Subsonics with Grado & Rega Arm

Hi SdCampbell

Thanks for your reply. I did consider that as a possiblity but quickly changed my mind.

I get serious woofer bounce even at the start or end of a record when no music is playing and thus no vibrations could be affecting the table.

There seems to be a compatabilty issue with the RB300 and Grado which is why I'm looking for a suitable replacement.

However my knowledge of tonearms is limited and I don't know what to buy. Perhaps I should get a different cartridge but I really like the Grado sound.

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.