Planning a some Rega P2 mods - am I being stupid?

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come_inalone

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Hello all!

I've had my Rega P2 for about 2 and a half years, and it's mostly a pretty solid turntable. However, two things really annoy me about it - the ground not being a separate cable, and the fact that the tonearm terminals always feel like they're going to break in your hands... The latter of which could very well be the case with my deck, as I constantly have the dreaded ground hum and have done for around a year, which I highly suspect is due to one of the tonearm terminals being a lot looser feeling than the rest.

To test this theory, I connected the left audio channel to the ground of my amplifier and the hum was still present (better, but present). So, I'm planning to mod some cartridge clips onto my Rega P2 (Cardas PCC EG Cartridge Clips (set of 4) specifically), and while I'm there I'm planning on making the ground wire separate.

Before I splurge, I'd just like to ask you all - is this a stupid idea? I'm pretty fed up with the stupid little terminals on the end of the RB220 tonearm that I strongly suspect are the source of the hum, and if not then I'll be getting a separate ground wire out of the mod which could in itself fix the issue! Thanks for viewing.
 
come_inalone said:
Hello all!

I've had my Rega P2 for about 2 and a half years, and it's mostly a pretty solid turntable. However, two things really annoy me about it - the ground not being a separate cable, and the fact that the tonearm terminals always feel like they're going to break in your hands... The latter of which could very well be the case with my deck, as I constantly have the dreaded ground hum and have done for around a year, which I highly suspect is due to one of the tonearm terminals being a lot looser feeling than the rest.

To test this theory, I connected the left audio channel to the ground of my amplifier and the hum was still present (better, but present). So, I'm planning to mod some cartridge clips onto my Rega P2 (Cardas PCC EG Cartridge Clips (set of 4) specifically), and while I'm there I'm planning on making the ground wire separate.

Before I splurge, I'd just like to ask you all - is this a stupid idea? I'm pretty fed up with the stupid little terminals on the end of the RB220 tonearm that I strongly suspect are the source of the hum, and if not then I'll be getting a separate ground wire out of the mod which could in itself fix the issue! Thanks for viewing.
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Hi and welcome.

I wouldn’t bother with changing the cartridge clips. Rewiring the arm would likely give a performance boost, but the clips won’t sound any different nor will they eliminate the hum.

You can actually add a ground wire a different way- stranded wire around the shield of the RCA- you can wrap it around one of the sections of the shield where it plugs into the amp. The other side goes to your ground post. Try both channels. If it eliminates the hum, you don’t have to add a ground wire, because that’s what you did already. If it doesn’t work, adding a ground wire won’t help.

I will say this having modified a P3 about as far as one can- I learned a lot but wouldn’t do it again. My feeling is that one is better off buying the turntable they really want instead of modifying a table to try to make it become something it isn’t.
 
HiFi Guy said:
Hi and welcome.

I wouldn’t bother with changing the cartridge clips. Rewiring the arm would likely give a performance boost, but the clips won’t sound any different nor will they eliminate the hum.

You can actually add a ground wire a different way- stranded wire around the shield of the RCA- you can wrap it around one of the sections of the shield where it plugs into the amp. The other side goes to your ground post. Try both channels. If it eliminates the hum, you don’t have to add a ground wire, because that’s what you did already. If it doesn’t work, adding a ground wire won’t help.

I will say this having modified a P3 about as far as one can- I learned a lot but wouldn’t do it again. My feeling is that one is better off buying the turntable they really want instead of modifying a table to try to make it become something it isn’t.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the response!

I'm not interested in adding clips for better sound quality per-se, but rather that one of the terminals feels really loose after I've swapped cartridges a few times on it, and I don't remember it being there when I first got the table...

Thanks for the wire suggestion, I just gave that a go and it makes a marked difference - not totally eliminated but I'd say 40-50% better! I think regardless I'll attempt the ground wire mod as not much harm can come of it and I'd quite like the project.
 
come_inalone said:
Thanks for the response!

I'm not interested in adding clips for better sound quality per-se, but rather that one of the terminals feels really loose after I've swapped cartridges a few times on it, and I don't remember it being there when I first got the table...

Thanks for the wire suggestion, I just gave that a go and it makes a marked difference - not totally eliminated but I'd say 40-50% better! I think regardless I'll attempt the ground wire mod as not much harm can come of it and I'd quite like the project.
Click to expand...

Which cartridge are you running on it?
 
come_inalone said:
A mix of the pre-packaged Rega Carbon, MP110 and VM95ML. The latter has been the main catridge on it as I love how it sounds, but all 3 now have this hum issue.
Click to expand...

Ah fair enough. I was just wondering because i know some unshielded carts hum on all the regas. Grados in particular are a no go.
 
come_inalone said:
Thanks for the response!

I'm not interested in adding clips for better sound quality per-se, but rather that one of the terminals feels really loose after I've swapped cartridges a few times on it, and I don't remember it being there when I first got the table...

Thanks for the wire suggestion, I just gave that a go and it makes a marked difference - not totally eliminated but I'd say 40-50% better! I think regardless I'll attempt the ground wire mod as not much harm can come of it and I'd quite like the project.
Click to expand...
Make sure to scrape the paint off inside the arm tube where you plan to solder the ground wire.
 
come_inalone said:
Thanks for that advice. I am looking into options for selling the turntable, but will keep that in mind if i decide to keep it!
Click to expand...

Also, cartridge clips and cartridge terminals are not standardized in regards to diameter. You can carefully use a pair of needle nose pliers on the clips to tighten them.
 
I’m another who modded the heck out of a P3. I ended up parting it out and selling it.

Rega’s, IMHO, are great when left alone. If you want more, sell and look at something different. (I currently have a a Rega P8 as one of my tables, the sole mod was a platter mat).
 
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SnowmaNick said:
I’m another who modded the heck out of a P3. I ended up parting it out and selling it.

Rega’s, IMHO, are great when left alone. If you want more, sell and look at something different. (I currently have a a Rega P8 as one of my tables, the sole mod was a platter mat).
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input. I think I agree with you all that if I want more out of my turntable I should look at something different - I've now got a stack of LPs to sell and am going to sell my Rega P2 to get a Fluance RT85. Thanks all for the input on this topic!
 
come_inalone said:
Thanks for the input. I think I agree with you all that if I want more out of my turntable I should look at something different - I've now got a stack of LPs to sell and am going to sell my Rega P2 to get a Fluance RT85. Thanks all for the input on this topic!
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Comin in way late here, but I still think the RT85 is the best $500 you can spend on a deck in the US. You have to virtually double that budget to get a performance bump.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Comin in way late here, but I still think the RT85 is the best $500 you can spend on a deck in the US. You have to virtually double that budget to get a performance bump.
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No matter where you are in a turntable (or other component) double is where you need to be to get a performance bump. Anything else is just a side step.
 
come_inalone said:
In the interest of upgradability, a few hours ago I bought a PLX-1000! I have an MP110 laying around which I've just bought a new stylus for, but I bought the PLX-1000 so I have a pretty great upgrade path ahead of me! Looking forward to setting it up in a few day's time.
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Wish I'd known - I have one for sale! Haha. Congrats, they're a wonderful bang for your buck table.
 
come_inalone said:
In the interest of upgradability, a few hours ago I bought a PLX-1000! I have an MP110 laying around which I've just bought a new stylus for, but I bought the PLX-1000 so I have a pretty great upgrade path ahead of me! Looking forward to setting it up in a few day's time.
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Nice choice, congrats! A few of us here have/had the PLX-1000 and universally liked it.
 
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