Re-wire my Rega P3 tonearm??

[teaser5]

I "met" this guy over the phone yesterday.

http://www.audiopartsinc.com

My cousin works part time for him assembling interconnects or something. Anyway when my Cuz was in town last he came by and heard system. I guess when he got back to Florida he told this guy his cousin in Maryland has some hi-end stuff.
So they called me yesterday to tell me about these stylus pressure gauges they sell and I was talking to him about my system. I told him I have a Rega P3 TT and he said he has a lot of experience with them and that all Rega arms should be re-wired.

Anyone out there have an opinion on this?

Thanks!
Norm

[PsychFan]

All Rega arms should be rewired? That sounds a little strong to me.

I do think the stock wiring is one of the few weak points of the Rega arms. I replaced a stock-wired RB300 with an Incognito-wired RB250 on my Rega Planar 3, and I hear definite improvements ... but it's not as though the sound of the stock RB300 sucked or anything.

[Sckott]

Right. It's not the sound. You won't be able to tell much difference at all with the grey interconnects that are ON the RB300. But they suck, yes.

It's very thin copper strand wire. Bend it a few times, and it's toast.

It's fairly easy to replace the wiring on the RB300, but I wound't do it unless you had experience. Don't lose the toonearm wire down the arm. That can happen easilly....and it's kinda'va pain in the *** when that happens.

That being said, I've taken some thicker RS interconnects and totally replaced the hookup wire to the base of the arm. I only did this because once I started to replace my cart (Shure v15), I started to get the "dirty connection" intermittent crunchies. It was because the wire outside the arm was crap....the stock RB300 wire.

Here's some more info.... http://www.hi-fi.com/diy/rega/steps.html

I did step #13 on through ONLY!! Be very careful how you mess with the RB300.... Once you lose the ground that's spot-soldered inside the arm, you have to do this WHOLE process illustrated therein ^^.....

I can't stress enough how damn fragile the tonearm wire is. Carefully unsolder the connection from the inside of the arm cap, drill it, resolder everything to the tiny circular PC board, and pateintly and carefully resolder the tonearm wire back on the board...then recap the arm.

With most interconnects, you may have to use like 3/8" drill and widen out the 2 holes for the wire to go into the arm.....

Again, this project for me wasn't about tweek.....If it's fine, DON'T mess with it! :eek:

[Beagle]

I had my RB300 rewired by Steve Lauerman a couple of years ago. He more or less insisted on rewiring with stock Rega tonearm wire, I didn't have a choice in the matter. I also got the RB900 cable upgrade w/Neutrik plugs at the same time.

I agree 100% with Sckott. The wire is a b---h to work with, especially with that thick unflexing plastic casing. It's always going to flex right where it goes into the rubber 'plug' and when that snaps, it's game over. And try to cut off some of that casing to get to some thin bare wire? ARRRRGGGHHH!

[Sckott]

Really too bad Steve's not in the game anymore. Was a savior in the US for Rega users....

[Gary]

I've heard that Cardas (and others, for that matter!) makes tone arm wires. I think it costs $400.00 to $600.00 for the rewiring job, inc. labour.

If you have such an audiophile dealer near you, that is!

[Sckott]

Cardas and Van den Hul. You can go to Origin Live and ask them to do it for much less... They do a great job, but they're in the UK and you would have to be armless for about 2-3 weeks....

You CAN do the mods yourself, but you have to be dedicated into it, and watch what you're doing. It's more intense than many tube projects I've tried....

Good eyesight is crucial.

[teaser5]

I want to thank everyone who has posted. I continue to welcome advice from others. At this point I think I have made two decisions:
I think this re-wire idea is probably a good one
And...
I think I will let a pro do it for me!

Thanks again!
Cheers!
Norm