Rega planar 6 low end feedback problems

[Tonoje]

As I understand it, despite trying multiple ways to identify the cause or solve the problem, you haven't mounted another cartridge on the Planar 6, or mounted the Exact on another turntable/tonearm.

This means that there is not enough information (none, really) to declare the cartridge defective. Yet that is what you imply, and that the turntable is defective as well. In reality, there is a very reasonable chance that neither of these things is true.

Pictures might have helped, as they have done in the past. Also, the comment earlier in the thread that "this always ends up with something the OP hadn't mentioned" is worth heeding, as it isn't without basis.

 

[Alguymcgee]

As I understand it, despite trying multiple ways to identify the cause or solve the problem, you haven't mounted another cartridge on the Planar 6, or mounted the Exact on another turntable/tonearm.

This means that there is not enough information (none, really) to declare the cartridge defective. Yet that is what you imply, and that the turntable is defective as well. In reality, there is a very reasonable chance that neither of these things is true.

Pictures might have helped, as they have done in the past. Also, the comment earlier in the thread that "this always ends up with something the OP hadn't mentioned" is worth heeding, as it isn't without basis.

Honestly you make excellent points, but this is brand new. I didn't buy this proverbial sports car toeeiatwlt crawl underneath it for the first 8 months I owned it, I bought it to cruise country roads and it won't even get out of the neighborhood if I were building this myself it'd be a different story, but I went the plug and play route for a reason, which is the one thing this table hasn't been able to do.

I feel like Tom hanks 64 minutes into the 1986 comedy smash hit The Money Pit

 

[Old Guy8]

I may have missed it, in this thread. Have you contacted the dealer you bought the table from, about this issue?
Have you had it for 8 months, you Note in this post? Has it had this issue that long? If so what has dealer said over 8 months, when you conveyed issue to them?

I can understand your frustration. And maybe anger over the table. But, posters trying to help you, have very little to go on. You haven't posted any pics of the table or cart.

 

[Alguymcgee]

I may have missed it, in this thread. Have you contacted the dealer you bought the table from, about this issue?
Have you had it for 8 months, you Note in this post? Has it had this issue that long? If so what has dealer said over 8 months, when you conveyed issue to them?

Yea we've been on the phone many times, and he's been an absolute saint. He's given me most of the suggestions that I've tried, and hasn't tried to sell me a single thing in the process. But yea 8 months man. Some solutions took longer to put together, and a few took a while to research etc... that mixed with limited free time to devote and before you know it the one year mark is on the horizon

 

[Old Guy8]

So your dealer is a long distance away from you. So for this reason, he's not able to work on it himself? Without shipping it to him. And if issue is outside the TT / cart, wouldn't solve its problems.

If you don't feel comfortable working on it yourself. All other options are likely going to cost you money. A local TT tech, if there are any, will charge to look at it.

Everyone here has volunteered their time, trying to help. It's a hobby they enjoy, too.

 

[Tonoje]

The dealer doesn't seem to have found a way for you to either bring in or send in the turntable, or failing that, to establish whether the problem could be at the cartridge end. That could have been done by either recommending that you do it with a cartridge supplied by you (bought, already owned, or borrowed), or by sending one your way.

Without that, it would seem that a fairly large question mark remains, and things that could have been tried, haven't. Really, a dealer should be on top of that.

 

[Old Guy8]

And if the dealer sent you another cart. It would have to be mounted, aligned, VTF, VTA, and anti-skate set.
You or someone else would have to do it.
I've never owned a Rega. To know how they are setup.

 

[Tonoje]

On a Rega arm, 3-point mounting (if the cartridge is Rega).

 

[war2thegrave]

If it sucks, it sucks.
It's sub optimal performance has already consumed 8 months of your time that you could have used to listen to your albums trouble free.

An "entry level" turntable would have most likely worked flawlessly out of the box, but most of people here would return it in a heartbeat over the slightest of imperfections, yet you are expected to hold onto this lemon because of it's so called "prestige".

Just cut your losses and get a new turntable at whatever level that performs as advertised.

 

[Alguymcgee]

So your dealer is a long distance away from you. So for this reason, he's not able to work on it himself? Without shipping it to him. And if issue is outside the TT / cart, wouldn't solve its problems.

If you don't feel comfortable working on it yourself. All other options are likely going to cost you money. A local TT tech, if there are any, will charge to look at it.

Everyone here has volunteered their time, trying to help. It's a hobby they enjoy, too.

