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Help! Tweaking My Lovan Rack for new Big A**ed Transrotor Turntable!

Folks, some input would be mighty appreciated.

I’ve been using a hand-me-down (though very nice!) Micro Seiki dd-40 turntable for a number of years and finally got the upgrade itch (it helps the upgrade itch when your cartridge is going on 30 years old, and sounding like it!).

I went down the rabbit hole and picked up a Transrotor Fat Bob S turntable, with an Acoustic Solid 12" arm and a Benz Micro Ebony cartridge. All with only about 30 hours of use at a great price. Yay!

Though I have considered getting rid of my old Lovan Classic rack for a new custom jobby, I’m pretty much spent out and I think I’ll have to make do for now, working with the Lovan.

The Fat Bob turntable is 55 lbs of solid aluminum and built like Thor’s hammer.

I figure this will finally get me to fill my Lovan stands for a bit more rigidity - probably with rice. The stand is the old 3 legged triangular shaped bass, which means the thin MDF shelves can feel like they sit sort of precariously on top. But the stand itself feels quite solid.

I want to incorporate a wood platform base, as many do, because I really love the look of a nice wood slab.

At first I thought maybe I’d have 3 spikes drilled in to the bottom corners of the wood base to directly couple it to the rest of the Lovan frame, vs resting it on the top mdf shelf. But I’m not sure that’s really necessary. And I’d like to incorporate some isolation as well, I think. So I’m thinking of just laying it on the top shelf, with something in between.

My first thought is to place a Symposium Segue shelf between the top of the Lovan shelf and the wood base.

Other than that...I’m flummoxed as to all the other choices...roller blocks? Symposium Fat Padz? Vibrapods? Herbie’s Tendersoft footers? Voo-Doo Isopods?  What should I put between the wood platform base and my Lovan shelf?

Any comments of suggestions on the direction I’m going?

Thanks!

(BTW, I’m an resolutely NOT a DIY/Handy-man type, so I’m not trying to go to heroic efforts, wishing this to be as painless as possible).
prof
prof OP
3,486 posts
 
First, thanks for the previous replies.

Ok, so my buddy came over today to re-set the cartridge and check it out.

It seems like the cartridge is ok, thank goodness.

Though after re-aligning it the sound changed. Before the cartridge was knocked askew I had been trying to decide if I like the impedance set at 100 or 250 Ohm (my phono stage makes the switch easy from the front panel). 100 Ohm sounded darker, wetter, richer and more relaxed, 250 Ohm sounded brighter, punchier, a bit more accurate and "real" in some ways.

But after the re-set of the cartridge today, that changed. Now the 100 Ohm setting sounds like the 250 Ohm did, and I have to knock it down to 33 Ohms to get it to sound like it did before at 100 Ohms.

Turntables. So puzzling.
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
@prof sounds to me as if the VTA changed between old set up and new, likely it's a little higher than it was before. Alternatively the bump could have affected the suspension such that for the same tonearm alignment the VTA is different -- suspensions do settle over time so that's nothing to worry about, as long as you can dial it in so it works for you
prof OP
3,486 posts
 
Thanks folkfreak.

It's hard not to be paranoid. Every time I hear something I may not like I'll be left wondering "is this how the turntable/cartridge sounds...or is this an artifact of the cartridge having been damaged subtly?"
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
2,079 posts
 
Believe me, I've been there before with the "does it sound different tonight because I messed it up?" cartridge paranoia. It's all in our heads. Do experiment with the VTA though; good suggestion on that. And yes, loading can have a big impact on the overall hardness vs. softness of sound. Welcome to vinyl!

Sorry to give a needless scare when I thought it was your cantilever that got knocked loose. Sounds like you got lucky and everything is fine; happy weekend listening!
prof OP
3,486 posts
 
Thank again.  Question though:

I find the sound coming from this Transrotor/Micro Benz cartridge to be in most ways remarkable - dead silent background, utter clarity, smooth, punchy etc.  The ONE thing that has me hesitating to fall in love with it is a persistent sense of "thinness" to the sound.  Like there is some scoop out somewhere in the midrange that makes things sound smaller and thinner.  It's a persistent tonal signature and it reminds me of a custom built tube amp I once had that had the exactly the same sound.  This was the case also in the brief time I had listening to it before the cartridge was knocked.

The Micro Seiki turntable with an old cartridge the Transrotor replaced had the opposite sound.  Bigger, fuller, more lush than my digital sources.

Any suggestions?  Is this possibly a VTA thing?  (My VTA apparently looks fine to my pal who re-set the cartridge).  Any other suggestions?
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