Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Hi David, Boy, the adventures just dont stop over there, do they? I haven't had my Rega up for a while now, I bought a new Rega RB-300 which I'll be re-wiring soon, and then I'll once again have a stab at Twl's tweak, as last time I couldn't find sufficiently heavy weights to implement it adequately. Now I am armed and ready!! Tom's invention should work as I know from experience, as increasing the mass for certain cartridges really does work to maximize them (i.e. the venerable Denons), and after my trials with the Dynavector 507 MKII I can see the lateral mass really does work: never heard the Denon DL-103"E" sound better, or nearly as good, except for the screaming-deal RS-A1 tonearm.

Due to too much Rock 'n Roll, I have bought more neighbour-friendly monitors, the vintage KEF Reference 103.2s (just can't shake that vintage sickness ;-)). I was hot for some classic KEF-driver speakers (like the legendary LS3/5a's, or the Spendor BC1s, or the Linn Kans, etc.) and tripped over these at a good price and discovered there was practically a religion devoted to them! They take power like nothing else, and between the Lenco and the 100-watt Pierre amp the sound is nothing short of incredible. These things really rock!! Very detailed, very neutral, and very musical, they seem to have no upper limit to SPLs, which kind of mitigates the reason I bought them in the first place :-). Oh well, I guess volume and dynamics is my destiny, thank you Dr. Lenco!!

At this end I've managed to get a very nice lacquered finish for my latest plinth, and I am working on making myself a Giant Lenco in high-gloss Nivea Cream Can blue (I do like colours!!). In the meantime, I've made myself a Giant Red Two-Armed Beast to tote around to play Crush the Belt-Drive, varnished for toughness, new pics under my "system". Oh Boy I'm having fun!! Next up, after the Garrard I'm currently working on, the Sony 2250 I've long threatened to try out, methinks another sleeper a la Lenco (though theoretically not as good being a DD, this one is especially musical - servo-control - we'll see/hear). Have fun with your own projects and enjoy that idler magic all!!

Hey Jean, Mr Red is pretty sweet. A nice job of craftsmanship. Is that a Morch I see?

Mike

Hi Mike, thanks for the compliment, I've been practicing and researching!! "Mr. Red," I like that. I've got all sorts of plans now for various veneers, coloured lacquers, and combinations for the future, this is loads of fun! Yes, that's a Moerch UP-4, which I'm trying out with the Decca Super Gold and various cartridges (sounds great with the Shibui too) for now. A beautiful piece of audio jewelry, and very fast and detailed, with deep, controlled and detailed bass. Again relatively-speaking (in the light of such stellar budget bargains as the Regas and various vintage tonearms), the UP-4 is a bargain, and is useful as tonearm-wands are easy to swap in and out, and come in masses to suit any cartridge made. Perfect critter for a guy like me, with his peculiar cartridge addiction ;-). The fellow who sold it to me assured me it was better than the DP-6 (he thought so anyway), though I have yet to do those comparisons myself. The RS-A1 is a contender for Best Tonearm in the World, but it isn't near so user-friendly or versatile.

Hi Jean,

Mr. Red indeed! Very nice job. We’re talking 7 or 8 stone here with this monster, aren’t we? Had no idea that Bogen continued its relationship with Lenco through the L-75 years.
Took the opportunity while browsing through “your system” to take a closer look at your tangential air-bearing arm. Would you hazard a guess over the cause of its falling short as a full bass retriever? Something endemic in its tangential design or set-up? This arms mass?
The reason I ask is that there’s a gentleman over at another audio site that I frequent who has caused quite a stir in posting results of his survey on stylus wear. He used a 200X Shure stylus microscope to examine every cartridge he has used or pulled from various equipment since 1962. His posted results: All used styli from pivoted arms show asymmetrical wear, while nearly all styli from tangential arms show symmetrical wear. He postulates that pivoted arms can never attain neutrality for long in the skate/anti-skate force battle because of groove modulation.
Well, if this is true, the implication for record wear is implicit.
However, if this boils down to giving up window thumping bass to extend record life, I’d probably elect to chomp the vinyl and go buy more.

Hi Mario, thanks for the compliment! Actually that was early impressions I never went back to rectify: the MG-1 does indeed provide superb bass, perhaps even better than the Rega's when mounted on a Giant Direct-Coupled Lenco, and that's saying something. For an especially synergistic match, go for the Dynavector 17D MKIII. Indeed, in many cases air-bearing parallel-tracking tonearms have been criticized for woolly bass (but not all of them, like the Maplenoll). If there is any criticism of the Dynavector it is that it is over-damped in the bass (like the Audio technica OC9), which partly explains its legendary super-speedy reputation (the rest being due to good 'ol amazing engineering). But when mounted to the MG-1 on a Giant Lenco SNICK!! a perfect synergy results, with jaw-dropping tight deep and full bass, incredible dynamics, incredible detail, and awesome imaging. In fact, I was so impressed when I visited a friend with Giant Lenco/MG-1/Dyna 17D3 I decided then it was slated for my own future (factor in ease of use, and easy tonearm-wand swapping). Add in the fact the MG-1 has no "sticking" problems (common for air-bearings), has on-the-fly VTA, and fits the Lenco perfectly and to the millimetre as if they had come out of the same factory (just move the bolt-hole over roughly half-an-inch so the stylus clears the platter when at rest), and for many you have a no-brainer!! As to record wear, while I'm certain it occurs, most of my records will indeed survive my own journey into the Great Beyond ;-), as they have done already several decades many of them, in spite of pivotted tonearms.