Rega spindle too short

"Bad design choice on the part of the Iron Audio."
They would have to raise the price in order to include the label recess.

"They would have to raise the price..."

yup.

I played some records today without the felt mat, and it sounded great. Before with the mat my speakers sounded really bright, to the point where I could only listed for short periods. Without the mat the lows are alot more pronounced, and the highs are alot more mellow. I was wondering what would be the downfall of not having the recess, because I don't think that I will be puting the mat back on soon. Piedpiper has me thinking about getting the recess cut by my brother who is a machinist, how deep would the recess need to be? and do you think that would be a good idea?

.010 - .020" oughta do it. If forgoing the felt reveals enough of the spindle to use a clamp, you'll want to use a spacer of about 1 1/4" in diameter that fits over the spindle and protrudes above the level of the platter another .010" or so, depending on the record and how much spindle is available. If you can manage it, you'll like the result.

I was wondering what would be the downfall of not having the recess, because I don't think that I will be puting the mat back on soon.

I believe that the idea behind acrylic platters is that the impedance of acrylic is very close to that of vinyl, and with the LP placed directly on the platter surface and clamped, results in an effective LP thickness equal to the LP plus the platter (ie ~ 1 inch). Lacking solid contact you're not receiving this benefit.

That's the theory (and it's better explained in various artical on the web). My own experience is that placing the LP directly on the acrylic sounded profoundly better than with a mat. It also sounded better than my other table that had an alloy platter with felt mat.

I added a Funk Achromat to my table (which already has a 1" think acrylic platter). The Achromat impedance is supposedly perfectly equal to vinyl. While the spindle is too short to use the clamp now, the LP lays so perfectly flat on the Achromat that I think the clamp is superfluous. The sound is even better than with the LP clamped directly onto the acrylic platter. Further, I don't have to hassle with the clamp.

As for having the relief machined, if it were me I'd be tempted to do it - the only reservation I would have is whether the machining is done such that the platter remains balanced. And, not knowing how the IA platter is constructed, whether the machining could affect the structural integrity. And finally, if you ever get to the point you want to sell off your platter for an upgrade, the machining may diminish the resale value.

that's my 2 cents . . .
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