Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Hi Mike, sorry, my digital camera was destroyed by a grain of sand (while my '70s Nikon FM falls off of speeding motorcycles with nary an effect) during my travels. The Heavy Metal Decca can be recognized by its "futuristic-looking" headshell, sloped with holes drilled out of it to minimize mass, somewhat like the Hadcock headshells. The pillar also sports a cylindrical bubble-level as opposed to the circular one of the more common plastic one. The main pillar is much longer and made of steel, and the cable is detachable 5-pin DIN with a heavy-duty spring-collet. Finally, the counterweight is also drilled out with two holes through is and is assymmetrical so it can be used to correct/balance azimuth.

I had always thought the Ikedas were more expensive, but with the new expensive models and the rise in prices, the Ikedas may be becoming a bargain. It would be great to hear one on a Lenco/JMW combo!!

I'm about to test out a new Garrard 401/SME V combo to see how it fares against a Lenco/Dynavector 507 MKII/Dyna 17D MKIII. In my experience so far, it seems the 401 is actually superior to the far more expensive Garrard 301 grease-bearing (we're not talking a Crushing, but instead a matter of slightly more Lenco-like fluidity) we'll see what happens in further testing.

On the subject of the Technics SP-10 MKII and quartz-locking, Technics' SP-10 MKI was servo-controlled, and I would LOVE to get my hands on one of these! Nevertheless, the main bearing of the Sony 2250/2251 is about the best I've ever come across (about as good as the superb Roksan main bearings), far better than that on other DDs or indeed anything else at all I've tested, which might give it some important advantage, not to mention OF COURSE its Direct Coupling-friendliness. We'll see how it fares in testing against other DDs with time. As always, careful application of Direct Coupling and high mass, and reliance on one's ears and against prejudice in all its forms (i.e. the penchant to automatically assume that expensive exotic materials sound better than the tried-and-true utterly tonally neutral and dynamically monstrous Russian birch-ply/MDF recipe; the penchant to again equate price-tag with final results - i/e/ EMT better than anything, Garrard better than Lenco, Unobtainium better than Obtainium etc. - in fact all forms of Audio-as-Status; and various forms of axe-grinding which do nothing but continue to muddy the waters and slow down actual progress and honest discoveries, and so on and so forth Ad Infitinitum and especially Ad Nauseum) will lead to true progress in design and results, both for the DIYer and in the industry.

As George on Cyprus was always fond of saying, engineering is about engineering TO A PRICE, which is to say, that if it takes $100K to match via, say, Oh, it's on the tip of my tongue...yes!, a Belt-Drive!, a MUCH cheaper idler-wheel drive (and even DD, which at $20K or perhaps much less - given the riddance of expensive circuitry/bandaid - should be able to outperform, correctly designed, a $100K Belt-Drive), then the Belt-Drive design is ultimately an engineering FAILURE. Similarly, as I've often written, if a steam-driven automobile can be made to match the top speed of a combustion engine, but it will weigh 100 tons (several obscenely-priced high-mass belt-drives come to mind) and cost $100,000,000, then it is, quite simply, the inferior system. Until the DD is done correctly, the jury's out on whether or not it can be made to match the superb results of a Giant Direct Coupled and carefully-restored/rebuilt/tuned idler-wheel drive, which relies on pure analogue speed stability rather than tricksy electronic bandaids to achieve speed stability which does not offend the human ear/brain. Of course, as opportunities arise (any of these DD legends materialize in my greedy hands), you can rely on me to faithfully and honestly report on actual results. The Lenco and the Sony are both a HUGE wake-up call on what's important in vinyl playback, the Lenco because it slays pretty well anything on the planet, the Sony because it demonstrates the audibility of quartz-locking/sampling frequencies to maintain speed stability (ditto the analogue Lenco).

Finally, don't forget the Uber Directive all, have fun!! So, a 'table with superior PRaT and liveliness is ALWAYS better than a 'table which majors on analysis at the expoense of the MUSIC (which should, it goes without saying, be musical, anything less being a severe colouration/flaw), and so kills the music. Not that State of the Art results in terms of detail and so forth cannot be achieved with a trusty old idler-wheel drive ;-). Have fun all, and have a good weekend! Now, to mount that Black Widow and see how the AKG P8ES fares....:-).

Thanks - Jean. I think I'll sand on my GIANT #2 tomorrow. You know what I mean :)

MIke

Hi Mike, how's your new Giant Lenco coming along? Out here in the country I've been busy with some experimentation and preparing for and then enjoying the local winter carnival, which involved lots of horses and lots of beer!

