Rega RP3 Groovetracer upgrades w/Ortofon 2M Bronze

[@KOWHeigel]

Thanks for posting this, it's nice to actually see how easy the new subplatter installation is.

[@christopherward5065]

The Rega parts are decent. The Rega bearing is selected and the build quality though done to a price, is excellent. The turntable comes with the excellent RB300 tonearm. The float glass platter is also a very clever solution. Roy Gandy has made a very good turntable with carefully designed and selected parts and materials. If something needs machining I think he buys them in bulk and grades and selects them according to which deck they will be part of. The Planar 3 responds well to good supports - the wall shelf is excellent Add the low voltage motor and quartz crystal power supply and the white silicone belt. Because the turntable keeps its value, just buy a higher model and get the benefits of correctly factory toleranced bearing and sub-platter rather than taking pot luck with a spindle made by someone who doesn’t have the ability to tolerance their spindle to the bearing well on your Rega. The bearing and sub-platter should take quite a long time to sink into place. Yours slid in too easily. That bearing will rock and wear. The new platter was nicely done and very true. However, I think you missed more fundamental areas to address that would enhance the performance, I.e. vibration isolation and speed stability and then, you actually decreased tolerances compared with the factory produced , matched and toleranced parts. Have a look at Michael Fremer’s visit to Rega’s factory in Southend and you can see the build philosophy in action.e

[@abefroman8202]

Well said sir.

[@atxplus]

@@abefroman8202 not the sausage king of Chicago

[@lockheat11]

Spot on ! 👍

[@briandeeley1599]

Wrong, this person did not do exactly as the manufacturer instructs. I have a the same Groovetracer sub-platter in a 30 year old Rega Planar 3 and when properly lubricated the platter took a long time to settle into position and there is zero play between the bearing well and shaft, the Groovetracer sub-platter is a work of art. I used my Rega in stock form for 15 years and it is a fine table for the price but at one point I was bored with life and decided to start tweaking and started exchanging emails with groovetracer, he is a rega fan and he has an aerospace machine shop with high tolerance machining standards.

[@sylvainbiensur7370]

He did not put enough oil, maybe ? Mine took forever to sink in, stopped looking at it after few minutes and after lunch it was all in. Wow and flutter improved, sound quality is at a new level. It's a good upgrade.

[@BarakaPDub]

Congratulations on the upgrade! Very cool to see the installation again :)

[@jimdailey1018]

groove tracer products are outstanding. I have three on my rp6.

[@Hawkertempest1]

I do to for my RP6, plus the record weight. Michael Lim's Motor Isolation Kit is a must have as well, makes a massive improvement in lowering the noise floor even further, along with a double or triple pulley with silicone belts for rock solid speed lock.

[@TD402dd]

If you don't have the money for this setup, Deepgroove has the stainless sub platter with a ruby bearing (including oil and removal magnet). 33Rpm Engineering (England) has ground and trued acrylic platters in 14mm, 17mm, 19mm, 23.5mm. All of these are very affordable and ship quickly to USA.

[@brave1671]

Rega RP3 is such a nice turntable

[@kevinl6231]

Fast forward 4 years. I have the Planar 3. The cartridge Rega installs on their turntables are low in profile and most cartridges, e.g. the Ortofon are taller. This means the VTA is changed unless you shim the back of the arm.

[@briandeeley1599]

Good choices, I have the sub-platter and the acrylic platter which was before they offered the delrin platter.

[@mikechivy]

This thing has to sound absolutely incredibly. That's like a solid 2 grand setup at that point if I had to guess. Damn

[@CarlosPelao-oo4on]

Saludos !!!EXCELENTE!!! tu trabajo el que estas haciendo, yo tengo un Onkyo Digital A88-00 con un amplificador M504, con un ecualizador EQ540 y otro EQ201 y una platina TA2550 y un plato CP1500F y aguja tocadiscos Ortofon 40 y CD DX708, y la radio T4500,Todo los modelos del INTEGRA que es de lo mejor que de la onkyo NO hechos en masa la producción si no son selectos de la Onkyo Y los cables conectados al equipo son de la marca KabelDirekt Pro Series RCA y 4 Altavoces DAS R-212 . EN FIN TODO UN CLASICO DE LOS 80S Y 90S de equipos de sonido de aquella época, con los años jamás se me ha roto ningún modulo eso ya se ve de como trabajaban antes y los materiales de fabricación, espero tenerlo duarte ,muchos años por la calidad de un buen equipo musical ,saludos y muy buenos videos que tienes un gran like para tus grandes videos ya no se fabrican tan estupendos modelos de sonidos como estos aparatos ,es una pena , que hoy en día todo sea platico, saludos desde Barcelona - Podías hacer uno de Onkyo interga también de Review -

[@hi-fihaven2257]

Great video! Looks like some great upgrades!

[@JoeOrber]

How about a well-documented video with wave forms and frequency analysis to prove there are improvements with this?

[@jimsregaturntableshifijukebox]

Yes, please do it. Had a look at your channel to see if you did it, but alas,no! 😉

[@Sirpippo]

Is this upgrade suitable for the new P3?

