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TriPlanar Tips

The manual that comes with the TriPlanar Mk VII tonearm is fairly complete, but there are a few things I’ve learned only by living with the arm. Note: I do not know which if any of these would apply to previous versions of the arm. My only experience is with the Mk VII.

1. NEVER raise the cueing lever while the arm is locked in the arm rest. This pressures the damping cylinder and could cause a silicone leak. For this reason and also for safety, whenever the arm is in the arm rest the cueing lever should be DOWN. This is backwards from most arms and takes some getting used to.

2. If your Tri-Planar doesn't cue straight down there's a quick fix, which may be included on some new arms. The problem is insufficient friction between the arm tube and the hard rubber cueing support bar. Just glue a bit of thin sandpaper to the underside of the arm tube. Make it big enough and position it so it hits the cueing support bar at all points across the arm’s arc. (Note: after doing this you will need to adjust the cueing height, see Tip #3.)

3. When adjusting cueing height (instructions are in the manual) always do so with the arm in the UP position. This adjustment is VERY touchy, since the cueing support bar is so close to the pivot. Be patient and be careful of your cartridge. (Note: after doing this you may need to adjust the anti-skate initiation point, see Tip #4.)

Chris Brady of Teres told me of a way to improve cueing even more by re-shaping the cueing support. Moving the cueing support point farther from the pivot improves its mechanical advantage and makes the cueing height and speed adjustments less touchy. This mod is easier than it sounds and requires only a length of coat hanger (!), but I don’t have pix and haven’t yet done it myself.

4. Changing the cueing height affects the point where anti-skate kicks in. (Yes, it's weird.) Once cueing height is satisfactory, adjust the short pin that sticks out of the front of the cueing frame. That pin controls where the anti-skate dogleg first engages the knot on the string.

5. The Tri-Planar comes with three counterweight donuts of differing masses. Many cartridges can be balanced using either of two. The arm usually tracks best with the heaviest donut that will work, mounted closer to the pivot. Of course this also reduces effective mass, which may or may not be sonically desirable depending on the cartridge. It also leaves more room for Tip #6.

6. For fine VTF adjustments don’t futz with the counterweight, there’s an easier way. Set the counterweight for the highest VTF you think you’ll need (ie, close to the pivot). Pick up some 1/4" I.D. O-rings from Home Depot. To reduce VTF a bit just slip an O-ring or two on the end stub. Thin O-rings reduce VTF by .01-.02g, thick ones by .04-.05g. Quick, cheap, effective. (For safety, always lock the arm down while adding or removing O-rings.)

7. When adjusting VTA, always bring the pointer to the setting you want by turning it counter-clockwise at least ¼ of a turn. This brings the arm UP to the spot you've selected, which takes up the slop in the threads. You can easily feel this happening.

Hope someone finds these useful. If you know any more, please bring ‘em on!
dougdeacon
paperw8
165 posts
 
As to suggestion #6:


6. For fine VTF adjustments don’t futz with the counterweight, there’s an easier way. Set the counterweight for the highest VTF you think you’ll need (ie, close to the pivot). Pick up some 1/4" I.D. O-rings from Home Depot. To reduce VTF a bit just slip an O-ring or two on the end stub. Thin O-rings reduce VTF by .01-.02g, thick ones by .04-.05g. Quick, cheap, effective. (For safety, always lock the arm down while adding or removing O-rings.)

I don't understand why you are using o-rings when it is easy enough to use the counterweight system to make fine VTF adjustments. You should have a small weight that screws into the end of the tonearm. The way to make fine VTF adjustments is to unscrew the small weight when you want to decrease VTF and screw in the small weight when you want to increase VTF. I haven't had any difficulty making fine VTF adjustments using this technique, and it seems easier to me than slipping on (and off) o-rings.
paperw8
165 posts
 

12-06-09: Thom_mackris
Yes, you have to unmount the arm to remove the trough, and yes you want to remove the support bar. The idea is to eliminate a vibrating tuning fork. You'll be removing two small, straight slotted jewelers' screws.

From my perspective, I would say that this idea of taking apart the tonearm to remove the trough is very inadvisable. First, the trough and support bar are VERY rigid. Second, to test my intuitions, I did an experiment in which I tapped on the trough with a screwdriver to test for resonances. There were none. The trough and support bar is no tuning fork.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
Paperw8:

interesting test. i can whack parts of the arm support with a finger tap and hear it. so i am suprised your test didn't result in something. was the needle in the groove or just stationary in the resting position?

with my grand prix table i was able to remove the trough with out removing the arm. it's a instant change for the better. i won't be going back...but that's my arm on my table, i am sure there is a possibility of things turning out different for others...

good luck !
paperw8
165 posts
 
Jfrech:

When I tap on the trough, I hear a *sound* but a sound is not necessarily a resonance. The sound that I hear when I tap on the trough quickly dissipates. Now, you can impart a lot more energy upon a tonearm part with your finger (or a screwdriver) than can ambient sound energy from your speakers. So, what that means is, when resonance is lacking, sound energy has no chance of having any impact on the sonic performance of the tonearm.

Resonances are something different. What is different about a resonance, and why resonances are such a problem, is that when a resonance exists, sound energy is trapped within the object, which then becomes a source for additional sound propagation. In effect, sound energy that enters the object tends to stick around for a lot longer. That's why the tone that you hear from a tuning fork hangs around so long - it's because of the resonance at the tuned frequency of the tuning fork. On the other hand, other frequencies tend to get wiped out rather quickly, so that's why you don't hear them.

I can't, and don't, comment on what people think they are hearing. For example, I will not tell you that you aren't hearing what you say you are hearing. I simply lack sufficient information to make such a statement. The question that I ask myself is: "is there an explanation that is based in sound physics or electronics reasoning that explains what people say they are observing?"
dougdeacon OP
3,338 posts
 
Paperw8,

The small, threaded VTF weight at the end of the stub only arrived with the TriPlanar VII U ("U" stands for updated). Previous versions of the arm lacked that feature. As I expressly stated in my original post, these tips are for the TriPlanar VII. Their applicability to other versions is untested, but #6 obviously does not apply to the VII U.

FWIW, the publication of suggestion #6 here is what inspired Tri-Mai to add that small, threaded VTF weight. You apparently got one and your gratitude is duly noted! ;-)

***

As for theoretical arguments that the damping trough is quite rigid and "shouldn't" need to be removed, I'll refer you to the dozens of owners who've actually tried it. Not one has failed to hear improvements such as I described.

Whether you choose to try it yourself or not is up to you of course, but theoretical objections won't convince anyone who's actually heard the difference.
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