A Copernican View of the Turntable System

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.

To paraphrase the bandit in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre", you don' need no stinkin' viscoelastic support.

(He said, "Badg-es? We don' need no stinkin' badg-es.")

This is only my opinion, of course.

At least try it both ways, turntable and armpod both mounted on the same inert STABLE shelf with no viscoelastic mounts vs with viscoelastic mounts.

I have asked some folks who have gone down this path using various metals in an isolated arm pod to post their comments here. I hope they will be able to provide their input.

To me if I had a tonearm with collar - just preliminary thoughts - but anyway to be DIY - You would need to drill collar diameter holes through both the brass cylinder and the top plate and set the spikes high enough to allow the wires to clear. Drilling the holes is easy for a machine shop. The top plate (aluminum?) just needs to be thick enough to allow the tonearm collar to grip and be tightened - then it can be set down on top of the brass cylinder and secured. This could be done by the DIY. Anything more would obviously require a machine shop.

Dear Nandric - I am growing fond of the brass cylinder "as is" and based on what I am hearing am reluctant now to have it taken apart and changed at all.

Cheers