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
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.
Hello all, I am beginning to set up my RX/RY3000. Have a wall shelf (1.5m x .6m) and am debating whether to isolate the whole set up with one unit (eg a vibraplane or similar) OR isolate the motor and the platter base separately (eg by use footers etc. like Raul was suggesting). I was leaning towards the former but see in this thread and others that some people are using the latter OR are they doing both!

The feet on the motor base are solid solid brass pins and seem to me to have no isolating properties at all. Has anybodyt replaced theirs or do they resort to the above isolation measures.

Cam
feet on the motor base are solid solid brass pins and seem to me to have no isolating properties at all. Has anybodyt replaced theirs or do they resort to the above isolation measures.

I did a few experiments with the RY-5500 motor
I used Sorbothane feet below it, but the Bass Performance was gone. Same with springs.
It is the result, that the Motor is nor REALLY stable, a touch of movement which was reflected via Belt to the Platter.There was a change in the Performance, but not to the better. I always went back to stock feet.
I use a Vibraplane below both units. The result is stunning.
Just a note to let everyone know I am extremely gratified the repair instructions were helpful, and I'm even happier it stimulated some discussion about the Micro Seiki turntables--something I'm quite hungry for!

I was lucky enough to find a Micro Seiki HS-80 High Inertia Unit flywheel (now shown on my Virtual System page) and it is an impressive upgrade, improving the bass and apparent size and stability of the soundstage (which was already pretty amazing). The discussion of what to use under the RY-5500 makes me think what I should use for the HS-80, too. This unit had no feet when it arrived, so I had custom ones made and they are beautiful! They work very well, but I do want to research isolation platforms more.

Thanks again to everyone--

Kip