A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Henry I just emailed you and some of the others here a short 59 sec video of the Symposium Jr. setup that i did with the video camera on my phone. I hope u get it - it is 16 meg. I will need to do a shorter one. If anyone would like more than a picture just email me. I am not putting it on youtube - yet.

I got the new cartridge running on the VPI arm with the Jrs.

Some more impressions.

Unless your cue lever is remote controlled :) you need to have a smooth and very fast one to lower and raise the stylus. As little interaction touching the arm pod is preferred. As Geoch mentioned in an earlier post lubrication of the lever - definitely - ensure it is working properly.

Initial setup sounds really nice probably set up about 80% - room for improvement - regarding the sound - in my system the VPI 12" arm is not as fast as the ET arm but still nice in its own way.

Cheers Chris

Dear Chris, Thanks for the video in the first place. I was
very confused with what I have seen. That is, I assume, how
our brain works. One does not expect to see the opposite of
what one believes to be the case or 'the truth'. But there
was some unexpected by-product. I got a (more) vivid picture of those galleons which Lew 'invented' for the sake
of argument. I want my arm pod as firm and weighty as possible and in correspondence with my ,uh, belief. However 'mechanics' is not my trade so no quess from my side about mechanical matters. I may get a reprimand from both : Halcro and Lew and this would be to much to bear for a single post.

Regards,

Dear Nandric - Hard to believe isn't it. Your right it does move like a ship floating in a harbor when you push on it. But with 18.9 lbs of "very well trained" seamen on board all of them pushing down it doesnt move at all when the stylus touches the groove. They obviously know how important their role is here :) . Totally rigid and in support of this Copernican thread. At least that is what my ears tell me. What else matters more than your ears?

It goes against everything traditional vinyl folks believe in - when it comes to principles and foundations.

Those that try this (with a cheap cartridge) are what we call in my line of work "able to think outside of the plin... sorry I mean box" ! :^)

Cheers Chris

Chris, IMO, as long as the Jr's come to rest at the same exact spot every time, you should be OK with that novel set-up (by my standards). And the high mass helps that to happen. High precision of the manufacture of the Jr's is also imperative.

Dear Chris,
thanks for the impressive images and the short movie. It really looks a bit shaky in the beginning but I do believe it will work properly. I guess your tonearm handling is influenced by the camera's position not using the headshell's guidance.

I received similar results when putting the Continuum table on a similar support structure like the Symposiums do

Regarding a tonearm's support I am using a 16 pounds heavy TOHO TH-80 arm base. In this design the tonearm itself is completely separated from the vibration source. It is an arm base which is made of cast iron cut-processed and heavy enough.
It adopts a function to adjust the height within the range from 0 to 35mm and provide a built-in level for balance adjustment. I mounted a FR-66fx on the TOHO TH-80. The results show that a stable and heavy tonearm bases IMHO is crucial for a setup.

What is the weight of your tonearm base?

best & fun only -Thuchan