Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Just a reminder to budding DIYers and the curious, though it's true that a Lenco can be brought to unimaginable (and as-yet unmeasured) heights by going to various extremes, let's not forget that the success of the original thread was due to the Mighty Lenco's amazing sound quality, even in humble - or even NO - plinth. AND no tweaks or even lubrication!! In the beginnings of the original thread, though we laboured to build various [what at the time we thought] heavy CLD plinths, in imitation of the Garrard plinths the Japanese were then building, one fellow, owner of a fully-tricked-out Linn LP12/Koetsu set-up, posted his experiences with Lenco with no plinth at all, with Rega tonearm in original hole, with all the geometric and VTA inaccuracies this entailed:

"This evening is the first chance I have had to play with the beastie. I found (it took me a little while) the Origin Live modified Rega 250 that I bought two years ago intending to mount on an Empire 208 if I ever found one. I didn't. I also found my little used Denon 103D. An hour later we were ready to go. No plinth. I precariously balanced the Goldring on two lead shot filled plywood boxes that I made ages ago to set a pair of Carver Amazing speakers on. The speakers are long gone, but the heavy little boxes thankfully remain. Albert I don't know what TT you had before the Goldring, but my expectations were certainly not high since I have a heavily modified Linn LP 12 with an Ittok arm and Koetsu Black cartridge. I have to say that the Goldring with the lesser cartridge (the Denon 103D at $225, while a very impressive cartridge is no match for the $1,500 Koetsu), unravelled the music and separated instruments better than the Linn with the Koetsu. At first I thought that was hearing over-simplification of passages, but when I started hearing things in the foreground that were either distant on the Linn or very subdued, I knew this was not the case. Separation of lead and backing vocals and clear enunciation of words seemed better on the Goldring. I think I have to switch the Ittok and Koetsu to the Goldring to be completely fair. But then I think that there would be an even greater bias towards the Goldring."

"I continue to be impressed by this TT - even without a plinth - which I know will improve everything. It's subtle for the most part and reveals everything with a very light touch, never screaming "look at all this detail". But when there are massive dynamic swings it is scary. For the ultimate test of just how scary, play "No Pasaran" from Joe Jackson's 1987 LP "Will Power". It will make you leap out of your pants. Also even in it's plinthless state it sails through those classic 'test' tracks like "Sad Old Red" by Simply Red and "Ride Across The River" by Dire Straits - both tough tests of the ability of a system to reproduce bass that stops and starts on a dime with no overhang."

"I am a long time Linnie. I have own LP 12's for 28 years. My current Linn has an Origin Live DC motor and a Cetech carbon fibre subchassis. On a whim I bought a GL 75 and put an Origin Live modded Rega 250 and my beloved Koetsu Black on it. Holy shit, better bass, much better leading-edge dynamics and pretty remarkable imaging. This is all without a plinth. I'm just resting this beast on two lead-filled boxes. I am about to make a decent plinth and see where it goes."

"I STILL haven't built a plinth for my GL 75, OL Rega, Koetsu Black. But I'm playing it all the time. And I get more impressed with every LP. I should mention that I went from thin, model train oil to Mobil 1 grease and then a combination of the last two. My last choice seems to be the best. When I eventually get around to building the plinth it will be on this site. Just listened to Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms" and Little Feat "The Last Record Album". I'm hearing things that were not there AT ALL on the Linn. Buggeration. Is that possible?"

Now over the duration of the original thread I emphasized fun, and posted my own shoddy plinths for all to see - which are still up there and viewable (after all its' about sound quality and musical magic, not ultimate aesthetics), I have done nothing I am ashamed of and much I am proud of, including the Canadian Rustic ;-)! - so everyone from the totally inept and inexperienced to the better-trained would be encouraged to join in and see what all the fuss was about. I asked the more talented among us to continue to encourage the neophyte and untalented, and downplay their own efforts, as I knew that if I did not strive to prevent it, it would become a pissing contest, and the thread would die, and instead of the joy it should have brought, bring instead ugliness and pettiness.

So, now the original thread is dead and this but its "baby", let's not forget the fun component, and please do not believe the various forms of poison being spread about on this topic, a phenomenon which is inevitable considering the success (with its concomitant envy and other base and destructive human feelings) of the original thread and its intent, to have both the Lencos and idler-wheel drives in general recognized as serious, viable high-end 'tables.

