Turntable Experts

TheMarlin

Light platters can suffer from wow and flutter, that little wobble in the sound. 

This huge very heavy granite platter (with graphite top platter) has a lot of momentum in its movement, so you don’t get that jitter in the tone, it’s rock solid. 

Plus it looks cool! 

boogieman

Yeah that makes sense. Must have a pretty hefty motor to get that lot moving! 

blobb

My latest acquisition

Transcriptor Saturn with original unipivot arm.

@TheMarlin bet that sounds lovely through the Leak, what speakers are you using?

TheMarlin

Thank you. Yours lblobb said:

My latest acquisition

Transcriptor Saturn with original unipivot arm.

@TheMarlin bet that sounds lovely through the Leak, what speakers are you using?

blobb said:

My latest acquisition

Transcriptor Saturn with original unipivot arm.

@TheMarlin bet that sounds lovely through the Leak, what speakers are you using?

Wows looks fabulous!

Speakrs are KLH Model 5 which I’ve been very impressed with. 

I suspect they would like a bit more power than the Leak delivered, so I’ve got a Quad 909 that i’m
having rebuilt and upgraded, might try it with that for a while. 

But I love the Leak, that’s not going anywhere. 

I’ve also got a Radford STA25, which is technically a better p than the Leak,  but the sweetness of the Leak is beguiling.  Always has a soft spot for this amp. 

blobb

Nice! Those KLH are sealerd box aren't they? Probably would do better with a bit more power and I love QUAD amps. The Leak and the QUAD II are very similar but as you say need a bit of system matching to get them to sing. My QII blocks are awaiting refub, I've got a pair of Cambridge R50 transmission lines waiting for them currently being driven by a Q 405/44 (dada upgraded)  to which I hooked up the Transcriptor. It look fantastic, a very retro system, but it's a 1968 design turntable so it's not modern sound quality, but there is something about it spinning around with those gold counterweights and the great looking QUAD amp sitting next to it that makes it very enjoyable to use.

My other system is a modified rega deck into a ION Obelisk 3 into QLN speakers. That's a fantastic set up. I knew Richard Hay who designed the Ion, he worked for Radford originaly and learnt his skill there before designing the Nytech / Ion amps. If you ever get chance to try an Ion I can reccomend it. But you probably won't get better than that Radford you have.

Anyway, typical hifi nerds derailing OP. Happy listening out there, I've just recieved Henry Cow: Stockholm & Goteborg in the post. 

HippoPete

Aaaannnndddd . . . . . . . The Pro-Ject is fixed.

Tight bearing in the end.You can buy the 'proper' tool from dealers but decided that a pair of decent snipe nose pliers might just work. The bearing appear to be loctited (or equivalent) in place so took a fair old twist. I let the pressure off and then gently snugged backup.

Further, I guess the analogue fans win this time. Playing a 44 year old copy of Kate Bush's Never Forever on a cheap turntable processed through a Raspberry Pi into Sonos Ones appears to be more engaging than Spotify. I can't say if it's cod psychology, the process of commitment to listening to the disc itself or the Proustian memories of limited bandwidth playback but there is something there.

Thanks again all,



Oh and here is the proper £25 tool.

AK99

Great job - very satisfying when you sort something like that, especially without having to fork out for extra bits or tools.

'Slow' music on vinyl is a different experience. Takes a bit of adjustment on the attention span I find, having to listen to whole sides of an album, or at the very least get up out of your chair to change the disk for a new tune rather than a flick of the thumb on a smart-screen. 

Kittyfrisk

HippoPete said:

Aaaannnndddd . . . . . . . The Pro-Ject is fixed.

Tight bearing in the end.You can buy the 'proper' tool from dealers but decided that a pair of decent snipe nose pliers might just work. The bearing appear to be loctited (or equivalent) in place so took a fair old twist. I let the pressure off and then gently snugged backup.

Further, I guess the analogue fans win this time. Playing a 44 year old copy of Kate Bush's Never Forever on a cheap turntable processed through a Raspberry Pi into Sonos Ones appears to be more engaging than Spotify. I can't say if it's cod psychology, the process of commitment to listening to the disc itself or the Proustian memories of limited bandwidth playback but there is something there.

Thanks again all,



Oh and here is the proper £25 tool.

Good idea.
I'd have used circlip pliers 

Fishboy7

I'm no expert at all but when setting up my turntable it was extremely sensitive to the adjustment of the weights.  Almost impossible to get dialled in without using the little scales.  

AK99

I found the scales weren't bad - but using a vinyl test record to hear the changes as you fine-tuned the weight and anti-skate settings worked better to really let you dial it in.

blobb

Great stuff! Another one of us, one less of them.

steveledzep

Yes, a stylus balance is great for initial set-up.  Then I fine tune by ear, surprising how sensitive our ears are.  Mine's a Michell Gyrodec, Roksan Tabriz arm and Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC.

viz

TheMarlin said:

This is my main turntable setup. 

I have three others. 

Nice OL arm! (I think?) And a Koetsu!

TheMarlin

It’s an origin live Conqueror, and Koetsu black 
other main turntable is a home made deck based on Rega geometry.  That one had a Michelle Tecnoarm 2, and A Nagoaka MP500 cart. 

Others include a rebuilt and restored Lenco GL75, and a modded Moth Alamo (as a backup deck boxed in the garage). 

I’ve just sold two other decks, was having a clear out. Still have to many. 

TheMarlin

HippoPete said:

Aaaannnndddd . . . . . . . The Pro-Ject is fixed.

Tight bearing in the end.You can buy the 'proper' tool from dealers but decided that a pair of decent snipe nose pliers might just work. The bearing appear to be loctited (or equivalent) in place so took a fair old twist. I let the pressure off and then gently snugged backup.

Further, I guess the analogue fans win this time. Playing a 44 year old copy of Kate Bush's Never Forever on a cheap turntable processed through a Raspberry Pi into Sonos Ones appears to be more engaging than Spotify. I can't say if it's cod psychology, the process of commitment to listening to the disc itself or the Proustian memories of limited bandwidth playback but there is something there.

Thanks again all,



Oh and here is the proper £25 tool.

So how is your deck settling back in?

Do you have a stylus alignment protractor to make sure the cartridge is setup properly. 

Let me know if you need anything. Happy to post a few bits to you if you need them. 

It might also be an idea to clean the bearing, remove the older oil, ans put some fresh on.  Give it a little service

Penn

viz said:

TheMarlin said:

This is my main turntable setup. 

I have three others. 

Nice OL arm! (I think?) And a Koetsu!

That leak is ace. I have an icon audio 20pp which is based on the leak. 

euan

I see I’m not the only one using those IKEA cabinets for record storage. 

sweepy

Those Kallax units are great, Homebase Cube is as good and a little bit cheaper ,My Deck is a Voyd tri-motor  Reference 0.5  Helios Arm Dynavector cart, insane bit of kit 

Penn

euan said:

I see I’m not the only one using those IKEA cabinets for record storage. 

Yes the metal PS are ok but they do start to bend under the weight of records eventually. I will replace them at some point, probably with Kallax as @sweepy said about but it’s on a long list of things to do. 

Matt_McG

I'm jealous of some of the lovely gear above.

I have a Linn Axis (which is in very good nick for the age) with a Shure M97xE going into a Meridian 205 preamp and Quad 306 for power. After a long time when I was continually chopping and changing, I've had the same setup for about 12 years, although both the Meridian pre- and the Quad power amp have been re-capped and/or serviced in that time.

Kallax for record storage and the turntable and pre- sit on the top of it. It's rock solid.