Micro-Seiki RX-5000 platter question

You can slip some string under the platter to lift it off - use two pieces either side of the spindle.

Also note that the Micro bearing tolerance is incredibly small, the bearing oil should be left alone - it is specially designed for the tight tolerance. If you turn the spindle ( without the latter on ) by hand, there is a drag, this is the way it is designed to work.

I found a great way to clean platters etc is to use heavy duty degreaser like CRC Heavy Duty Electraclean - this removes grunge and grease but does not scour the surface, and residual evaporates off.

I suspect you underestimated the degree of corrosion on the platter.  I did get it removed using two 4" M3 screws.  It would move up 1/9" or so and stop.  I took some very low tech pine shims and worked them in to three places around the platter.  Using vice grips on the screws we slowly pulled up and slowly worked the shims in further.  At a certain point in came free.  I sanded with 320 grit, then slowly up through 4000, then changing to different grades of polishing compounds.  Up and running, bearing seems fine, no noise with a stethoscope, just need to figure out what platter mat as it's quite sensitive to different ones.  I'm intrigued by the CU-180 copper mat they made but it's big bucks to experiment with.  Don't see a way to post a pic...

@hifiguys 

Sounds good.

Platter mats are always a subject of debate. I keep on hand Micro 180, Final Audio ( 4.5kg chrome copper ), Goldmund Methacrelate/Clamp, SAEC 300, Seisin and a few others.

I keep them all because really the "best" mat can vary so much depending on the platter underneath the record - different platters different mat.

Do you have the gunmetal platter (most common )or stainless steel platter ( rare ).

If you have the gunmetal platter the cheapest option for you would be to just use a very thin leather mat.

I would be weary of buying a Micro Cu180 because most of them are warped.

There are some less expensive gunmetal mats around like the Tenuto that come up for sale every now and again.

SAEC 300 is very good on most decks - it has a very relaxed sound. The copper mats can be a little more incisive.

I have also had success with the Boston Audio Mat 2 on a 13kg gunmetal platter - not the best of the best but very good and hard to beat for the money.

Another option is glass/crystal plus leather - the glass dampens the ringy Micro platter and actually sounds ok - I experimented with one on my Garard 301/401 heavy platter. They can be had for about $100 with recessed centre label.

I also find the Micro Stabilisers pretty useless. You either need a reflex type clamp or a stabiliser with decent weight - 1.0kg up. Otherwise they don't really do much.

I use the Saec with no stabiliser, the copper mats with stabiliser, for example.

Unfortunately it's trial and error, so start with a couple of cheapies to get a feel for what you might like.

Unfortunately it's trial and error, so start with a couple of cheapies to get a feel for what you might like.

This statement is very true, and even the most impressive mat on a certain TT in a certain set up, does not transfer the impression onto another TT in use in the same set up.

Take this mat to another TT in a completely different environment and the idea of replicating the good impression gets even more remote.

I would suggest prior to trialling Platter Mats, the method used as the under TT supporting structure is where the most beneficial discoveries can be made.

When this is correct for the environment the TT is residing in, it is going to be most beneficial to get the best outcome from any follow up investigations of other supporting ancillaries for the TT's usage.

I don't use TT's today that have the type of overall weight of the RX 5000, but when I had the TT in use that was seated in Granite and weighing in at 9 Stone, I found that a few Sub Plinth tiers separated by 'used squash balls cut in half' were able to produce a SQ that was improved over a support that was not with the added tiers.

The good news is that this is reasonably cheap to try out as first investigation.

I have a history of trying Plinth and Sub Plinth Materials and have been through many options for footers. 

Today I use more complex footers on the Sub Plinth Tiers and am becoming quite confident in my suggestion that densified wood is offering one of the best performances I have encountered as a Plinth and Sub Plinth Material.

Recent investigations are showing there is a noticeable change for the better when the latest methods for a sub plinth assembly is used under a CDP as well. 

It is in such a case as this, 'each to their own'. It all depends how early investigations impress, and how far the investigations will take a person. In my case they have not waned, running parallel with my HiFi experiences for over 20 years.

In that time I have lived in three different properties with different exposure levels to the impact of ambient transferral of energies.         

@hifiguys you received some very good advice from dover, as expected. As for the Micro gunmetal platters, they ring when not properly damped, so you do need a mat of some kind. Some might call the sound ‘lively’, but with the ‘naked’ platter the table tends to sound a little bright and unsettled.
 

Micro advertised at the time that the platter didn’t require a mat, but to my ears this clearly was a misdirection. The CU180 (and the heavier CU500) copper mats were sold as accessories, but really should have been an integral part of the table. In my experience this copper mat is the only one that effectively kills the ringing without killing the dynamics along with it (as most other mats do to some extend). Without it you won’t be able to hear what the RX-5000 can do.

dover is also correct to be very careful with used samples, but thankfully Micro-Seiki.nl offers exact one-on-one replicas that will be perfectly flat. Not cheap either, but these are quality products. Highly recommended!