The Lenco is indeed Mighty with nothing but a Rega tonearm unceremoniously plopped into the original hole, sitting on bricks, and mounted with your cartridge of choice. It is not true that it will cost you a "bundle" to achieve true high-end performance, it is not true that you need endless talent, materials and time (though it will improve performance) to achieve this. What IS true, is that with the purchase of a Lenco, some bricks, some solvents, cleaners and lubricants (Mobil 1 products), and some damping material, and a humble tonearm at a couple of hundred bucks, you can achieve sound quality that in audiophile terms can duke it out with $5K turntables, and which in musical terms (i.e. PRaT, gestalt, harmony) cannot, I think be outmatched by anything, at any price, and all this, STILL, for roughly $500 total or, depending on your luck, less.

So let's remember all, that though, indeed, I DO believe the idler-wheel system is the best of all systems, and continue my activities in proving this point/wait for the evident evidence to be absorbed, that ALL efforts should be encouraged and welcomed, and that those neophytes out there should not look at the tremendous aesthetic and complex efforts being made out there and be cowed, and should instead meditate on the Case of the Fully-Tricked-Out Linn LP12 owner. Don't get carried away with the thought that you will get the One Ultimate Turntable of all Time, as evidently even those who rebuild Lencos achieve varying degrees of success, and likely at some future point some new thing will come along to seriously boost its performance: things are not static. So do what is in your power to do, whether it be four bricks or complex woodwork, and be at peace: the Lenco will NOT disappoint, regardless. Have fun, and be proud of your bricks ferchrissakes (sorry, M.)!!!

And those sitting on the sidelines: what have you got to lose?!? The original thread was heading towards 4000 posts and had lasted nigh-on three years, not because the Lenco was mediocre or questionable, but because it was unbelievably good. And Ay, There's The Rub. The Lenco is so literally unbelievably good, that all who read accounts of it believe it MUST be a case of hyperbole and exaggeration, and so dismiss it, despite 3,700 posts before it was deleted (the longest thread in audio history at the time the delete button was hit), and 3 years of success, and more, counting this new spin-off. So, take the hint, start using your heads, and get ye out and buy a Lenco, and achieve what you are seeking at a budget price. What have you got to lose? And more to the point, what might you gain?!? While Garrard-ers on other forums gaze longingly and with awe upon the Impressive and Legendary EMTs, Lencos are out there, in largely original trim but for massive plinths, casually and with no sweat outperforming them. Who knows, like me, you might find yourselves developing some woodworking skills! Though, to confess I DO miss the days when I had fun with creative and crazy designs (as a substitute to tools and talent) and spray-paint from Canadian Tire, sigh, and fun and sound quality (i.e. MUSICALITY and not audiophile detail) counted, and not aesthetics. Think I'll go re-set-up my Canadian Rustic, I'll NEVER let it go ;-).

This is so true about the stock Lenco’s ability to engrave its bold presence in our listening rooms. So much so, that early on in the original thread there were quite a few reports of procrastination because of it. Many of these Lenco pioneers were so smitten with the stock “iron fist in velvet glove” treatment to music retrieval, that some plinth builds languished for awhile. It was as if Ulysses Nantais had neglected to cover the ears of his crew to these seductive sirens songs. There were grumblings among the men - “Can it really get any better than this?”

Well, of course, time went on - plinth builds proceeded and the answer to those early grumblings was a resounding, “yes!”

My confession for today is that while I promptly sank a Lenco L-75 into a mass, constrained plinth - complete with direct coupling and two tonearms, I have another Lenco – a BP L-61 - that has been on stilts for nearly two years in my basement workshop system. It was sent to me as a trash unit for parts. I cleaned & lubed all the proscribed workings: Took an unruly, noisy motor and made it quiet: Got a wonderful the idler tire rebuild for $25: Reaffixed a broken idler arm anchor to the speed adjustment sled.

The tonearm was replaced with a Sonus Formula IV unipivot that was a perfect fit for the Bogen/Presto placed armhole. The Sonus, a longer tube version of the Mayware, sports a Shure V15Vxmr (of which the replacement styli buy-up and hording seems complete and criminal). A modest Marantz 2230 receiver drives a pair of Rectilinear speakers of unknown model designation. The music all this produces is so enthralling, that it seems vastly out-of-place for my humble basement.

