I just bought a new Rega P3 turntable. I set it up today and when I turn it on I can hear the motor spinning. Not a "bad" sound, and not loud. But audible. When I'm standing by the turntable I can definitely hear the spinning. Is that normal?
Obviously this tiny sound can't be heard when I'm playing a record. But my only previous turntable, an old Philips 312 (circa 1980 but still running fine) was/is dead silent.
As the table begins to turn, for the two or three seconds of acceleration, there is a small noise, I think, from the belt chafing against the small pulley wheel. That is normal. I remember the dealer's demo model had it.
When it reaches speed, that noises stops.
I am not sure the what the "spindle" is. There is a plastic pulley wheel at the end of the main bearing. It is connected to the much smaller motor pulley wheel buy a drive belt, which is simply a rubber "O" ring.
I suggest you take the dust cover off, and felt mat off, and have a good look, while the table is turning, including through the glass, and see if you can see exactly where the noise is coming from. The vital parts are the motor and the main bearing. They should both be completely silent, and vibration-free.
Sorry if I've got the terminology wrong. I've taken off the glass platter altogether and just watched the little pulley wheel spinning the larger pulley wheel. There's a constant noise. Very small but it's there: whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop-whoop, very fast and at a constant speed. Stops when I shut off the motor.
US distributor says the motor just may need to get settled, and suggests running it for 24-48 hours.
I feel like an obsessive compulsive worrying about this. The table plays fine, sounds good, etc. With music playing you can't hear this noise. Dealer says it's "normal" and not to worry.
But the unit itself really should be totally silent in operation. Really!
amonar19
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I also had a similiar noise during the first two or three seconds of acceleration. This noise was present in practically all old planar 3 tt's. The P3/2000 upgrade should have taken care of it. I also suggest that you take it to the dealer and possibly ask for a replacement.
I did email Rega. They said the motor noise should be so slight that you could only hear it by putting your ear right down next to the motor. My table is much louder than that. I took the platter off and even took off the drive belt. Still can hear the noise just with that single drive pulley spinning.
I second that. I would be interested to know what Rega says. If some damage has occurred to the turntable between the factory and you, it should be traced, and finding that is not your responsibility. I assume you have a warranty.
amonar19
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I agree with John A. If it is a new TT then repair is not the issue. Although I'm sure he didn't know about it when he/she sold it to you, your dealer, and not you, shuold be the concerned party here. Ask for a new machine and if they refuse, demand a refund and go to another dealer.
Actually I sent an even earlier private message to Hubert, saying the same thing. This is unverifiable, I know. Two minds with a single thought.
Seriously, amonar is right about it being a dealer responsibility. Too many dealers will try to convince you the problem is with you. Or the manufacturer. Just to try to make life easier for themselves.
Upddate to all concerned --- the US distributor suggested just running the motor in for a few days. I did that, and it worked. The motor noise is gone. I've been running the table now nonstop for about a week.
Thanks to all for the advice, support, suggestions, etc. This is a great community.
FYI, I'm loving the P3 and really enjoying going through my vinyl collection. I bought the cheapest cartridge from Rega, the Bias, and even so things sound wonderful. Good records sound great.
And one thing I've noticed is that even my not-so-great old vinyl sounds less nasty than it did on my Philips which had an Audio Technica 440ML cartridge.
The Rega seems more "forgiving" of surface noise or something. Is this possible? Any explanation?
It is a pleasure to read your post, Hubert. Others may know about forgiving surface noise - please excuse me on that. Good luck with LP, a well-established and superior audio format.
I'll try to make a long answer as short as possible concerning surface noise.
Obviously the way a signal is retrieved and produced by the record groove/stylus/cantilever/cartridge coils & magnets is by relative movement between those parts. Ideally, when the stylus gets wiggled by the record groove, the movement is transferred perfectly up the cantilever where, without any loss or additive input, the movement traced by the stylus in the groove is repeated by the working end of the cantilever and moves the generating mechanism of the cartridge. This ideal situation is almost impossible to achieve in reality given the small scale movements that occur in a record playback system. Any random motion of any other part of the system; the supporting surface or the plinth, the motor and platter, the tonearm or the cartridge mechanism will result in random noise which you will hear as "surface noise". Ticks, clicks and pops from the record surface are another issue. As movement in the support system gets larger the issue becomes feedback and stops being noise. Surface noise is the constant noise that rides under the music.
The Rega undoubtedly has a more rigid structure than your old Philips and the cartridge has a more efficient mechanism for translating desired movement into music and not allowing the random motion to occur. The new stylus on the Rega cartridge also probably is contacting a spot in the groove that the old AT cartridge didn't reach. This will give less noise if there is fresh vinyl to be traced instead of scraped off.
All in all, a lowering of surface and background noise is the reason for upgrading your turntable. When the noise floor is lowered, everything else becomes more dynamic and gains in clarity.
Thanks for the explanation Jan. I really do enjoy this Rega turntable. So-so records sound decent. And on good (clean) vinyl the sound is really wonderful.