2020 update : JC Verdier La Platine

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).

@mr_gray 

Great news - now you are hearing the Verdier as it is intended.

Not an expert but I did read that exposure to very high heat can demagnetise magnets.

You should keep the originals - investigate if you can get them re-magnetised.

@dover thankyou - yes i do feel / hear that difference i think.  i have been fettling to wit:

i've got the motor off these soft absorption pads i had it on.  now flat on credenza top.  also i put the la platine on cms footers (i.e. defeated the feet).  i am using thread.  the motor is very close.  shaknspin wow is down to 0.02 RMS.  with the spring feet defeated it adds a certain solidity.  previous i thought this a bit much.  right now with my tonearm setup properly, cart aligned etc it just seems very good.  wide stereo image.  great stability.  great dynamics.  i can hear that the standard feet do better preventing noise coming up into the table (i have a stethoscope for this).  but there is little doubt in my mind it all gets a little "soft".  i mean you can hear it frankly.  it's not bad.  but it just tends to mechanically favour treble and lower volume stuff i think.  what is mind bending is the sheer amount of music in the songs and the total lack of distortion.  i played old favourites and despite not having my best arm/cart/sut combo (or more accurately most expensive arm/cart/sut combo) it has never been better.  

around the corner i expect two different belts to arrive.  actually 3.  one is EPDM from ebay, the other is EPDM from gold ring and then another is the large TRansrotor belt favoured by @mtemur from WBF.  he prefers a belt so i figured it would be good to try it out and it might even help me achieve 45 rpm more easily (my experience is belts do alot better with 45 rpm than string).  33.3 sped stability is now brilliant.  i don't have any issues now that i have mastered motor placement etc.

i was going to try different ball materials but i am now riding above the ball so i don't think i care anymore.  might even try total ball withdrawal.  i do think the denon 103 cart with fr64s arm feels like it was made for this turntable.  the fr64s/103 combo being hyperactive and overreactive and the la platine tending towards the subtle.

one thing to note with my excellent w&f values is that my thread is now at the absolute base of the platter.  i do tend to think this helps.

@mr_gray 

The magnet replacement is really a rarity. Did you replace both the top and bottom magnets? How did you attached the magnets to the aluminum platter? How did you remove the magnets from the platter to begin with? Can you post some pictures? 
 

hi @ledoux1238 yeah it was a big deal for me.  i replaced both.  it just got so easy when i find them online and the post was so quick.  i imagined glue and all sorts of things.  not the case.

the magnets that came in the "collars" had an outer dia of 185 and inner dia of 95 mm (20 mm thick).  the magnets couple to the steel "collars".  to remove the old ones was easier.   less powerful.  somehow i could lever with a cloth and screwdriver and up they would come.  i needed the cloth less i fracture the ferrite.  

installing the new ones which are Y30 ferrite and 180 mm OD and 100 mm ID (20 mm thick) was tricky because very difficult to remove once in the collar.  very strong.  nothing much to grab once they are flat on collar.  i put a magnet in wrong (opposite polarity).  to remove it was very tricky.  i ended up using wideset long handle pliers and a soft cloth.  you just need to get an edge up.  adjusting position also very tricky but very necessary to optimise wobble.  also more powerful magnets made it very tricky to assemble the la platine.  that is putting on top platter assembly, now more powerful magnets will push the bottom assembly out of alignment unless i am very careful.

i have got a factory in china now making me another 2 sets of magnets but these will be Y35 ferrite which is stronger and longer lasting.  i anticipate it will be about 25% stronger and also will have dimensions of 190 mm OD and 89 mm ID so as long as i can get them in, i will really have better magnet coverage in the collar and stronger magnets hence more repulsion in aggregate.

it is dubious whether more repulsion will do anything good for me.  i mean alot of people run the platter just resting on the ball so does it matter if there is a 1 mm gap versus a 10 mm gap versus 20 mm?  i guess the way i see it is i don't anticipate an impact on stability from less bearing being in top platter assembly but i think we could have less noise and less friction.