I had wanted to mount the Black Widow, but it turns out it was a casualty of my last move. So I rewired an NOS Sonus tonearm instead, using a Giant Lenco as platform, the Sonus being a very low-mass version of the Mayware unipivot, and mounted both an AKG P8ES and a Grado Master. The Sonus, with the Grado mounted to it, seems to equal the VPI JMW tonearm with the Grado, and so by extension with MMs, which is great news for audiophiles on a budget! But the JMW's abilities with MCs gives it the overall edge in performance when it's matched with the amazing Ortofon Jubilee cartridge. As I wrote before, the JMW seems to bring otherwise analytical MCs into MM territory for gestalt and PRaT, so that the JMW/Ortofon Jubilee matches the erstwhile unmatcheable Grado for these two specific qualities while drawing ahead in every other area, excepting perhaps the Grado Woodies' way with acoustic instruments/resonances of natural materials (i.e. wood, lacquer, strings).

Of course, more listening is required to pin down these elusive qualities with respect to the JMW/Jubilee vs Sonus/MM. Right now, I have the Master mounted on the JMW, which sounds excellent and comfortable and intensely "together", as Grados do, and so I'm in no hurry to go back to the more detailed Orotfon for now.

I have to sing the praises of the Jubilee however, which is a true contender for State of the Art in terms of detail and other traditional MC strengths, which most agree is currently the Bass Master (in terms of reach, detail, all sorts of low frequency information, etc.), and which matches the Denon DL-103 for overall excitement and musicality and, when mounted on the JMW, also matches MMs for PRaT and gestalt. So good is the JMW/Jubilee match, in fact, that I'm having trouble finding a combo for the second tonearm board (my Lenco is a two-tonearm Lenco) which can provide a viable alternative! The Jubilee is ten times the price of the venerable Denon however; but its stylus is said to last 5000 hours as opposed to the Denon's 600-800 hours, and it is superior in perhaps every area. I will have to next mount my special Denon DL-103E on the JMW and see how it stacks up in a head-to-head, lots of comparison fun!! I'm thinking of drilling out the tapped RS-A1 bolt-holes so I can mount threaded cartrdiges like the Jubilee and the Grado Woodies to it as well. More reports of the AKG P8ES on the way as well, on both the Sonus and the JMW. Be bringing in the Rega RB-250 soon too, and I hope also the Transcriptors Vestigal! Throw in the Piezo YM-308 MKII as well for fun, and at some point the Pickering TL-2S currently being promoted by Dopogue and sweeping the world according to all reports. I've been a BIG fan of the Pickerings for a long time now (I remember the stellar peformance of their stereohedron models, and the excellent neutrality of the XV-15/625E), and look forward to trying out this new discovery by Dopogue, being I think a current model.

And let's not forget as well the MAS 282 tonearm, which had me convulsing under the spell of the Kundalini Effect a while back, when matched to the Grados: astounding gestalt, bass, SLAM and musical excitement (provided the crappy tonearm cable is replaced with something better, like the Audio Technica tonearm cables which come with their vintage tonearms and which are superb). Can't wait to start all this experimentation and comparison, things will be getting quieter for now and so I'll have time, as well as finally getting around to building the Reinderspeter steel top-plate version of the Lenco, for even greater performance, already mind-boggling due to the Mighty Idler-Wheel technology!!

Have fun all with your own respective match-ups, I look forward to reading about more fortuitous matches and combinations!

Hey Jean. Had a productive weekend. I put Giant #2 back on the workbench and filled some small holes and ran some tests to tint the top black to contrast with the G99 that I epoxy painted white. Next task is to make a template and cutout the arm boards.

Also started rewiring the Sonus MKIV arm. It hasn’t been too bad to deal with – just have to hook up the output cables to the Cardas wire and put it back together.

TIP: for stripping thin tonearm-like wire, Radio Shack makes a wonderful tool. Wire-Wrapping Tool Model: 276-1570 looks like a jeweler’s screwdriver but has sweet little wire stripping tool concealed in the handle. It is for stripping very thin wire - it made stripping the Cardas tonearm wire – literally - a 1 minute job. I once made a set of speaker cables (8 strands ea) out of 30ga. kynar wire wrap wire and didn’t know about this tool – it would have made it a breeze – as opposed to the torture that it was.

