Micro Seiki RY-5500 motor noise repair pdf


I recently acquired a wonderful turntable, the Micro Seiki RX-5000. I found there is scant information available on the Internet about this vintage 'table, and when I encountered some noise issues with my RY-5500 motor unit and discovered how to fix it, I thought it would be beneficial make a set of instructions freely available. Go to the following URL and click on the page icon to view and download these instructions. Enjoy!

http://web.me.com/kip/ry5500
kipdent
Hello Raul ..........

I have had both the AT-616 and EquaRacks on the 5000 and I would give the nod to the EquaRack, although the AT-616's are very good and clearly superior to cone type devices.

Nevertheless, experimentation to date a DIY has a compression spring base in the lead position for the most effective isolation system. I a hoping that the machina dynamica spring system will give a benchmark comparison.

I am a firm believer that effective isolation of the RX-5000 is very important as there are lots of inherent internal resonances from the chassis, platter and arm board interfaces. They must have an impact on sound - as does the wood and resins used in a violin define its tone n'est pas?

Steve
Dear Steve: Yes you are right. The Rx 5000 has no isolation and we need to take care about.

I never hear a MS 5000 on a spring isolation system but there is no reason why does not works fine.
Till today I don't know the perfect TT isolation because this subject has many interactions overall and some isolation systems are very good in some " areas " and other systems in other areas.

Yes, I know that certainly there are better isolation ways than the AT-616 but these ones works for me and I never have the opportunity to test a different one in my system.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Another quick note on RY-5500 noise: I recently received an e-mail that described a subtle "clicking" noise emanating from the RY-5500 when under various thread or belt tensions. I noticed this too from day one of ownership and thought it might be normal. When the major noise occurred and I fixed it as described in my article, I noticed this clicking also went away! I can only suspect that sound is abnormal, too. The good news is it is possible to have a completely silent RY-5500.

Kip
Dear Kipdent,

Great process. Quick question, does the RY-5500 motor have an air bearing for isolation?

Thanks,

Simon
Simon--

The RY-5500 is the *drive motor* for the RX-5000 turntable (as well as many other models). The famed Micro Seiki "air bearing" that you may be referring to was for the platter on the plinth, and found only on some of their very top-line models. The bearing in the motor, for which I describe a fix, is a straightforward DC motor with a traditional sintered bronze bushing.