New Townshend Rock 7 owner

An example of a lp I listened to this morning:

Elliot Smith "S/T"  This is a digital recording. Without any clamp it sounded too forward and/or bright in the upper frequencies. I listened again with the metal clamp. All of the dynamic extension is still there but still a little too forward/bright again. The acrylic clamp sounded , in this particular case, more analog in nature although it dampened the ultimate dynamic extension. The acrylic in this case is my favorite.

The perfect solution would be to have had this recording in all analog if it would had been possible. So we cope and deal with what we're given.

Hi All,

It's been a while since I looked at this thread... Slaw, you are a posting maniac! Thanks everyone for keeping it alive with your enthusiasm. Especially now, I feel so fortunate to have purchased a Rock 7 when I did. Even with Max's manufacturing tolerances being a little loose at times –– as in, the platter not being as true as possible (witnessed by looking at its vertical side surface while spinning, there is a small but noticeable wobble)... and yes, the leveling issues... and whatever else –– I'm over it all –– I just don't spend any more time and energy on that stuff (even though I enjoy the process) because my front end sounds so freakin' good it brings tears to my eyes. A music-loving friend, who knows acoustics and happens to be the architect who designed the Paris Opera House, also cried when listening to this system… saying: "you’ve ruined me, I can’t ever listen to my stereo again!” He then got up and hugged one of my speakers!

So that said, as one who is done tweaking for a while, I’m going to try and list every upgrade I made to the Rock 7 and note the impact it made on the sound of my system:

Upgrades:
~ Replaced stock motor with the TA Merlin-3 motor and DC-ish power supply –– snapped the timing into focus... everything before this upgrade now sounds blurry, which is hard to believe until you hear it.
~ 6-foot XLR motor extension cable –– moving the power supply away from the TT and electronics eliminated a low hum and blackened the background even more.
~ Took off the little nubs and put a thin cutout of Sorbathane under the round plate with the three depressions that goes beneath the motor, which further increased speed stability.
~ Replaced the stock belt with Mark Baker’s Origin Live belt… I was speechless and couldn’t believe I didn’t know about this upgrade beforehand. Made everything sound better… really.
~ Installed Phoenix Engineering’s RoadRunner Tachometer for a reality check on speed stability… it's really good to 3 decimal points (33.333) and fun to watch!
~ Replaced the already upgraded Excalibur 3 arm with the Helius Omega… wow, silky smooth and even more presence and inner detail.
~ Upgraded the awesome Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (which I re-installed on an Alphason 100s-MCS arm on my rare Alphason Sonata TT) to the Kiseki Purpleheart NS, which is even more awesome and a huge bargain at $3400 since it sounds like a $10K cartridge. The combo with the Helius arm and R7 is amazing and can definitely handle cartridges more expensive than itself and show what the best carts can really do and why they cost so much.
~ Got a custom-made acrylic cover –– you don’t want dust in your silicone.

There. Done. This of course, is only at the TT level... upgrades abound at every step down the signal path to the speakers, room, my ears… and finally, my very emotional response to beautiful music. Which, of course, makes it all worthwhile.

Cheers,
Alón

alonski,

Well, as you read, I have a problem. That is my passion for music reproduced well in my home. I know my style may turn some off but I thought it may be interesting to post my (live) experience. I hope some can appreciate it.

Regarding the Origin Live belt... does your TA motor use a flat belt like my motor w/ Merlin power supply?

The Phoenix Tachometer.....would it be in any way superior to my Sutherland Timeline just to "check on speed stability"?

My tt package included a Gingko cover, it's nice but not necessary. I would not have spent $400 on it myself.

This is my initial response, I will re-read your post again. Thank you for responding.

...regarding the less than stellar machining of the platter... since the sub-platter is machined to a higher tolerance and the belt rides on this, the main record platter doesn't have as much of a significance in terms of speed stability.

Slaw,

Please don't misunderstand... I was commending you, not criticizing!  "Posting maniac" was supposed to be a compliment and a nod to your excitement, – sorry I didn't deliver that too well in my response…

In answer to your questions:

Yes, the Origin Live belt is flat, like the one that comes with the Merlin upgrade. I remember the stock motor belt was round, right?

The Phoenix Tachometer is fun and accurate. it does not adjust the speed, just monitors it. Seeing platter speed to three decimal points is exciting to me, because I can get it to stay on 33.333 RPM for a few seconds and then moves up to 33.338 or down to 33.327 which shows great speed stability. Then, I put the stylus in the groove and I can see “Stylus Drag” in action, dropping the speed down a few clicks. What’s cool about that is that Stylus Drag changes depending on what music you’re playing! Big orchestral movements slow the platter down the most and soft, one-instrument etudes much less. Once, just for fun, I experimented with finely adjusting speed back to 33.333 or a close as I could get for each track on an album side (which is the epitome of crazy) and I’m happy to say that thankfully, I could not hear the difference. Now I just adjust speed if need be at the very beginning of a side and just listen to the music.

I din’t pay nearly that much for my beautiful acrylic dust cover! Mine was custom-made to my specs for around $200. Now if only I could remember who made it…

Regarding the platter, yes you’re right, it doesn’t directly affect the speed… I just have a thing for manufacturing tolerances. Visible wobble is bad. Not being able to tell from a few feet away that the platter is spinning, is good.

Keep enjoying enjoying our little analog secret!

Alón