Finally a TWEAK-O-Gram from your pal (Me)... Have youse seen those ridiculous contraptions that claim to degauss CD’s (and now even LP’s) for supposedly better sound? Well, a couple of week ago I just happened see an old audio tape degausser for $10 on eBay, so I bought it on a whim. “Hummmm.... I says, if no one bids on this here thing, I’ll see if there’s anything to them claims”. So’s – yesterday and again this morning I listens to a CD and I immediately go degauss it and put it back in the player. The fairly obvious effect was that the soundstage was taller and wider and there seemed to be greater bass dynamics and improved detail. For $10, what’s to worry?

Mike

Hi Mike, thanks for the tweak suggestions. Pierre, the designer/builder of my 100-watt SS amp, had once very convincingly demonstrated the effects of the degaussing tweak, but these machines were no longer available (I think sold by Monarchy at the time), great to know there's a cheap and available alternative! Thanks as well for the tip on the Rat Shack tool, I'll look for it.

On the tonearm/cartridge front, more news: in fact, none of the vintage tonearms I've tried match the JMW, Morch or RS-A1 tonearms, due principally, I believe, to the suppression of internal resonances, and in some cases also the headshell resonances. The Sonus has a flimsy plastic headshell to minimize mass, and no internal damping at all. Nevertheless, the Sonus/Grado Master came close to the JMW/Grado Master, but with other cartridges the gap was rather large, showing that Grados like low mass, regardless of specs. The real advantage of vintage low-mass tonearms (excepting perhaps the lowest-mass Morch) is that they track the most difficult warps with the utmost ease (no momentum to create the ski-jump effect), and so enlarge the collection and reduce problems. They also save on suspension and stylus wear. I won't give up on the Sonus yet though, as I'll try the fab vintage Satin MC (a gorgeous sound like the Grados, but aimed more specifically at stringed instruments) I have on it next to see what's what.

I had tried the Audio Technica ATP-12 tonearm, a superbly well-built higher-mass professional tonearm with no provision for anti-skating (but seems to work perfectly well nevertheless), but better-built overall than either the AT-1009 or AT-1005 MKII. It sounded great with the Ortofon Jubilee (at 10 times the price!) and a variety of other cartridges I tried. But, compared with the JMW 10.5, there was a slight hardness/brightness, those tonearm resonances again. But it came surprisingly close! All this on my new Reference Lenco of course, I'll have tio try the Rega RB-300 and RB-250 tonearms again to see how they measure up in overall performance now that my Reference has reached new heights.

More on the Jubilee: properly set-up - and this means on a large idler-wheel drive with its clear superiority in terms of PRaT, gestalt and SLAM and transient speed to every other system so far (though we're working on optimizing DDs) - it is a stunning high-end cartridge, which at the price (just under $2K) is a steal, considering its competition lies in the <$8K league. The only high-end MC I've heard so far which matches and beats the incredible Denon DL-103 and variants which so far - for musical power and togetherness - have been King of the MC Hill. I had set up the Denon DL-103"E" (retipped by phonophono in Berlin) on the JMW nad was as always seduced by the musical power, intensity, and togetherness. But when I switched back to the Jubilee, there was all that and more, and even more musical power! As always when setting up cartridges and tonearms on belt-drives, a true idea of a given cartridge's character and performance escapes us, as the belt-drives' various speed instabilites - MOST clearly audible in the relative lack of bass when compared with idler-wheel drive, which itself is the simplest and most evident proof of the inability of belt-drives to deal with stylus force drag and so achieve true speed stability (as opposed to bogus/not real-world speed stability reached by cooking the testing books via biased testing) - cause brightness and poor tracking, among other phenomena such as loss of transient speed and timing. Take the Ortofon Jubilee and mount it on a Lenco/JMW and Bingo!-Presto! it becomes a Denon for musical power and togetherness, and as well preserves its leading-class detail, bass and overall clarity. Also, being King of the Hill when it comes to bass, its results in this one area is truly awesome when mounted to an awesome idler-wheel drive!!

Given all that, I'm still experimenting with various viable alternatives to the Mighty JMW/Ortofon Jubilee pairing, and by this I mean equal but different in overall performance and musical effectiveness. I'm hoping either a re-wired Rega RB-250/Grado Master, or the MAS 282/Grado Master pairing will do the trick.

Tomorrow, in a truly scary high-end system, I'll be setting up a Lenco/Dynavector 507 MKII/Dynavector 17D MKIII, for the previous owner of the Oracle Delphi MKIV/SME V/Dyna XX-1 VdH, already handily outperformed by the Giant Direct Coupled Garrard 401/SME/Dyna XX-1. It'll be interesting to see how the two - Lenco and Garrard - sound compared to each other in such a high-calibre system!! The Oracle is already moot :-)!! Have fun all!!