RB 900 tweaking

I no longer have the stock fingerlift for the RB 900 it was replaced with a fingerlift from a Naim Aro arm and I think it is much better.

The HiFi mod is worth the money too. I would not want to be without it. The improvement was obvious!

David, I don't know of any other generalities regarding this. I'd go on a case-by-case basis. I think that the long unsupported thin piece that is usually the shape of a finger-lift is likely to be exciteable by resonance in many cases.

Tom, I understood that you were speaking about Rega-based arms regarding the microphonic lift. My question is whether you, or others, find this an issue with other arms, or if it is a peculiarity to Rega arms.

David, the Rega, and the OL arms(at least the Silver that I have) have microphonic finger-lifts. I have shrunk about a 1/2" length of heat-shrink tubing onto the finger-lift of my OL Silver.

This is a known tweak for years on the Rega arms.

Twl's comments are "on target", and I agree with them. The only point I'd emphasize is that you should consider the addition of the Expressimo Audio Heavyweight counterweight as MANDATORY, not optional. I have rarely been impressed by "tweaks", but I was absolutely astounded by the improvement that this counterweight made to my RB-900. The Heavyweight is the best "tweak" I've ever added to my system.

As far as I know, there is no after-market VTA collar that will work with the RB-900, due to the arm's mounting base. (The VTA collars that I've seen fit only the RB-300 and RB-600.) You can, however, use spacers (Rega supplies stainless steel washers) to raise the base of the tonearm. I found that my RB-900 (recently replaced with the RB-1000) sounded better with the rear of the tonearm about 1 mm lower than the headshell end, but that may be somewhat dependent on the cartridge you use.

Tom, your mention of the finger lift being microphonic is interesting. Do you find this to be the case, in general, or specific to the Rega arms?

Adjust the tracking force to 3 grams, and this disables the tracking force spring. Then adjust the position of the counterweight to set your desired tracking force. Anti-skate should be set by ear anyway, but on a Rega arm there will be a small tendency for it to float toward the outside, even if the anti-skate setting is zero.

A VTA adjusting collar is a nice addition to any Rega arm. So is the Expressimo Heavyweight Counterweight.

I apologize for pitching my HiFi mod, but it works very well to make a big sonic improvement on any Rega arm.

The finger-lift is microphonic. You can put a small piece of heat-shrink tubing on it to help.