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Don't you just hate it when---

something very unusual happens to you pet toy! I had the great misfortune on damaging my ZYX universe cartridge in a freak accident. I was changing out my cartridge and installing on a new tonearm i built for my apollo. I had the cartridge (stylus cover in place) on the table. I dropped my small screwdriver and in a impulse tried to catch it and arggh, knocked my universe off the table on to the floor. I was not really worried as my stylus cover was securely fastened.

Well i picked it up and notice three prongs vs the normal 4. My ground prong was gone. I found it and looked at the cartridge under my scope and it appears as it fell, it somehow hit that prong and snapped the plastic body. Now i have a screwed up cartridge. I have contacted Soundsmith and they will look to see if they can repair. I can not see any coil issue and i can see the small wire the connected to the ground. Obviously i am heartbroken. I will install a carpet around my turntable "table" in case i get stupid again.
Fortunately i have an Airy3 as a backup.
oilmanmojo
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
doug
thanks! i will let you know how it goes. DSremer, i agree that Mehran is one of those guys who really takes care of his customers. He was quick to put together an excellent and more than fair package. I will do more business with him in the future
dsremer
210 posts
 
Oilmanmojo
I have a friend who is considering selling his maplenoll Apollo. This unit is in current use... looks and sounds good,
do you know anyone who may be interested?
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
Dsremer
Sorry, cant say i know anyone looking for one. These are great tables but they aren't for everyone. I will however ask around some of my cohorts.
bpwalsh
1,207 posts
 
Anyone considering an Apollo would be wise to contact Lloyd Walker about platter bearing replacement cost, whenever needed, as it is likely to be prohibitive. As far as I know he is the only person who could provide it. I know someone with a very tweaked (by Lloyd) Apollo with a bearing that went bad, and it has been sitting idle for years. Look before you leap.
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
EssentialAudio--If this person wants to get it going again, i might be able to help. I have a couple of "spare" bearing plates that might fit his service or could help him polish out the "bad" plate. Since these are match sets, you cant just replace one, but my experience, the plates are really hard to screw up. Sometimes they build up a film (early days when maplenoll used those crappy compressors which through a bunch of oil) but i have cleaned up a couple of plates. If they are scored due to metal trash, even that can be compensated for. The apollo is a fine table but all of the maplenolls require a lot of patience to set up right. However, once set up, they are outstanding.
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