Moreover, most of the upgrades are transferable to more expensive Rega models should you decide to upgrade your humble P1 in the future, i.e. to P3-24 or P5. This is something I always like about Rega- simple, upgradeable and 'timeless'.

List of Rega upgrade accessories : Click to read more >>

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Today I am in the mood to try on the preowned Bang & Olufsen ( circa 1970's) vintage belt-drive turntable, Beogram 3400, which I chanced upon in the local flea market some time ago.

A very well-designed, elegant looking so-called 'sprung' turntable, the main bearing and the tonearm of Beogram 3400 are mounted on a sub-chassis suspended on three springs to isolate it from most interferences. The motor assembly is also mounted on the sub-chassis, but with another three springs to prevent the motor vibrations from reaching the tonearm and the platter. It is interesting to note that one of the spring that holds the motor even acts to counter-balance the push/pull force of the rubber belt, enabling the sub-chassis to centre itself easily.

The sub-platter and platter are made of aluminium with strong anti-resonance patterns; the platter is further isolated from the sub-platter with three pieces of felt, 120 degrees apart at the bottom of the platter surface.

All the pulleys are of metal type - brass and aluminium. The motor pulley drives an idler which turns the rubber belt to spin the sub-platter/platter combo. Combination of idler and belt reduces the motor vibration from reaching the rubber belt, hence the sub-platter.

The 33.3 rpm and 45 rpm speeds are adjustable through eddy current effect ā la Thorens TD124.

Before getting the Beogram going, I have checked and rectified the following :

1. The dented and corroded 5-pin Din plug to be changed to RCA plugs.

2. The rubber belt and the idler, both are still surprisingly in good conditions.

3. The main bearing and idler bush bearing are lubricated with light oil ( sparingly) and the metal pulley of the motor is cleaned with alcohol using a cotton bud .

4. Three pieces of 2 mm x 19 mm circular cork are added to isolate the platter from the sub-platter(the original felt isolators had already been fully compressed and lost the effective isolation property). Moreover, the cork has 'anti-slip' property allowing effective energy transfer to platter. Another four pieces of 8 mm adhesive clear bumpers are also stuck on the bottoms of the turntable supports to reduce ground-borne interference.

5. The MMC20EN cartridge stylus is cleaned with stylus cleaning solution.

6. A Thorens rubber/cork mate is added to tame the platter resonance.

Finally, with the AC power on, I check the speeds for both 33.3 rpm and 45 rpm. To my surprise it is quite easy to achieve the accurate speed desired.

The turntable is now ready to be tested on its performance. I can't wait to put on it my favourite record ..... AND..... press 'go' .......

Amazing ....... ! It's still sounding so good after such a long hiatus ......!

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I have been touching on upgrades on Rega P1, P2, Rega Planar 2 and Planar 3 TT's so far. And though I have mentioned that these upgrades are designed to offer similar benefits to higher models like P3, P5 TT's ....., many turntable enthusiasts are curious to find out from me whether any Rega P5 user has upgraded his P5 turntable and observed marked improvements?

Recently, I visited a Rega P5 TT user who had upgraded his turntable. I am glad to learn that he is happy with the improved sound of the upgraded Rega P5 TT. The following photographs (taken at the courtesy of the P5 TT owner) show the various upgrades:

Acrylic isolation platform/base

Aluminium metal sub-platter

Under-slung counter-weight

Motor isolation base, IB22

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A Rega P1 user after viewing my earlier post on "Simple steps to improve or upgrade the Rega P1 (& P2)" was puzzled why I did not include the motor isolation base upgrade as an option for the upgrade? Is it not necessary?

Actually when I first introduced these upgrades to fellow enthusiasts, I only began with simple plug and play items only. And this motor isolation base upgrade, though it is simple, it involves some basic dismantling and installation work which requires DIY skill. So I have left this more adventurous part out until we are ready to go one step further!

After my comparison test between Rega Planar 3 motor upgrade and the motor isolation base, IB22, recently and obtained the result that the "old higher vibration motor" on IB22 isolation base out-performed the Rega's low vibration motor fixed to the plinth with double-sided tape (refer to my last post of motor upgrade), I feel that I should highlight this important option to all Rega P1/P2/P3/P5 users also. If you are serious on improving the sound of your turntables, remember that the motor vibration is a major factor impeding the performance of turntable. By removing the vibration from the plinth "completely", you give a major fillip to the sound of Rega P1 .

