Subsonics with Grado & Rega Arm

You probably do have a compatability issue with the Rega RB 300 and the Grado Ref.The cartridge resonance for this combination is about 8Hz which is below what is considered the ideal today,around 11-12Hz.I would consider a new cartridge and if you still want to use a Grado your going to have to go for a more lightweight arm(9gms?) than the Rega(11gms) which is considered a mid-mass arm.You can find a lot of info in the archives about the issues involved.

Thanks Stefanl

Thats exactly what I was thinking a Haddcock or Morch with interchangable arms wands could be ideal.

What about a used SME such as the 3009.

anyone?

I had the same result with my Reference Platinum on a suspended Thorens TD147 with a TP16III arm of 7,5 eff. weight.
I ruined the stylus and experiment with a Denon DL301 MC cart right now.
Strange thing is: with the Grado the woofer extention didn't affect the sound audible.., with the Denon the woofer is thight and controled but the sub-bass is to much to bear.
Because sound was good I never realy bothered about the woofer extension but now I wonder if a thighter suspension may cure the problem.
Maybe a subsonic filter may do some good.

Good luck..!

The SME 3009 has many different gradations or varying models(?)but one figure I did find that indicates about what it could be,is that the effective mass for a fixed headshell version 3009(?)is 6.5gms and if it has a removable heashell 9.5gms.So with the Grado Ref. cartridge you would be better off with the fixed headshell version with a cartridge resonance near 10Hz which is o.k.Sorry I can't be of more help.

After doing some calculations the Grado cartridge resonance with the Rega arm is 8.4Hz.

When one takes into consideration the heavier after market counterweight I use the Frequency will drop even lower beacuse the arms effective mass will increase from 11 to lets say 13 or 14g.

What baffles me is that Grado suggested to me that effective mass arms between 12-16g are good with 14g being optimium.

One would think that a lighter arm would be a better match say around 9g and thus raising the frequency to between 11-12hz.

Bottom line Grado and Rega don't match on my table and I'll be trying another cartridge perhaps a Benz H2.

If anyone would like to comment further please do.