Turntable advise for an analog novice

Williewonka,

Since my last posting, I decided to upgrade my cartidge as a first step. Whether I upgrade my table or not, I figured I'll need a new cartridge anyway. I borrowed an old Signet just to see if it really makes a difference. I was blown away by how much more detail I was able to hear. The bass seemed a little lacking but the overall improvement was significant.

I read some of the cartridge reviews and decided to go with Sumiko BP 2. I just ordered it from MusicDirect for $299 and I should be getting it in a few days.

I'm still on the fence about upgrading the tonearm but I did find a tecnoweight/incognito upgrade combo for $335 at http://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store/showProduct.cgi?id=302.Adding VTA would be another $50. So even if I don't upgrade the table itself right now, I'll have a decent tonearm and cartridge I can reuse on my next table (whenever that might be).

Anyway, I'll let you know how the Sumiko works out.

Andarilu - if you are content with the GR1/RB250, then at least upgrade the Crappy Rega RCA's to Furutech - it really is worth it!

I get the Furutech FP126 for $20/pair - and now use them on all my cables - superb details for such a very reasonably priced connector.

The FP162 was only $10/pair - also better than the Rega

Just make sure you use good quality solder - this makes a huge difference at the Phono Stage

Furutechs will give you much more detail and better imaging than what you are getting with the standard Rega RCA's.

The Michell/Incognito upgrade you wrote about is a deal - except - it's a kit which means you'd have to install the wire yourself - not something I'd try - I no longer have a steady hand or good eyesight.

The Sumiko looks like a very good cartridge - I'm currently a MM guy myself, but looking to get into the MC market since I hear they provide lots more detail.

Let me know how it works out

Thanks

Williewonka - The nice thing about the Incognito wiring kit is its a continuous run from the cartridge tags to the phono plugs which will take care of the "crappy Rega RCAs". No soldering required.

Cheers

Andarilu - my apologies - I didn't think you were going for that upgrade just yet, but on re-reading your append I see I was mistaken.

Keep me posted on how easy it is to install.

I tried fixing the wiring in my old "S" shaped tone arm once ...
- that's why I now have the RB250 - say no more!

Regards...

Just wanted to post an update on my progress.

A couple of weeks ago, I upgraded my cart to the Sumiko BP 2. This was a huge improvement to what I was getting out of the Grado Red.

A couple of nights ago, I sat down with a glass of single malt and the Incognito rewiring kit (good thing I had the scotch). It took me about 3 hours to complete the job. The biggest challenge was threading the guy wire through the arm and pulling the new wires through. Since I was rewireing an RB250, I didn't take the arm apart as suggested so making that 90 degree turn took a while. After getting the wire through, I soldered the 4 new wires to the end and tried to pull them through. The problem I had was that the slight bulge at the soldering point would get stuck in the small hole between the bearing and the arm. It took 3 attempts to get the soldering point just right.

After that, it was pretty easy. Getting the clips on just required a steady hand. I used the heat from a match to strip the wire ends and used a wooden toothpick to hold the clip so that the connecting end would not fill with solder.

I've been listening to the results for a couple of days and so far I'm very happy with the results. The music sounds very clean and I'm hearing a lot more detail.

One thing I found was that while before I was able to toggle my phono stage between MM and MC and just get more or less signal amplification, now if I switch to MC, I get a lot of static. The cartridge I'm using is a high output MC so I guess I'm OK keeping it set to MM but I'm still wondering what the cause is.

Anyway, it was a fun project and I'm thinking my next upgrade will be the Michell Technoweight.

I'm not sure how far I should go with these upgrades, but so far, the improvement has been significant.

Regards