[@Richardgeohar]

Thanks for this. How did the sound change?

[@blackwaterdogs4256]

Do you really think that Delrin platter is superior to the float glass one ?

[@rickseneris]

Delrin is hard and durable plastic and will not break if dropped. It is also good choice in place of metal bushing and thrust bearing. It is expensive too.

[@tomhound273]

having broken my glass platter on my original Rega tt from the '70s and then just throwing it out - i wish it had been Delrin. lol

[@harmlessrebel868]

Very cool video, and very cool upgrades. The only question I have is why upgrade the platter and sub-platter with very expensive alternatives when you are still using an entry level cartridge. I understand that the upgrades you made will limit vibration and benefit the sound sonically, but upgrading to a needle like the AT440MLa will do so much more to improve the sound of you system completely. I would recommend upgrading the cartridge before spending major money to upgrade on the turntable it self.

[@loonacy4]

+Harmless Rebel's Vinyl Channel Entry level? The colors are a bit off but I am using an Ortofon 2M Bronze. I am not sure that is entry level. I know in the video it looks a bit like a 2M Red but it is actually a Bronze.

[@harmlessrebel868]

Nice. You are correct. I swore it was the red!

[@jimdailey1018]

it is not major money for the Grove tracer upgrades. when you buy all three (tonearm counter weight) discount is ten percent. it significantly upgrades the sound quality. i do agree that the AT cart is also a must.

[@ralex3697]

Now all you need is the Ortofon Black cartridge

[@brave1671]

Nice video. How much oil did you add to the bearing house?

[@josephgrimison4419]

@4:38 so satisfying

[@6643bear]

Great interesting video. Regards mark

[@The.Home.Cinema.Engineer]

any one know how to go about replacing the pulley? on a RP1? its black plastic and i bought a new one made of Brass

[@RustyNotesTV]

PLanning on doing this to my Planar 3 2016. Do you have to adjust the tonearm anything or has this platter the same height as the original glass one?

[@dsonyay]

These are interesting upgrades. I've owned a Rega Planar 2 for about two years.. bought it from a friend who upgraded to a 6. It's a really good TT. After these to years I was going to buy a Planar 3.. and do all of these upgrades.. but then after running the numbers, I bought the Planar 6. I may add the countertweight, but quite honestly I hear no difference between aftermarket counterweight and factory weight on my friends new P6. Question... Did you re-use the factory belt? Or upgrade to the belt used on 6 and above?

[@RonRivet]

Did you have to add a shim under the arm to accommodate the 2M Bronze since it is higher than the Rega cart?

[@dandevvers]

Ron Rivet I have a 2m blue and it only just fits on the Planar 3 2016. Not ideal to be honest.

[@RonRivet]

I ended up buying the Exact cartridge for it instead of adding shims. Thanks Daniel.

[@agx502]

The groovetracer sub platter looks really cool and is of obviously higher quality than the stock Rega sub platter. How did you feel about the sonic improvements, was it money well spent? Liked you vid though, found watching the installation process very interesting.

[@rshrikha23]

I just ordered a 2M Bronze to replace the Elys2 on RP3 w/GT subplatter. How are you liking your setup? Is the 2M Bronze a good match?

[@rshrikha23]

@gf Bronze worked out well. I eventually upgraded to a 2M Black stylus which took it up a notch further.

[@Hawkertempest1]

Get hold of Michael Lim and get a motor isolation base it will blow you away. It has more effect on the sound than the Delrin Platter and the Subplatter combined. If you listen to 33.33 mostly get one of his triple pulley's and 3 silicone belts, it will make a huge difference and tighten base, soundstage, imaging and improve speed and stability. Just put the icing on the cake to what you have already done.

[@VinylTV33]

I need to know the physics behind a belt assembly on a turntable causing tighter base.

[@alexmoldovan7557]

@@VinylTV33 an octapulley is going to be subwoofer level bass tight 😂😂😂

[@JoeOrber]

@@VinylTV33 yeah, it can help minimize motor vibrations IF you had that issue, but changing the bass, soundstage and imaging? Come on! Lol 😆

[@compingnick]

whats the oil? and did it come with the subplatter.

[@junglejamesie]

Rega bearing oil is Castrol Hypoy 80w-90w gear oil. Groovetracer provide a small vial of oil with their Subplatter.

[@andrewtoyotarees1379]

What is a groove tracer? I have a Rp 3 it's nearly 20 yrs old, just put a new Ortofon red cartridge on it ,last wknd

[@johnbravo7542]

Andrewtoyota Rees Groove tracer make after maket upgrade parts for the Rega turntable

[@andrewrees8749]

Ok ,thanks for the reply, not heard of them here in the uk

[@boboutelama5748]

It's funny to see that the groovetracer upgrade consist, basically, to make the RP3 be composed of decent built components. The only thing I find sad, is that no upgrade really exist to swap the engine to a decent one (or maybe I don't know it for the moment).

[@markedgardelmar8714]

What kind of oil do you use bud?

