Johnny and Lears,
My Exact has been mounted on both a stock RB300 and a modified RB250 on tables from Acoustic Solid and Transrotor, respectively. In both cases I used the 3 point mount to set overhang. The phonostage is a Rhea which allows optimal loading which I made some effort to identify. I'm pretty confident that this set up was a very good fit for this cart, but that is not to say that it was, by any means, perfect. It was, however, the best I could do in my system, and that is probably more than most as the arms are a natural fit (both from Rega) and because the Rhea is unusually flexible in this regard.
IME the sound was on the "dry" side compared to 4 other carts I've used extensively over the past 3 years - The Graham Nightingale and Lyra Dorian which are both much more expensive than the Rega, and an unidentified OEM Ortofon HOMC that came with the TR table as well as a Clearaudio Wood. In my various set ups, the Rega was the most analytical sounding cart of the lot.
I want to note it is a good sounding unit. But I differ with both of your opinions on this one: For my taste, the Ortofon is a better value because the Rega was a bit too analytical. This is my taste and my experience - certainly not the last word on the subject because, as always, YMMV.
Marty
My Exact has been mounted on both a stock RB300 and a modified RB250 on tables from Acoustic Solid and Transrotor, respectively. In both cases I used the 3 point mount to set overhang. The phonostage is a Rhea which allows optimal loading which I made some effort to identify. I'm pretty confident that this set up was a very good fit for this cart, but that is not to say that it was, by any means, perfect. It was, however, the best I could do in my system, and that is probably more than most as the arms are a natural fit (both from Rega) and because the Rhea is unusually flexible in this regard.
IME the sound was on the "dry" side compared to 4 other carts I've used extensively over the past 3 years - The Graham Nightingale and Lyra Dorian which are both much more expensive than the Rega, and an unidentified OEM Ortofon HOMC that came with the TR table as well as a Clearaudio Wood. In my various set ups, the Rega was the most analytical sounding cart of the lot.
I want to note it is a good sounding unit. But I differ with both of your opinions on this one: For my taste, the Ortofon is a better value because the Rega was a bit too analytical. This is my taste and my experience - certainly not the last word on the subject because, as always, YMMV.
Marty