Groovetracer® is manufacturing an upgraded subplatter assembly for the RP6. This is a direct drop in replacement for the two piece phenolic resin subplatter featured on the current RP6 turntable model.
The Groovetracer® reference subplatter assembly for the RP6 not only features a main hub precision machined from solid billet aluminum, but in addition, a dampening disc is fixed to the bottom of the aluminum hub to eliminate any micro vibration or ringing between the three subplatter and glass platter contact points.
This specific subplatter assembly is designed to be used with the RP6 glass platter, however, any of the other Groovetracer subplatters and platters can be installed (when used in combination) on the RP6 as well.
Groovetracer follows on with the same jeweled bearing design offered in the best selling Reference subplatter model featuring a sapphire thrust plate which is bonded to the bottom of the hardened steel (RC 62) bearing shaft, and a zirconia (ZrO2) bearing ball. A polished stainless steel record spindle is fitted to the top of the hub to complete the assembly.
Furthermore, the record spindle is decoupled from the main bearing shaft thereby eliminating any vibrational transfer from the thrust point to the playing surface.
Improvements over the stock unit include a (quieter) lower noise floor due to lower friction created by the jeweled bearing. This in turn allows inner detail and overall ambient retrieval to be fully realized. Speed stability is further improved due to the close tolerance (concentricity) of the bearing shaft and hub assembly.
No adjustments to the turntable are required following installation which takes less than five minutes to perform.
This newest subplatter model designed specifically for the RP6 will be shipping in late July, 2012. Orders are now being accepted.
Retail price will be $280.00
Click image to enlarge. (RP6 Reference subplatter)
December 2011
Groovetracer® is now manufacturing Delrin platters for Rega turntables. Delrin offers excellent transparency with well balanced top to bottom frequency response. The platter will be offered in two different colors, black and white.
Mass is 4 pounds 11 ounces, (75 ounces).
Current retail price is $235.00 (both black and white)
August 2011
All Groovetracer® products are compatible with the new Rega RP3 turntable model.
August 2009
A beautifully machined stainless steel endstub will now be shipped with every counterweight purchase. This will ensure a precise fit of the endstub with the counterweight assembly.
Groovetracer® will not be selling endstubs separately at this time. They will only be included with the purchase of a counterweight.
There are now three different subplatter models available from Groovetracer®. All three models are currently in stock and ready to ship.
September 2007
The Groovetracer® acrylic platter has been slightly redesigned to carry even more mass than the original design. It is now being machined to 26mm thick. The main reason for going thicker came from the realization that the supplier of the raw material could no longer deliver the stock required to make the 24mm thick platter, and rather than go to a thinner design and make a platter with less mass, the decision was made to go to the next larger stock thickness to slightly increase mass. This slight increase in mass results in a platter weighing 4.5 pounds that precisely matches the weight of the Rega glass platter.
The previous 24mm thick platter was very close to the exact same weight as the 12mm thick Rega glass platter so the new design will result in no loss in mass at all. For example, the mass or specific gravity of acrylic is only 1.2, whereas glass is 2.4 which simply means that any acrylic platter under 24mm thick will result in a loss of rotational mass.
June 2006
Groovetracer® has taken their original subplatter design to an even higher level of performance by mounting a sapphire to the load bearing surface of the bearing axle to provide an ultra low friction interface with the Zirconia ball bearing.
In simple terms this translates to a lower noise floor which in turn results in a blacker background for the musical information to evolve. Sapphire is second only to diamond in hardness so the life of the bearing assembly also increases. This means you can enjoy trouble free performance from your turntable for many years to come .
