I cleaned out my bearing as well. For no particular reason other than that Gary made it sound easy--and it was, sort of. My oil was also brown and unsightly. I used Mobil 1 20w-50 motorcycle oil as replacement. One thing to note for those considering doing this is that the screw used to access the bearing is also used to raise and lower the platter. As I found out, the platter needs to be at a particular level to avoid scraping and/or locking. It's not trivial to find the correct level and it's a serious pain to handle the unit and flipping it right side up to check whether one has found the sweet spot.
So: I pantsed a la Halcro my Victor a couple of week's back. Before I did so, I listened intently to 3 album sides and then subsequently compared the differences. I changed nothing else. Like Ecir38, I had suspected that the differences Halcro found were due to his new supporting system and not so much to the absence of the metal cover.
I'm here to report that my suspicions, at least as they pertain to my Victor, are wholly unfounded. With respect to all 3 album sides I used the changes were the same: the character of the instruments including voice became more nuanced (microdynamics?) and impactful (in terms of scale but not loudness, if that makes sense) than they were. I can better hear the music as a whole. For example, the first movement of Mahler's 9th can sound like a convoluted mess if the musical 'line' is lost. After the pantsing, I could better follow along because certain passages that were relatively obscure suddenly came to life and became 'ready to hand'. Unfortunately for me, my system still cannot reproduce the double bassess accurately--but that's another issue. Ry Cooder's guitar work in 'Into the Purple Valley' has never been as nuanced and transparent. And Paul Desmond's sax in Brubeck's 'Gone with the Wind' has never sounded so right. I am pointing out only the most dramatic cases; there are many more subtle ones.
One other difference to note is that everything seems quieter. I don't mean the noise floor has dropped, but rather that I seem to want to turn the volume up nowadays. I think the desire is connected to the decrease in distortions (trademark, Raul) that I was subjected to prior.
One potential caveat: I recently changed my headshell leads to Oyaide silver. I had them in during the initial unpantsed audition, but they might not have been fully burned in (if you believe in that sort of thing). I personally don't believe the differences I heard can be accounted for by the leads.
fyi: the copper looking thing underneath the victor is a Texas Instruments Shield. I had planned to use it underneath my platter mat but it refused to lay flat--that and I don't currently use anything but a piece of pigskin. Yet another benefit of listening to Halcro.
So: I pantsed a la Halcro my Victor a couple of week's back. Before I did so, I listened intently to 3 album sides and then subsequently compared the differences. I changed nothing else. Like Ecir38, I had suspected that the differences Halcro found were due to his new supporting system and not so much to the absence of the metal cover.
I'm here to report that my suspicions, at least as they pertain to my Victor, are wholly unfounded. With respect to all 3 album sides I used the changes were the same: the character of the instruments including voice became more nuanced (microdynamics?) and impactful (in terms of scale but not loudness, if that makes sense) than they were. I can better hear the music as a whole. For example, the first movement of Mahler's 9th can sound like a convoluted mess if the musical 'line' is lost. After the pantsing, I could better follow along because certain passages that were relatively obscure suddenly came to life and became 'ready to hand'. Unfortunately for me, my system still cannot reproduce the double bassess accurately--but that's another issue. Ry Cooder's guitar work in 'Into the Purple Valley' has never been as nuanced and transparent. And Paul Desmond's sax in Brubeck's 'Gone with the Wind' has never sounded so right. I am pointing out only the most dramatic cases; there are many more subtle ones.
One other difference to note is that everything seems quieter. I don't mean the noise floor has dropped, but rather that I seem to want to turn the volume up nowadays. I think the desire is connected to the decrease in distortions (trademark, Raul) that I was subjected to prior.
One potential caveat: I recently changed my headshell leads to Oyaide silver. I had them in during the initial unpantsed audition, but they might not have been fully burned in (if you believe in that sort of thing). I personally don't believe the differences I heard can be accounted for by the leads.
fyi: the copper looking thing underneath the victor is a Texas Instruments Shield. I had planned to use it underneath my platter mat but it refused to lay flat--that and I don't currently use anything but a piece of pigskin. Yet another benefit of listening to Halcro.