Yea it can be tricky getting face time with him for that reason. He offered to come out with his things and calibrate it after this last phone call, but I said I'd rather bring it in to a professionally designed listening room to rule out environment beyond a shadow of a doubt. He said if it fails at the shop and a new exact doesn't fix it, he'll reach out to Rega in the capacity of a dealer and see what if anything he can do. As far as working on it myself, I'm comfortable with doing it, at least on principle. But I bought a plug and play so I wouldn't have to beyond initial setup and calibration.

And yes, everyone here has been very helpful and generous with their time. I sincerely hopey frustration isn't coming across as lack of appreciation. If it is, then apologies are in order. But the cost of the table plus the cost of solutions plus the cost of my time lands me way out of the p6's league, hence the cutting of losses. I'm sorry if it makes me seem unappreciative but unless you're dealing with a classic piece or some other extenuation, thats a path to be abandoned as soon as its identified. As far as peoples enjoyment of the hobby, I still plan on sharing my findings for that reason. But what started out as a frustrated hobby question quickly evolved into a cautionary tale... At least that's how I see it. I'm just not spending any more money and I'm not keeping it. Seeing audiokarma scratch it's collective head was the nail in the coffin for me, so I walked. That's what you do with bad investments: you walk away before they get worse.

 

[Alguymcgee]

If it sucks, it sucks.
It's sub optimal performance has already consumed 8 months of your time that you could have used to listen to your albums trouble free.

An "entry level" turntable would have most likely worked flawlessly out of the box, but most of people here would return it in a heartbeat over the slightest of imperfections, yet you are expected to hold onto this lemon because of it's so called "prestige".

Just cut your losses and get a new turntable at whatever level that performs as advertised.

No honestly it's a fantastic table, as long as you don't want to play records on it

 

[Old Guy8]

I know you have had enough of the table. But, If your dealer has offered to look at it in his shop, on HIS dime. Just my opinion. Why not let him look at it. If he finds what the issue is, your farther ahead. Maybe something obvious to his trained eye, when he looks into it.

Either way whether you sell it or not. It's worth more when working. Good luck with what you decide.

I see your frustration. And don't see it as lack of appreciation for help.

 

[Tonoje]

Same here. I also don't think anyone here "expects" you to hold onto the table. The money is yours to spend, and it remains the fastest way to (probably) clear the hurdle. If I can speak for others, comments were offered in the spirit of a suggestion, or reminder, that there are cheaper and more logical alternatives than abandoning the Rega for the reasons you give.

I'd also say that this hasn't got people scratching their heads - not enough information for a problem solving session to have begun.

Best of luck, though, whichever way you go with this.

 

[Alguymcgee]

Same here. I also don't think anyone here "expects" you to hold onto the table. The money is yours to spend, and it remains the fastest way to (probably) clear the hurdle. If I can speak for others, comments were offered in the spirit of a suggestion, or reminder, that there are cheaper and more logical alternatives than abandoning the Rega for the reasons you give.

I'd also say that this hasn't got people scratching their heads - not enough information for a problem solving session to begin.

Best of luck, though, whichever way you go with this.

Unfortunately, there really aren't more logical options. $3500 for a $2000 anything is unacceptable. You wouldn't troubleshoot a brand new Cadillac, you'd drive it.

 

[Tonoje]

Unfortunately, there really aren't more logical options. $3500 for a $2000 anything is unacceptable. You wouldn't troubleshoot a brand new Cadillac, you'd drive it.

I'm not sure what your new (candidate) turntable costs. I haven't looked it up, and I know very little about Clearaudio. I'm sure it's far more than buying a cartridge for 29 bucks, the same cartridge for less money on AliExpress, or borrowing one for nothing. Or posting pictures. Or
biding your time a little. Or allowing the dealer to take a look. These are all simple and low-cost options rejected in favour of buying a new model.

So we will not reach agreement on what your logical options have been (or on that Holmes quotation, which was chiefly a vehicle for Conan Doyle to smuggle some of his more fantastical or elaborately constructed storylines past the reader: it is fiction rather than a solid foundation for criminal investigation, scientific research, or solutions to engineering problems).

 

[tnsilver]

You wouldn't troubleshoot a brand new Cadillac, you'd drive it.

You wouldn't tow it to the dealership over a flat tire or an empty gas tank either - would you? This could be the turntable equivalent of what you're having. You need not spend a cent more to find out.

 

[analogadict]

The problem is acoustic feedback , as identified in post#17.

Regards,

 

[DeadRock]

I had a Rega P3-24 for about 5 years...once I found a good cart fit (Goldring Eroica LX) I loved it!