How to do it? It's quite simple and there is no drilling required.

Here are the detailed steps (refer to my earlier post on "Motor vibration isolation base") :

1. Make sure that the AC power supply is switched off and pull the AC plug out of the electrical socket .

2. Remove the motor compartment cover.

3. Since the motor is fixed to the board (plinth) using double-sided tape, a little strength is required to pull it off the board. Be careful not to break the motor wires soldered to the small PCB (printed circuit board).

4. Remove part of the double-sided tape which covers the flange of motor to reveal the mounting holes (not necessary to remove all).

5. Use the screws provided to fasten the motor to the stainless steel motor base. Apply force evenly on both sides by tightening the screws alternatively.

6. Put the motor/motor base back into the motor compartment and cover the motor compartment with the rubber mesh netting provided. Secure the rubber mesh netting using existing cover screws such that there is a slack of 7mm-8mm. Make sure when the turntable (in upright position) is lifted up from the table, the motor pulley stays within the 20mm hole.

7. Align the pulley in the centre of the hole, making sure that the motor is 1 mm-2 mm below the board, not touching the bottom surface of the plinth.

Now you are ready to enjoy the improvement of your upgrade!

*Read more on : "Tips on upgrading ..........">>

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In my last post on "motor upgrade kit and motor isolation base ", I have explained in theory, the difference between these two concepts and the expected results.

But someone asks me again, " Have you tested them side by side to confirm?"

Well, when I designed my motor isolation base (model IB22, suitable for Rega /Pro-ject turntable ) what I had in mind was just to find a way to isolate my motor vibration completely from the plinth. I was happy and satisfied after I had done it. It didn't occur to me that I should make a comparison with the motor upgrade kit, until the above question popped out .....

I think other enthusiasts are also curious to find out the difference (in terms of final sound effect/quality) in order that they can make a better and wiser choice in upgrading their turntables.

Since I have two sets of Rega Planar 3 turntables, it's easy for me to carry out the following tests:

A) Using Rega Planar 3 TT with Rega motor upgrade kit ( Black Rega)

I got hold of a Rega Planar 3 motor upgrade kit (an upgraded "low-vibration" motor complete with a small printed circuit board-called PCB in short). After desoldering and dismantling the 'old' motor (including the PCB) from the Rega Planar 3 turntable (with a Stanton 680 II cartridge), the new PCB was soldered and new motor was fixed back to the plinth with double-sided tape.

B) Using Rega Planar 3 TT with motor isolation base and metal pulley upgrades ( White Rega)

As for the other set of Rega Planar 3 (white in color) which was identical, I had the "old" original "higher-vibration"Rega motor removed and mounted to my motor isolation base, IB22, which was in turn held in place by a rubber mesh using existing motor compartment cover screws. The shorter Rega rubber feet were replaced with slightly bigger and taller ones. Next, the plastic pulley was replaced with a metal (stainless steel) one.

During the tests, I made sure that these two units of Rega planar 3 TT's were using the same acrylic platter, aluminium sub-platter and underslung counterweight, tonearm as well as cartridge i.e. I switched them over to the other turntable so that all components used were identical...

The result I obtained was : the white Planar 3 TT with the motor isolation base was the clear winner with natural, sweet, warm and clearer sound when I played Roger Williams' "To Amadeus with Love" and Skeeter Davis' ''Love Takes a lot of my Time''.

The black Planar 3 TT sounded fairly good after the motor upgrade but not as good compared with the white unit with the motor isolation base upgrade. The background noise level was higher and it sounded more "muddy".

So one fact we can clearly see here is: as far as this "fussy" turntable is concerned, small vibration still matters (even though it has been lower) as the stylus is capable of picking up!

A simple way for you to figure out what I am trying to convey here - just try touching the plinth surface area immediately above where the motor is mounted and you could feel the low vibration of the motor when the motor is switched on ( with the platter removed of course).

The motor isolation base is a very good vibration sink as well as a heat sink for the motor to run cooler and last longer. It offers far better value for money ( "no vibration") than the motor upgrade ( low vibration) as tested.

So even Rega P1, RP1, P2, P3, P25, P3-24, P5 TT's etc with low vibration motors would also benefit tremendously with this motor isolation base upgrade.

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