Cartridge upgrade.

any of the new ATs or new Goldring e3 I’m sure would better the rega cart and will work with your 522 mm boards. Do you have a budget?

Up to £350 tops.

£350 will get you into the very good MM cartridge range. Ideally find a good dealer who has your turntable, otherwise, take your pick. I assume you have a cartridge alignment tool etc? If not definitely go the dealer route.

hope this helps.

Thanks Nitrous.....do you know of a resource that lists the parameters for the the 5 series phono boards so I can accurately match my 522 to the specification of said carts?

I take it you think the HOMC route is a non starter?

Many thanks for the replies

Clive 

I also found the Exact on my RP6 lacking soundstage and dynamics relative to other, less costly MM options. I found similarly-priced HOMC carts a lateral move - sweeter highs and smoother mids - yet reduced overall speed, transient punch, and bass control. So it's up to what you value. MM carts do the impact better, HOMC carts play smoother with looser bass. That conclusion based on my primarily rock listening and just a couple of trials between the two types of carts via a Stageline into a Nait XS and SN2.

Cheers Joerand

The sound has that "unpacked" quality. Thanks for the HOMC experiences...which MM did you go for in the end?

Clive 

Before you dismiss the Exact2 it would be worth trying a Rega Fono phonostage into Aux on the Nait 3 imo.

C.

nitrous posted:

£350 will get you into the very good MM cartridge range. Ideally find a good dealer who has your turntable, otherwise, take your pick. I assume you have a cartridge alignment tool etc? If not definitely go the dealer route.

hope this helps.

Best to get your dealer to show you how to change the cartridge. It’s very easy to damage your  tone arm. The more expensive the kit the more care needed not to exert force on the tone arm bearings. Rega cartridges automatically align without the need for adjustment as I understand it.

I’d also ask to home demo the cartridge before buying.

You might also try a Rega phonostage rather than an internal one before deciding where the ‘problem’ lies.

Phil

Basically something must be wrong if a Pioneer cd player beats a new Planar 6

Ok the soundstage might not be the greatest strenghts of Exact (or Nait 3) but involvement prat and dynamic should not be lacking

Care in setting up is essential

Should you not contact your dealer if not satisfied ? perhaps the deck is under warranty, a deck that expensive should not need a new cartridge soon after purchase (guess its very recent as the deck is just launched)

The High-output Hana MC range will match your 522 boards and perhaps your budget, no idea how much a 10X5 is nowadays. HO-MC's never been my cup but the little Hana surpriced me, admittedly slight smooth in buttom but such a nice tone.

Most other cartridges out there have a higher body than Rega's own range, you may need a spacer to raise tonearm few mm

Anther thought is the Rega Ania MC which gets nice reviews, just its a low-Output MC and will need another phonostage or 523 boards. Perhaps your dealer will provide you a good swapdeal ?

Christopher_M posted:

Before you dismiss the Exact2 it would be worth trying a Rega Fono phonostage into Aux on the Nait 3 imo.

C.

Didnt know you could do that? Wouldnt that basically open up my choice of cartridges to MC longterm?

Thanks

The Naim phono boards and the Stageline are quite distinct in character. They are quite earthy and "dark" and in my experience tend to mix best with lighter and brighter cartridges like ATs the suchlike. They mix less successfully with similar character MM cartridges such as those from Rega, where the sound, while free of too many nasties, can be a bit shut-in and lack a sense of space or atmosphere.

So, I guess you have two options; first, if you're sticking to the internal boards, look at something like an AT MM cartridge.  Or, try the Exact with a Rega stage. Or preferably look at going MC - but LO MC, not HO MC, the latter which tends to be less than ideal on MM stages.  

You could try NA523S boards, however, there can be issues of noise and interference in the NAIT3.  It can be partially solved through fitting a mu-metal screen kit (I'm not sure whether this is still available) but that in itself can compromise performance.

So, the alternative means moving to a dedicated MC phono stage, however, this need not be too expensive to start off with.  One of my favourite stages in the original Michell ISO.  It was shockingly good when launched back in the '90s and really advanced the overall state of phono stage development.  The best thing though these days is that second hand examples can be bought really cheaply.  Go for the basic original version, best (and cheapest) with the captive PSU lead.  The Hera PSU brings more scale and insight but perhaps a little less fun.  The HR version was a big step backwards for me - all resolution at the expense of the joy of the original.  Most should be set for a 100ohm load so that should be about spot on for the Rega Ania MC.  It's over budget, but with a trade in on the bits you don't need, it should be doable.  It is of course, just one option among a number, but it's the one I would perhaps take in your circumstances.

