A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Dear Geoch - and others - everything we do in this hobby is at our own risk. We have all lost precious needles.

Only when this happens do people do one of three things. Get out of vinyl altogether, buy cheaper cartridges or be VERY careful.

I will source some Jrs. and try them. This will give me some time to get used to the sound of the new arm pod. I finally added a system page and posted a couple of pictures for those reading this thread.

For those of you thinking we are doing something complicated here - I walked through my house at 1 pm est today with the piece of raw brass and no holes for bolts or threads in it. It is about 5pm now and I have listened to 2 lps already. I let the system warm up while I put it together.

But this is my 3rd version really so give yourself one day to setup.

I can say with the ET tuned to about 75% right now it is sounding very very good.

Cheers Chris

Geoch and Nandric, Despite whatever you both may think, my remark about Geoch's phraseology was totally sincere. I really did think it was beautiful prose, but I needed that clarification provided later by Geoch.

I cannot help but note that this discussion is evolving in a direction with which I can agree. Notice that you guys are talking about ever heavier and more stable arm pods that do not move with respect to the tt. This is beginning to be OK with me and to be consonant with my galleon analogy, which Nandric continues to throw back at me. If you take the two boats out of the water (the net effect of putting both the tonearm and the turntable on very sturdy supports and subject to the same forces), then there is no problem. There is even some coupling going on, whether you like it or not.

Dear Lew, Glad to have you on board because you was at first very skeptical about this arm pod undertaking. But
you also provided the info about the obtainable meterials,
brass cylinders included. The further development is obvious:a. the direction of Halcro's 'exclusive' arm pod with 'universal' applications qua tonearm type as well as
lenght b. the direction of the cheap solutions and c.
something in between. My preference is for the brass cylinder with 3 holes + thread on each side but there are
obvious limitations: 9'' tonearms are problematic and tonearms with a collar also. However the price is +/-$200. For the adaptation of the brass cylinder for a more universal use one will need the help of one craftsman with
unknown costs.
Regards,

Nandric,

If you go down the route of Halcro (which I am more or less planning to do) with the arm tower design, you can offset your mounting hole to be nearer to any desired edge. This removes all concerns about tonearm length. This will also apply for arms with collars. Remember that I have experimented very successfully with a Morch DP6 and an Audio Craft AC3300 - both of which have collars and are 9" or less in length.

Apart from the unspecified and potential costs in needing professional help in drilling the holes, there really appears to be no limits to the arm tower approach and its applications.

Dear Dgob, I really hope that anyone will be able to 'go
down the route of Halcro' but I already mentioned Picasso in this context. To accomodate,say, a brass cylinder for
all the purposes (aka 'universal arm pod') the crafstman
need to cut a supstantial part from the cylinder and consequently reduce the weight. Then one will also need the plates ,etc. which add to the unknown costs. One needs some good idea about the cost in advance I should think.
What is possible and what is advisable may contradict each
other. I myself somehow fancy this sturdy brass cylinder and would never polish the thing.
Regards,