Rega v. Mayware

[bigbill]

Hi all

I have finished my plywood and lead sheet plinth for my Lenco 99, after months of labouring (my only carpentry skill seems to be in generating sawdust from perfectly good bits of ply) and I have two separate armboards. One for my Rega RB300 and one for my Mayware unipivot. Cartridge is a Pickering 625

The Rega is easy to set up, whilst the Mayware needs the patience of a saint.

Question 1. Can anyone offer me any tips for optimising the Mayware? I have gone to great care to make sure everything is level, used new silicone damping fluid, set the VTA so the arm is level, and used a protractor (downloaded from Vinyl Engine) to set the cartridge. Have I missed anything?

Question 2. Initial listening suggests the Mayware is the better arm, mainly because it sounds more dynamic. Does anyone else have any experiences they can offer?

Any advice or observations would be gratefully received.

[Richard]

I've had both in the distant past Bill and much preferred the Mayware. Mine carried an MC20fl super and it's strength was that it was just so relaxed and natural, real sounding. I didn't have the RB300 on the same deck so it wasn't a true comparison but it never satisfied and sounded leaden im very ho.

Re setting up, mine was a doddle even on a bouncy Thorens. It may be an obvious question, but do you have the thick silicone in the cup? Other tips are to use a mirror on the platter to set the cart perpendicular to the record. The adjustment is made by swivelling the eccentric counterweight. What can happen on old ones is the rubber becomes detached from collar and weight so the adjustment gets lost - glue with Evostick. Another tip I never tried was to use the sliding tracking weight to adjust effective mass rather than tracking force. Then apply tracking force with the counterweight. Clearly fiddlier to do that way but would allow a lower or higher compliance cart to be optimised.

[A.N. Beal]

My first Mayware was a Mk III bought secondhand in late 1979 (for £25), used initially on a Connoisseur BD1 and then on a Garrard 401. I then replaced the 401 with a Walker CJ61 (yes, I know ... but the Walker was so much neater and more compact and I was never really happy with the resonant Garrard platter and rubber mat). With the Walker, I treated myself to a new Rega RB250, which hosted many different catridges but then the Mayware went back for a trial and ended up staying ... and then I treated myself to a brand new Mayware Mark V (the last one they made).
Comments? The Mayware Mk III worked fine with the Connoisseur, and the Garrard and the Walker. On the Walker I compared it fairly carefully with the Rega with a Rega RB100 cartridge (interesting fixed-stylus moving magnet) and a Goldring G900SE (1.25g tracking forerunner to G1000 series). I found both were good (I'm not going to rubbish the Rega) but the Mayware was definitely the better of the two, with better bass and more natural sound, which is why it ended up staying and the Rega going to a friend who needed it.
The MkIII Mayware struck me as a very well-sorted design which is at home with a wide variety of cartridges and decks. Its variable effective mass is a boon (see later). With the Walker the arm sounded better without the rubber decoupling base grommet. I didn't do comparisons of this on the other decks, so can't comment. The only unsatisfactory detail was the fingerlift, a thin metal affair. The arm sounded better with the fingerlift removed but that made cueing more awkward. I tried gluing on various alternatives (a pin, a matchstick etc.) but never came up with a perfect answer.
I bought the Mayware MkV to go with a Mayware MC7VIII high output moving coil cartridge, which gave a nice sound and its ruler-flat response was compatible with neutral LS3 speakers and gave consistent balance with other sources. The MkV has a slightly larger diameter arm tube, a more robust arm pillar, a larger cup for damping fluid, an aluminium bearing cap instead of perspex, a lockable tracking weight cursor and a stiffer cast headshell with integral finger lift. I think the arm tube may also be damped internally (with sand?) but I'm not sure about this.
The sound is very similar to the MkIII. with rather better definition but I think the perpex bearing cap may have given the MkIII a little more sweetness. The MkV headshell is stiffer, with a non-resonant fingerlift.
I used the MkV with the MC7VIII tracking at 1.75g, which was fine but then I decided to try a Denon DL103. After quite a lot of experimenting with loadings etc., I have settled on about 400ohms across the Denon and set the effective mass of the Mayware to maximum, with the tracking weight cursor right behind the headshell, which raises the effective mass to about 14g, instead of around 8g in standard configuration. The Denon tracks fine with either arrangement but the sound is clearly better with the higher effective mass.
Detailed setup points:
* damping is always beneficial, contributing to the 'master tape' stable sound;
* using the tracking weight cursor, the effective mass can be set low (cursor removed), standard (cursor used to set tracking weight, so high tracking weight gives higher mass and low tracking weight gives lower mass) or maximum (weight behind headshell). This means the arm is compatible with high compliance 1g trackers, medium compiance 1.75g trackers and low compliance jobs like the Denon. When using maximum setting, there is an easy way to set tracking weight. The cursor weight weighs 9g, the arm has 9" effective length, so 1" travel = 1g tracking weight. Simply set the cursor back a distance corresponding to the desired tracking weight from the back of the headshell, when balancing the arm, then move the cursor back to the headshell, lock in position and the tracking weight will be correct;
* one point Mayware emphasise in their instructions is that (contrary to the Linn/Rega school), mounting bolts etc. should be just nicely done up, not heavily tightened. This is partly because the aluminium threads (including the cartridge fixing screws) can be damaged by overtightening but also I believe that it allows for some energy dissipation at the joints. (This includes the the bearing cap and the base locknout.) The cartridge fixing screws come with nylon washers under their heads and I found that the Denon DL103 does sound best if these are used with gently tightened fixing screws.

I wouldn't claim that the Mayware is the best arm ever - I'd be interested to hear how it compares with more modern unipivots - but it does seem to be a good all-rounder and its jewelled unipivot gives very little to go wrong, so it's OK secondhand. The MkIII is the most common (see comments above) however if you get a chance of a MkIV or Mk V these are a bit better.

Cheers,
Alasdair

[bigbill]

Alasdair

thank you for such a comprehensive and thoughtful reply. I have finally settled on the Mayware, after experimenting with altering the effective mass - see http://www.lenco-lovers.com/forum/vi...7ad9f2690049e1

The Linn Sondek has gone off to a new home, and the surplus rega RB300 arm will be sold off via ebay when I can get round to it.

I'm currently messing around with a new PVR having just bought a Humax. What an excellent piece of kit ! except for the noisy cooling fan - who designs these things, don't they try them at home before bringing them to market ?