 

[Alguymcgee]

You wouldn't tow it to the dealership over a flat tire or an empty gas tank either - would you? This could be the turntable equivalent of what you're having. You need not spend a cent more to find out.

Look dude, I'm not sure why me continuing to hemorrhage money on this table is so important to you, but here goes my last attempt...

Comparing this to a flat tire ot empty gas tank is borderline gaslighting. The TT equivalent was one of the first things I tried. This would be like the car shutting off once you get into third gear despite it being brand new and despite having dumped half the initial cost under the hood. I'm not sure what part of "I've spent my last dollar on this" sounds like " I'm open to spending even more money on this.," so let me clarify something. $29 is money. It's 29 monies actually, which is 29 more than I'm willing to spend. Now suppose that solves it, would you run what is now almost a $4,000 with a $29 cart? Yea me neither, might as well run a reference system through some goodwill computer speakers. So what's the other option, I go out and a comparable or (more likely) an expensive downgrade, or I upgrade my table to MC (these also cost money FYI) and then spring for an external phono (these typically cost money as well) all to prop up a table that should have only required a few bucks here and there to tweak. This would put me well beyond double the initial cost. And that's all assuming there aren't more surprises lurking inside of it. Or, as I'm officially done telling you, I could roll that $29 (and the associates cost of MC and it's infrastructure) into something else. If this is truly that bad of an idea, I'd happily sell you this $2,000 for $4,000. Of course, you'd have to pay shipping. I won't charge you for my gas to the post office though. Then you can go out and spend all that money to maybe fix it. You'll get a $2,000 table for more than double the sticker price. I know what you're thinking: where do I sign up?

To everyone else, I really do appreciate your time and effort, sincerely. Thank you.

Tnsilver, do what I'm doing and move on

 

[2FarGone]

I have a rega planar 6 with the exact MM cart that is having some catastrophic low end feedback problems. It's hooked up to a McIntosh c29 and a McIntosh mc2155 and fyneaudio f501sp speakers.

So here's the story so far:

When listening at 25% power/volume, a speaker-killing low end feedback starts and quickly reaches the point where the cones overflex and LOUD pops can be heard. The first time it happened I wasn't right next to the unit and it got so bad power guard kicked on before I could get to it... On a 150wpc McIntosh... With the volume control low enough that the needles barely register. it's more pronounced when the record starts, but it's still very much there when the music plays. If I have the volume all the way down and wait until there's actual music to turn it up, I can get away with a little extra power, but nothing significant.

What i've learned/ruled out:

This is not a ground hum or grounding issue. Nor is this caused by spindle proximity. The table sits on an isoacoustic platform, and I've every configuration of cork you could imagine. The shelf itself is two butcher blocks with 1" of cork between them. Before that it was just a butcher block. I've mounted the shelf with and without cork insulation between the wall and mounting brackets. This problem does not occur with my broken down garage sale technics TT, and friends have brought their TTs over with no issues. I do however have this problem when I take it to friends' houses. This TT has been played in basements, crappy lofts, dedicated listening rooms, the list goes on. I've replaced the spikes on my speakers (which are also perfectly level) with isolation pads, I upgraded to audioquest and chord interconnects and speaker cables respectively...

Translation: it's not my amps (played it through multiple Mac and non Mac setups), it really really doesn't seem to be a house/old wiring problem, it's not a grounding issue but I tried with and without power conditioner and in plugs on a different circuit, it isn't the motor hum, it's not an environmental issue. It's been calibrated (not at anything approaching high volume for obvious reasons) with an analog calibration vinyl, it's PERFECTLY level, it's behind the speakers and about 8 feet away from them. Whatever the problem is, it came packed in the TT box.

Is there some mod or tonearm upgrade that would help? My system can't support MC carts and it won't any time soon. I'm not against getting a different MM cart in theory, but it seems like the exact is about as good as MM has to offer. Call me crazy but spending extra money on downgrades isn't exactly a compliment to Rega. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

It might be that you need a good subsonic filter.

FWIW, I had a similar issue with an EAT C-Major TT (also a light plinth TT) equipped with an Ortofon Quintet Blue MC cartridge. I tried everything I could think of to address it, including constructing a Gingko Cloud knockoff isolation platform. When that didn’t work, I built a sandbox to internest with the Gingko knockoff. Still no luck. Eventually, I replaced my ACI Force subwoofers with SVS SB-4000 subs which have a very nice control app that can function as an adjustable subsonic filter. End of problem.

Good luck with it. I know how frustrating that issue can be.