@rooze,
I bought a Lenco 78 about 6 years ago to do the Home Depot thread on Lenco Heaven. After completing my first rebuild of all that Jean Nantais instructs you to do, My Lenco with the 10-layered 100 lb. plinth made of 3/4" birch plywood and MDF in both 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses to vary the resonance with alternating the different materials until I had 10 layers and it was 7" thick--24"W x 20"D. The sound has NO rumble and is quiet as any modern TT. The torque of the Lenco is why it is the king of idlers. Mine also has a copper platter on top of the Lenco platter that eliminates the ringing of the Lenco. It has most all of Jean Nantais' mods and upgrades and some even he doesn't have. I also like the OL arms for convenience of use and their lively sound. I recently bought a used OL Illustrious MK II for under $900 in good shape. It will be a big upgrade in sound. I've had OL Silver II, Trans-Fi Terminator with all the upgrades, and Pete Riggle Woody arms. All were good arms for sound, but the OL was the easiest to keep playing records with. That is why I jumped on the Illustrious when I had the chance. The modified Lenco with the OL Illustrious will be jumping good for dynamics, detail, transparency, and potent bass. By the way, I had VPI Scout, then Classic, Avid Diva II, trying to at least equal the Maplenoll Ariadne air bearing arm/TT in SQ. Nothing did it, until now with the Lenco rebuild and the OL Illustrious--much better dynamically, in live quality of the music, in reliability, and the sound of real live instruments. This is compared to the Ariadne. No contest with the others although they were easier to use and maintain. Now I have the 2-piece chassis from Artisan Fidelity along with their copper platter, and the Walker Precision Motor Controller to keep precise speeds. I was very patient in acquiring all these things and good them at about 40% of the list cost. So even with the Charisma Reference II cartridge (used), I spent under $5000 for all of it. I'd put it up against most any combo in SQ. It did require much work on my part to get there, however. It's not for everybody! But I never did anything like this in my life before and I finally pulled it off with some patience.
The one saying the cartridge is a big jump in performance MAY be right.
Bob
I bought a Lenco 78 about 6 years ago to do the Home Depot thread on Lenco Heaven. After completing my first rebuild of all that Jean Nantais instructs you to do, My Lenco with the 10-layered 100 lb. plinth made of 3/4" birch plywood and MDF in both 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses to vary the resonance with alternating the different materials until I had 10 layers and it was 7" thick--24"W x 20"D. The sound has NO rumble and is quiet as any modern TT. The torque of the Lenco is why it is the king of idlers. Mine also has a copper platter on top of the Lenco platter that eliminates the ringing of the Lenco. It has most all of Jean Nantais' mods and upgrades and some even he doesn't have. I also like the OL arms for convenience of use and their lively sound. I recently bought a used OL Illustrious MK II for under $900 in good shape. It will be a big upgrade in sound. I've had OL Silver II, Trans-Fi Terminator with all the upgrades, and Pete Riggle Woody arms. All were good arms for sound, but the OL was the easiest to keep playing records with. That is why I jumped on the Illustrious when I had the chance. The modified Lenco with the OL Illustrious will be jumping good for dynamics, detail, transparency, and potent bass. By the way, I had VPI Scout, then Classic, Avid Diva II, trying to at least equal the Maplenoll Ariadne air bearing arm/TT in SQ. Nothing did it, until now with the Lenco rebuild and the OL Illustrious--much better dynamically, in live quality of the music, in reliability, and the sound of real live instruments. This is compared to the Ariadne. No contest with the others although they were easier to use and maintain. Now I have the 2-piece chassis from Artisan Fidelity along with their copper platter, and the Walker Precision Motor Controller to keep precise speeds. I was very patient in acquiring all these things and good them at about 40% of the list cost. So even with the Charisma Reference II cartridge (used), I spent under $5000 for all of it. I'd put it up against most any combo in SQ. It did require much work on my part to get there, however. It's not for everybody! But I never did anything like this in my life before and I finally pulled it off with some patience.
The one saying the cartridge is a big jump in performance MAY be right.
Bob