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Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

“For those who want the moon but can't afford it or those who can afford it but like to have fun and work with their hands, I'm willing to give out a recipe for a true high-end 'table which is easy to do, and fun to make as sky's the limit on design/creativity! The cost of materials, including 'table, is roughly $200 (depending, more or less), and add to that a Rega tonearm. The results are astonishing. I'll even tell/show you how to make chipboard look like marble and fool and impress all your friends. If there's interest I'll get on with this project, if not, I'll just continue making them in my basement. The next one I make will have a Corian top and have a zebra stripe pattern! Fun! Any takers?”

The Lead in “Da Thread” as posted by Johnnantais - 2-01-04

Let the saga continue. Sail on, oh ships of Lenco!
mario_b
peter_w
13 posts
 
G'day Folks
I don't get this rumble business. Even when I played my totally unmodified L78 after it lay in the garage collecting dust for years and with no oil in the bearing the rumble was not that bad, far less objectionable than the earth loop hum I was getting.
A liberal drop of Mobil 1 full synthetic (the motorbike version) and the rumble was banished never to return.
I mostly listen at very low levels where any background noise is going to be emphasised but I get - nothing. Just a silken, quite gorgeous quiet.
For those interested the rather protracted saga of the Lenco MultiArm Plinth has had its final posting in the All Out Assault forum. Doesn't seem like that much work now that it's finished! Not that I'll be hurrying to do another one - there's some bloody big backloaded horns to build to bring out the most from the mighty Lenco.
Here we go again.
frankhertz
6 posts
 
Lewn, I am using a LOMC, a Denon DL304 with an stated ouput of 0.18 mv on my L78. It feeds into an Denon SUT and I hear no rumble. My plinth is a layered one but not super heavy. I have not direct coupled but have damped the metal. I have greased the bottom and lightly oiled the sides of the bearing but have not touched the motor. Extraneous bits of metal and plastic have been removed from the workings and the springs have been replaced with elastics. One day I may get to the remaining tweaks. Or maybe not. I am really enjoying the music I get from my system now.
Harry
etch
10 posts
 
Lewm,

You should get terrific results from a low output MC, I've used them exclusively on my Lenco and I highly recommend them, especially the 103. The step-up is important and for that you should try to find some beyer dynamic trasformers (Jensen) they are the prefect ratio for the 103 and it makes for an amzing step up. Do a google on mic transformers as step ups to read up on it, in fact, here is the JE Labs page :

http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/mic-mcstep-up.htm
lewm
13,143 posts
 
Thanks, Etch and Frankhertz. Don't need no stinkin' step-up, because I just finished modifying my phono stage for more gain, and it's working great driven by my Koetsu Urushi. (Seriously, if I did require a step-up, the Jensen would be my first choice, too.) My motive in asking about LOMCs was simply that I perceived that most folks who have Lencos seemed to be using high-ish output cartridges, and I wondered if there was a reason for avoiding LOMCs. But my generalization was inaccurate, because I've had some private responses that indicate lots of Lenco users are using Denon 103s, and the like, as you two also suggest. Onward and upward.
stefanl
296 posts
 
I went from using a Denon 103 on a Lenco to a humble Ortofon VMS 20 moving iron type and I found that I did not really lose anything over the Denon.The Denon actually seems overly analytical by comparison as the Ortofon seems to grasp the gist of the music and on some records blows the Denon away.I am greatly enamoured of the moving-iron type of cartridge at the moment and am thinking of trying one of the Grado's.
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