"Mosin had posted something about a new concept about the idler's assembly or something like that. Mosin ...?...If you read this, can you tell us more about it?" ...As1715
Well,
At the outset of this project around two years ago, I e-mailed Jean with a few bizarre ideas. Then, I made some changes, so I e-mailed him again to tell him that I would retain the "Soul of a Lenco" with enough left that an observer could tell what it was. That was a thousand changes ago. Now, it is finished to the point that I have made a trial run to check its operation. All that remains to be done is the finish, and that is driving me nuts. Only recently did I come to realize that a Steinway is worth every cent simply because piano black is extremely labor intensive. Once that is finished, the turntable will be completed.
That, and the final ingredient which is the idler assembly. I saw a jpeg of it from my friend, InDaGroove, last night. He is a wonderful machinist who made a Schroeder Reference clone that some of you may have seen over at Vinyl Asylum. Anyway, I presented him with an alternate design for the Lenco idler, but he had a better idea, so I scrapped mine. Instead, I went about refining his idea, and it will probably be finished in a day or two. All I will say now is that it is one of those obvious ideas of the "Why didn't I think of that?" variety. I must reluctantly give credit to him for it, but hey, I am supervisor of the project, right? ;) You'll see it soon. I promise that there has never been an idler like it on any make of turntable ever. Best of all, it will be noise free. It is different for sure, but it weighs approximately the same as the standard aluminum Lenco idler. ( The overall weight of the turntable is approximately fifty pounds.) InDaGroove didn't know what an idler turntable was until I explained the mechanism to him. It just goes to show that sometimes a pair of fresh eyes are good to have. I lucked out, and found the perfect pair.
The rest of the turntable does retain the Lenco's soul, but one cannot tell simply by looking at it. It is a single speed design that can be fine tuned, and the linkage has been radically changed, as has the one remaining control. The topplate is history, and VTA issues are a thing of the past, as are resonance issues associated with the top plate. Ringing of the platter has also been corrected. Only idler magic remains, and virtually everything that typically applies to past Lenco modding is not implemented. It is that radical. It does have a single whimsical touch because nothing should take itself that seriously, not even a Lenco.
Hopefully, you guys will see it in a few weeks, maybe in as few as two.
My next project is underway. It is a string driven Rek-O-Kut that employs the Papst Aussenlaufer motor. This three phase design will have precision OCXO control, and each phase of power will be regenerated by stereo channels. A frequency PCB will feed the amps which power the motor. Imagine three very small PS Audio Power Plants with variable speed control. It will be interesting to see how this one rates against the Lenco. Expansive design isn't the order of the day with it, aside from the power supply, so maybe we will be able to find out in a reasonable timeframe. Mark Kelly is designing the circuitry now, and early tests have been successful.
Well,
At the outset of this project around two years ago, I e-mailed Jean with a few bizarre ideas. Then, I made some changes, so I e-mailed him again to tell him that I would retain the "Soul of a Lenco" with enough left that an observer could tell what it was. That was a thousand changes ago. Now, it is finished to the point that I have made a trial run to check its operation. All that remains to be done is the finish, and that is driving me nuts. Only recently did I come to realize that a Steinway is worth every cent simply because piano black is extremely labor intensive. Once that is finished, the turntable will be completed.
That, and the final ingredient which is the idler assembly. I saw a jpeg of it from my friend, InDaGroove, last night. He is a wonderful machinist who made a Schroeder Reference clone that some of you may have seen over at Vinyl Asylum. Anyway, I presented him with an alternate design for the Lenco idler, but he had a better idea, so I scrapped mine. Instead, I went about refining his idea, and it will probably be finished in a day or two. All I will say now is that it is one of those obvious ideas of the "Why didn't I think of that?" variety. I must reluctantly give credit to him for it, but hey, I am supervisor of the project, right? ;) You'll see it soon. I promise that there has never been an idler like it on any make of turntable ever. Best of all, it will be noise free. It is different for sure, but it weighs approximately the same as the standard aluminum Lenco idler. ( The overall weight of the turntable is approximately fifty pounds.) InDaGroove didn't know what an idler turntable was until I explained the mechanism to him. It just goes to show that sometimes a pair of fresh eyes are good to have. I lucked out, and found the perfect pair.
The rest of the turntable does retain the Lenco's soul, but one cannot tell simply by looking at it. It is a single speed design that can be fine tuned, and the linkage has been radically changed, as has the one remaining control. The topplate is history, and VTA issues are a thing of the past, as are resonance issues associated with the top plate. Ringing of the platter has also been corrected. Only idler magic remains, and virtually everything that typically applies to past Lenco modding is not implemented. It is that radical. It does have a single whimsical touch because nothing should take itself that seriously, not even a Lenco.
Hopefully, you guys will see it in a few weeks, maybe in as few as two.
My next project is underway. It is a string driven Rek-O-Kut that employs the Papst Aussenlaufer motor. This three phase design will have precision OCXO control, and each phase of power will be regenerated by stereo channels. A frequency PCB will feed the amps which power the motor. Imagine three very small PS Audio Power Plants with variable speed control. It will be interesting to see how this one rates against the Lenco. Expansive design isn't the order of the day with it, aside from the power supply, so maybe we will be able to find out in a reasonable timeframe. Mark Kelly is designing the circuitry now, and early tests have been successful.