A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Dear Ct0517, I agree in general about the 'extravagant prices' in analog domain but disagree that manufacturers are the primary cause. Those from abroad hardly get 30% of
the selling price. First there is the import duty +VAT,then
the importeur and then the dealer. Above this also the value of the national currency. I got my Reed arm pod for
less then $500 thanks to the EU and absence of dealers.

Regards,

Dear Nandric - I agree with you - my statement should have been clearer and implied "the end cost to us" when we finally get the product. I realize in a small market like this it must be very difficult for the manufacturers.

An alternative to DIY or a mass manufacturer is locating a local machinist who can do the work. That's what I did. The machinist marks the middle ground between the other two options. My guy didn't charge me much more than the DIY option and mine required much more elaborate machining--it's all in one piece with no separate arm board. Having said that, if I had thought of Ct0517's 'simple' method, I would have probably opted for it. Of course, the simple method requires one to have an arm board, which I didn't have.

Dear Banquo, A local machinist with an CNC lathe would be ideal. In particular for the tonearms with a collar because
such an armpod need to be milled from,say, solid brass. Ie
a 'sandwich' arm pod with different layers is more difficult to make. For such a machinist our 'DIY' person needs only a good drawing with exact dimensions because the
machinist can order any kind of material for the purpose.
This kind of 'construction' will need a plate with the hole
for the arm with the obvious advantage : different plates=
different tonearms. For the plate one can use acryl, aluminium, steel, etc. but I personaly would use solid brass for the 'base' because of the weight (demping).

Regards,

During my project keeping it simple was the objective and not having to get machinists or other people involved. It was a DIY project to see if I liked the sound. My next step would have been to make a nicer arm pod with the help of a machinist and other folks. It sounds so good to me however that this will not be necessary. This approach allowed me to get intimately involved with the materials and setup.

As the guide says - the key is getting your tonearm base on the plate. What do your tonearms arms sit on now? Are they attached directly to the plinth or on a separate plate that attaches to the plinth. For me I had hardwoods that I had already experimented with when I used a plinth. Common options are maple, oak, birch, acrylic, but even panzerholtz or metal can be considered. I went to home depot and picked up 3 and 4 inch wide solid pieces of wood in varying thicknesses and cut the length from it required for my tonearm. The entire lenghths of the wood themselves were about $8.00.

Both the tonearm bases for my ET and VPI JMW 12" arm are shaped like a closed letter U so a rectangular piece of wood worked well.

As per the instructions in the guide I left extra wood on each side for two machine bolts - this is how the tonearm plate attaches to the actual armpod. Then the shape of the armpod becomes your choice as long at the plate fits within it.

The tonearm gets attached to the plate first - then the plate is simply attached to the armpod with the two bolts. The guide stresses making sure your plate is thick enough to accept the tonearm bolt/s without protruding thus allowing a flush fit with the armpod.