[@johnsweda2999]

Use synthetic manual gearbox oil 80w 90 but on the bottom use grease a smearing of silicon carbon grease, and a smearing round the top where the bearing housing would be situated maximum of travel on the spindle

[@audioorigami]

did you keep your old rega bearing and inner platter?

[@loonacy4]

Yes

[@audioorigami]

+loonacy4 does your new bearing make that same POP like a cork from the bottle noise that the original rega bearing make when you pull out?

[@JoeOrber]

How are you going to take out the zirconia ball when it wears out or if you want to go back to the original setup? Depending on how the zirconia ball was created, it might be diamagnetic and you won't be able to extract it with the magnet like the original one

[@briandeeley1599]

@@JoeOrber It can be done.

[@JoeOrber]

@@briandeeley1599 like, taking apart the spindle assembly and beating the cr*p out of it? 😂 just wondering 💭

[@majesty4817]

white o titanium?

[@pharmd718]

what is the upgraded platter made of? I thought acrylic was the way to go.

[@Hawkertempest1]

Delrin is far superior

[@JoeOrber]

Kryptonite is the way to go!

[@briandeeley1599]

@@Hawkertempest1 Only because you have one? it may better but certainly not superior.

[@marcomellara5951]

dove si trova la modifica ?

[@paulomontero12]

Should’ve put the oil in first then the ball bearing ! Just saying.

[@iain-northpole1587]

A little commentary would have been "Very Helpful".......

[@ralex3697]

Like performing major surgery I could have filmed this in half the time

[@fabiotardivelli6104]

I have a new Rega Planar 3 (2016) with TT-PSU and cartridge Exact. With "The Groovetracer upgrades" you can get soomeone problems: Sorry for my english language. Fabioo '961 13/02/2020 h. 23,54

[@abefroman8202]

Wha kind of problems?

[@fabiotardivelli6104]

@@abefroman8202 Il perno del TT è un componente molto delicato. Viene montato in REGA RESERCH da tecnici con materiali all'avanguardia perchè la sua collocazione deve essere precisa. Io non me la sentirei di montarne un altro, solo per il materiale, rischiando di peggiorare la situazione. Poi non ci saranno certo migliorie udibili eclatanti. Mi sono limitato a mettere la cinghia bianca al silicone e il disco partiva subito, per forza la vecchia era allentata dalle mie lunghe sessioni giornaliere d'ascolto. Ieri mi sono regalato il Mcintosh dei poveri (usato), ma 6300, che ampli!!!! Fabioo '961 11/06/2020 h. 23,18

[@abefroman8202]

fabio tardivelli grazie amico mio. apprezzo che tu abbia risposto

[@dsonyay]

@@fabiotardivelli6104 can someone translate to English? Thanks :)

[@fabiotardivelli6104]

@@dsonyay I've write much to Abe Froman. I don't say translate all. Translate with the software utility of the P.C. Sorry and ciao. Fabioo '961 12/11/2020 h. 23,04

[@chrispictures1]

Companys like rega are laughing at all of you who think all these little upgrades make a huge difference, why is it no one is ever happy.. Today I was reading of someone who had a cork turntable mat stating it sounded better, (probably not) then asking what about a cork and rubber mat. Ha ha ,, Then you hear “I fitted a ortofon cartridge and it doesnt sound as good as my old one, but I think it may be picking up motor noise , I think i,ll get an external one. If you were all given a £10,000 pound system, you would say I need different bearings in the table.. Buy a system , listen to music, and dont spend the rest of your life taking it apart and wanting it to look better.. Oh and why is this in mimed slow motion.

[@fuckinellitsraymo]

A tart has to apply make up to look respectable haha

[@JoeOrber]

@@fuckinellitsraymo yup, tons of plaster lol

[@briandeeley1599]

Rega offers the same upgrades on their more expensive table so no they are not laughing, how does the saying go? "ignorance is bliss" good night troll.

[@johnsweda2999]

shouldn't be handing the belt with your hands especially after using oil? Always put your belt in talcum powder put it in a bag of talcum powder, this prevents sticking and gives more grip to the belt and will lower wow and Flutter fingers. If you can go to a flat belt even better, What is the new ball bearing made from? If you can upgrade the inner platter it should be to a bigger circumference one at least10"" use grease not oil? Is that a thin or sticky oil? Thicker oil more likely should be gearbox 80 oil. Use more oil as well especially around the top of the bearing. Did they not make a separate bearing bush and housing for this upgrade? Ideally the spindle and bearings should be matched. That is brass is it plastic the one in there? with no separate bushings. what is the shim at the bottom of the bearing housing any! Easy to make a better bearing housing no special skills needed

[@rickseneris]

The 3 hole bridge thin plate is an obvious scam. I don't it think works, in fact it could facilitate vibration transmission from the platter bearing to the tonearm. Thus, I call it a bridge.

[@fuckinellitsraymo]

You should be a Rega designer

[@powerslavenegi]

It is a patch job ; Rega plinths bend or deform so someone in management must have thought why resolve the issue instead do a quick fix .

[@dzemoski45]

...

[@kurtzcol]

just go get a vpi already

[@ralex3697]

kurtzcol Agree

[@majesty4817]

color is titanium?