Tag Archive for ‘Grace’ at The Vinyl Hive

continued from Rega Planar 3 with Grace Tonearm for $202

The $202 Rega Planar 3 arrived within 2 weeks of the auciton close. Everything is as expected. The seller did a nice job packing up the table, and it`s in in pretty good shape for a 25 year old unloved turntable. Doesn’t sound too good eh?

Rega Planar Packaged Shipped

As can be seen, the Glass Platter was properly removed for packing and the seller did a good job protecting the arm from swinging wildly during shipment.

Rega Planar Unpacked

Now we get to the heart of the problems with this $200 Rega. The Grace tonearm is not exactly in the best shape. As you can see it’s missing a key component. Counterweight anyone?

Grace Tonearm without Counterweight

I did plenty of research on this arm, including what kind of cables could maximize a Grace Tonearm’s potential. Here’s an idea what I had to work with:

grace tonearm 707 parts

No counterweight, no sub-weight, no lateral weight, no headshell leads, and a crack in the arm lift assembly. Hmm. In the end, I might just have to bring this Rega 3 Table back up to spec with a tried tested and true Rega RB250 or RB300 arm. To fund this, I will put the Grace arm up on ebay in ‘as-is’ condition. With the money I get for the Grace, I will be able to pay for this Rega RB250 Tonearm with upgrade RB300 counterweight and Gold RCA connectors which I won on an eBay auction for $175 US. *hint* It’s smart to search for ‘Rega RB250‘ and not to include the words tone arm. By doing so you can get auctions that are less watched or turn up less often in search results. That’s how I got the arm for such a great deal!:

RB250 Rega Tonearm with RB300 Counterweight

RB300 Counterweight Upgrade on RB250 Tone Arm

As I wait for the Grace tone arm to sell, and for the Rega RB250 to arrive, I can still look into mat options, cartridge choices and so forth. In the meantime, here is my expenditure to date:

Rega Planar 3 with Grace 707 Tonearm from eBay - $225 (with shipping)
Rega RB250 Tonearm with RB300 Counter Weight from eBay - $195 (with shipping)

continue to Part II of the Rega Project - Assembly!

I had to do it. I’ve been longing for a Rega Planar for the longest time. I’ll occasionally check Craigslist or eBay auctions looking for a deal on a modest P1, P2 or Planar, never really contemplating a P3/Planar 3. When I saw one come up for auction within Canada I thought it could be a good chance to finally pull the trigger. The big question mark however was the fact that the seller has 0 feedback and had only joined eBay two months earlier.

The starting price on the auction was $150 US, which was reasonable so I decided to watch it in my eBay. I had kinda forgotten about it during the week, until today when I got the reminder email. Sure enough, 6 hours to go and not a single bid. HMmm, looks like bidders might be scared off by the 0-feedback score. I decide to shoot the seller a quick message to ask about shipping to Montreal. He gives me a very prompt response with three Canada Post options. Sounds promising, and still 4 hours to go in the auction.

I go about my business, watch some TV and finally look at the time… 8:30pm. Let’s see what’s happening with that Rega. Only 2 bidders, and it’s at $165. I tell myself, “I’ll take the risk on the 0-feedback if I can get it for $200.” With exactly 1 minute to go I throw out a $175. “You’ve been outbid.” Refresh. 28 Seconds left. Let’s shoot for it, one shot, $205. “You are the high bidder at $202.50.” 10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, refresh. “Congratulations!”

Sweet. Slight buyers remorse. “How do I explain another turntable to the wife?” No time to think about that now! An email has been sent to the seller, payment is ready to go!

Here’s a look at the table I should be receiving:

I’ll be sure to update you all on my adventure soon enough.

Stay tuned!

See Part 2 - Rega Planar 3 Project - the Tonearm

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