Hey Jamesbythebay, It's bizarre that I found your post 1 1/2 years after my original post. I was actually googling to find another Rubato copper mat when my old post came up. Here we go. I've had a collection of turntables accumulated over the years that one day I'd get to put back in service. The collection consisted of 2) Garrard 301's, 1) Thorens TD124 which I was using, 1) Garrard 401, 2) Rek-o-cut L34's, and The Gates CB-77.
Having recently retired at the tender age of 54 it was time to delve into these projects. Thinking the Gates was at the bottom of the food chain in this assortment I decided to start with this one 1st. The motor ran smooth so I disassembled and cleaned everything. The cast housing was striped and powdercoated gunmetal metallic gray. I micropolished the platter to a mirror finish. Reassembled lubed and adjusted until everything worked smoothly. Topped it off with the Rubato copper mat. It came with a Gray Micro-Trak 303 wooden tonearm so I used it as I wasn't expecting any audio revelations with this project. I custom built a wooden plinth out of 4" thick Douglas Fir as it was easy to work with, cheap, and readily available. Finished it up with a Zu-103 modified DL-103 cartridge.
I was astounded at the results. Very authoritative without being "in your face" presentation. Very quiet. Quick to change and get up to speed. Very quiet.
I was so impressed that I sold off the rest of my collection and purchased several more CB-77's.
Next. What would this sound like with a high end tone arm? I decide to build another one, this time with a larger, heavier plinth (still of Doug Fir), and a 12" Schick tone arm. The results were terrific.
Speed. These do tend to run slightly slow (I think that was intentional). I'm considering implementing a VPI SDS controller as these not only control voltage but also control frequency. But as is the music just sings from this deck.
The pre-amp you have is an ad on accessory that was offered by Gates. I have 1 of my units that has one but I don't tend to use it. For a phono stage I use a Bottle Head Seduction along with a Bob's Deviced SUT for the MC cart. Seems to work very well.
Other components, Oswalds Mill slate headshell, Oswalds Mill Mini speakers, and a ViVa Solista integrated SET amp.
Hope this helps.
Scott out