Smithfire posted:

Christopher_M posted:

Before you dismiss the Exact2 it would be worth trying a Rega Fono phonostage into Aux on the Nait 3 imo.

C.

Didnt know you could do that? Wouldnt that basically open up my choice of cartridges to MC longterm?

Thanks

No. I should have written Rega Fono MM phonostage. My comment was based on the fact that I have only ever enjoyed the sound of Rega MM cartridges into a Rega MM phonostage. I find the combination sounds fast and open which seems to be what you desire.

Thanks for all the input everyone. Think maybe give another MM cart a go and if this under perfoms I'll look at getting the 522 boards serviced. If that doesn't improve things a external stage could be the way forward.

Thanks

Clive 

Smithfire posted:

Think maybe give another MM cart a go.....

As well as the Audio Technica brand that Richard mentioned, imo Goldring's 1042 and 2400 would be well worth auditioning into your Nait 3's MM boards.

Definitely look into a separate phono stage the Fono MM is great add a head amp or step up transformer and you can try mc carts. 

But within your budget is a used Rega Fono MM me 2 around £125 ands Denon 110 high output at about £170. 

Alba, did your NAIT have the mu-metal screen kit fitted?

IIRC the kit was made available for any dealer who wished to fit NA523 boards to the NAIT 3 - it was just a mu-metal screen so was pretty simple to fit. For NAIT 3s ordered with NA523s from new, I don't know whether the screen was fitted by the factory as standard or not.  Easy to check though - just open the lid and see if there's any mu-metal foil screen there.

I can't recall.  All I do know is that Naim realised there could be issues so the MC boards were not a normal recommendation.

Richard Dane posted:

The Naim phono boards and the Stageline are quite distinct in character. They are quite earthy and "dark" and in my experience tend to mix best with lighter and brighter cartridges like ATs the suchlike. They mix less successfully with similar character MM cartridges such as those from Rega, where the sound, while free of too many nasties, can be a bit shut-in and lack a sense of space or atmosphere.

So, I guess you have two options; first, if you're sticking to the internal boards, look at something like an AT MM cartridge.  Or, try the Exact with a Rega stage. Or preferably look at going MC - but LO MC, not HO MC, the latter which tends to be less than ideal on MM stages.  

You could try NA523S boards, however, there can be issues of noise and interference in the NAIT3.  It can be partially solved through fitting a mu-metal screen kit (I'm not sure whether this is still available) but that in itself can compromise performance.

So, the alternative means moving to a dedicated MC phono stage, however, this need not be too expensive to start off with.  One of my favourite stages in the original Michell ISO.  It was shockingly good when launched back in the '90s and really advanced the overall state of phono stage development.  The best thing though these days is that second hand examples can be bought really cheaply.  Go for the basic original version, best (and cheapest) with the captive PSU lead.  The Hera PSU brings more scale and insight but perhaps a little less fun.  The HR version was a big step backwards for me - all resolution at the expense of the joy of the original.  Most should be set for a 100ohm load so that should be about spot on for the Rega Ania MC.  It's over budget, but with a trade in on the bits you don't need, it should be doable.  It is of course, just one option among a number, but it's the one I would perhaps take in your circumstances.

Very good reply. 

A lighter and brighter cart like AT isn't an the other hand not so good sounding into a Rega phonoamp is my experience. 

The Rega Fono MM MKIII very well matched my Pro-Ject Essential II with cheapy Ortofon OM5E. It sounds punchy, open and clear/bright. 

Have booked my Nait 3 in for a service including phono boards. Feels like the right way around. Cartridge after that if no improvement.

Clive 

Whatever happens, this is a good move. My brother's unserviced early 1994 Nait 3 sounds harsh to me. In his audio life he's tight, mind. He can peel an orange in his pocket without the smell getting out.

Smithfire posted:

Have booked my Nait 3 in for a service including phono boards. Feels like the right way around. Cartridge after that if no improvement.

Clive 

Wonder if you have checked aprox. service price ?

How old is your deck/cartridge ?

Service price is £220. Nait 3 is 23 years old. Deck is 6 months old.

Clive

Smithfire, sounds like a plan, see how you go when nait comes back. Another thing to think about is if you do go for a separate phono stage, you can remove the boards from the nait and get another useful lift in performance for all sources. 

I wouldn’t think a low or high output moving coil was really the way to go with some many good MM’s (no one has mention good old Nagaokas yet!). These were always a good fit with rega arms back in the day, and I no my dealer recommends the combination still.

good luck!

Agreed. Nagoakas are very nice. Maybe wont have to go down that route though.

Clive