i got some new magnets for the la platine. i thought it would be a tough ask. it was not. a company had in stock 180 mm dia 20 mm thick Y30 magnets (ferrite) with 100 mm dia internal "hole". this made them about 5% smaller kin area than the stock magnets. i wondered if this would be an issue.
the magnets arrived in like 6 working days. from singapre. i bought 2 sets just in case. i don't often handle powerful magnets and it is a bit of a nightmare. i was wary of shattering one of them during install.
as it turned out all was well. the old ones were much easier to remove than the new ones to install. how they got so weak i will never know. is this typical? it doesn't seem to be. i did my best to centre everything as i know the magnet alignment is core to good performance.
Bob's your uncle and the job was done. i've now got a levitating platter. i have it within an oil meniscus of the bearing which i have left in there. it sounds amazing. i do have to say the biggest improvement though has been getting a smartractor and doing a proper setup of tonearm/cart. that change has been staggering (and somewhat embarrassing really).