There are plinth plans for this L-61. The marble for the outer shell that will envelope a traditional mdf/birch-ply sandwich, has already been dimensionally cut. Large, internal borings and epoxy fills to the inside of the 7/8” marble shell will be my attempt to break up any potential resonance from the marble.

Those are the plans anyway - which continue to languish amidst the siren songs of this stilted Lenco.

- Mario

It is playing!
The first Lenco with custom made laser cut topplate.
Pictueres are at page 4 of:

http://www.lenco-lovers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=414

First impression is that it is seriously good. I have invited mr. Kundalini to come and have a listen ;-)

She's a beauty Peter, and I REALLY love that green!! Knowing how subtle and all I am ;-). Also love to see that familiar-homey birch-ply/MDF layering, so dependable. Beautiful accurate work as always, you should have been a watch-maker..or are you? Can't wait to get my own top-plate. Please contact me about your motor mounts too, I'd love to get some for my own project. Still waiting for my own top-plates, perhaps they're in Iceland, visiting, for the moment, bringing Good Lenco Vibes :-).

Ah and my good friend Mr. Kundalini: though there are flashes with the Audio Innovations/Klipsch combo, I have only heard the full brunt of the effect (which is to say, going beyond mere raising of hairs on arms and neck, caused by musical timing perfection, to full-fledge shivers up and down the spine, observable in others too), so far, with the Sony 3130F/AR2ax combo, and to a slightly lesser extent the Sony with other speakers too. Something about that Sony...

I want to re-set-up the Sony/AR system, but the combination of tubes and Klipsch Heresy MKIs is sooo beautiful in other ways I'm finding it hard to force myself to dismantle it. Gotta have several sound-rooms!

The other necessity for the full brunt of the Kundalini Effect - so far (there must be other combos, and the Ortofon Jubilee actually makes a very good stab at it, and of course the Decca) - is the humble Denon DL-103, which like the Sony, is seriously vintage, and yet, like the Sony, gets the timing and gestalt aspects of the music, with the necessary drive behind it, soooo incredibly best-in-the-world right. So, today, having been sent an Ikeda tonearm to test out by a Lenco afficionado, I will indeed take apart my beloved AI/Klipsch pairing, re-set-up my Sony/AR2ax pairing, and test out the Ikeda with the Denon, for which it is supposed to be an amazing match, to see if it too can pull off the Kundalini Effect. For those interested in the Ikeda, the Fidelity Research tonearms were designed and built by the same man, and are available, of course, at a lower price. The owner of the Ikeda has the right attitude re. the Kundalini Effect: open-minded and in a spirit of fun and enthusiasm, joie-de-vivre, grain of salt, but still valuing what I am talking about here: the intense and distilled musical experience, which in a sense transcends mere sound to yank directly on our DNA.

And needless to say, the Prime Ingredient for the Kundalini Effect is an idler-wheel drive! So, yes, I have to say it, despite the best efforts of a few who need to learn about having a good time, to kill the party and the fun (while profiting by it): Vive la Idler-Wheel!!!

And on the Lenco Front, some big news cooking perhaps this summer, as I continue to send the Giant Direct Coupled Glass-Reinforced Lencos (and Garrards) out to be inserted into ultra-high-end systems to amaze and delight, and to make the point: just how incredibly effective the Lenco is, in largely original trim (with its potential largely realized by judicious tuning and optimizing...and by the proven tonally-neutral and dynamically stupendous and balanced birch-ply/MDF recipe), with no need of anything but attention to detail and an inert mass. We don't yet know what its upper limits are, and isn't it exciting to attempt to find out what they are?!? And let's all hum the Mantra: "If it measures good and sounds bad, it is bad;
if it measures bad and sounds good, you have measured the wrong thing."

And finally, speaking of having fun, I insert a photo under my "system" demonstrating why a Giant Lenco is a Giant Lenco, everything being relative, and "Giant" being a perfectly adequate and accurate word, not to mention evoking the intent/effect much more effectively than "Reasonably Large Lenco" or "Larger-Than-Average Lenco", which would have people both yawning and wondering what was meant. A photo, taken long ago, of a Giant Lenco with Rega tonearm sitting next to a Rega P3 record player, with Rega tonearm. Enjoy your Giant Lencos ;-).

Peter,
In one word- FABULOUS!!!
You have taken the Lenco to another planet, where green creatures roam in song.
Thanks to you and Jean for setting us vinyl lovers to seek out other, better worlds for our listening pleasure.

Oregon