townsend rock reference mkv

Uktel, maybe the offset mini-counterweight idea is work-able for you. I've never tried a Graham arm on the Rocks I have so I didn't have an immediate comment but I checked my notebook and made another post about this subject. What cartridge is working so well in your current Graham/Rock set-up and what tracking force are you using? Good luck

Hi Desktop
The graham phantom is quite unlike any other unipivot arm i have used including previous graham arms.
In fact I do tend to find that in use i actually forget it is a unipivot at all!
To mount it on the rock was no simple task either.
I ended up having to use 4 spacers under the armmount because the vta pillar was fouling the plinth.
At the moment i am using a heavily modded koetsu onyx and also have a jan allaerts mc1b mk2.
The results i am getting are IMHO spectacular and i have not had to do any meddling with setup for different records other than vta [if you have it why not use it?].
I track the koetsu at 1.85 grams.
I have not tried the JA yet but have had great results on the phantom previously at 2 grams on other decks.
I didn't however get to do an A/B comparison with my carts between phantom and excalibur so i cannot tell you any more on that particular subject
But to my ears they are both great tonearms on the rock.
All the best
Terry

Hello All,
While working for the Dept.Of The ARmy in Germany, I had the opportunity to purchase an Elite Rock Turntable with Excalabur Tonearm. This was in 1987. I went to visit a small audio shop in England and purchased the Rock used for USA $5690. Early on Max Townsend was the go-to person for bearing fluid, belts, etc. After a while he disappeared. Now I need bearing, trough fluid and a belt, but don't know where to obtain these items now.

Needless to say the Rock turntable has performed flawlessly without a whimper. In my humble opinion, it was/is still one of the very best turntables around today. I don't see a need to buy anything else. And by the way, the Excalabur tonearm is excellent and can handle most of the new moving coils.

In particular, I was elated to see the post from Albert who actually worked with Max T for a while. I am also delighted to hear from and know that there are others who use the Rock TT even now.

Here are my present concerns:

Are there any upgrades for the early Elite Rock TT?
Where can I obtain trough and bearing fluids?
Where can I get a belt for this marvolous TT?
Finally, my turntable has an outrigger transformer that controls the TT speed. Can this be updated or removed entirely and replaced?

Thanks again for everyone who contributed posts regarding the Rock Turntables. I applaud you and would love hearing from each of you.