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Super Tweak for Nottingham Space TT

Hello,

Just want to pass on to fellow Nottingham Space TT owners a superb tweak that I stumbled on by chance: Go to your nearest Bed, Bath & Beyond and grab one of those massive chopping blocks made of Canadian maple. Just replace the base that came with the unit with the chopping board. The improvement is not subtle; dynamics (both macro and micro), imaging, and noise floor are significantly improved. This tweak makes the Space look like a mini-version of the top of the line ANNA LOG! While I'm here, do you guys find the use of a clamp beneficial to the Space's performance? I bought a very expensive clamp and found the resultant sound overdamped.
aisip
jeff_ss
91 posts
 
Thanks 4yanx I appreciate that info and may well go with the Shelter 501 MkII on a Spacearm.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Ok, I'm the guy who said to be careful about using the 501 with a Space Arm. When I said this, I was going on theory about unipivots and lower compliance. As David says, the bars on the Space Arm make it more suitable for this type of cartridge. When I make a recommendation that I am not living with myself, I always try to be very conservative, so I don't steer somebody into a bad matchup. As we now have some more information with this particular combination of Space Arm/501, we can now go on that info. Previously, there was not much info available from Space Arm/501 users, so I had to go by the seat of my pants. Any inconvenience that was generated by this statement is regretted by me. Please understand that I was looking out for everyone's best interest in getting a workable matchup. The 501 is a great cartridge, and I highly recommend it whenever possible. I'm glad that it is working out for Space Arm users.
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
Tom, your explanation is EXACTLY why folks turn to you repeatedly for advise. Call it a respectful curse! :-)
rockinroni's avatar
rockinroni
287 posts
 
The 501 being a low compliance cartridge should work better with a gimbal-bearing arm than a unipivot arm.
When you apply Tom's hi fi mod to the Origin Live silver arm (gimbal-bearing arm) the difference in the 501's performance is substantial. This makes me wonder about the performance of the space arm because if you AB the Origin Live Aurora with the silver arm (with out the hi fi mod) to the Spacedeck with space arm both with 501's it is no contest the Origin live combo is better. So how much better sounding is a (HI FI moded) silver arm Aurora combo? What can you do to a Spacearm to improve its performance?
4yanx
1,576 posts
 
You can check the AA forum for mods to the Spaceram, though I can't agree with your assessment of the Aurora/Silver/501 vs. Spacedeck/Spacearm/501 combos. I HAVE the latter and have sat in on mutliple listening sessions with the 501 in various cartridges and arms, including the Aurora package. To my ears the "no contest" verdict was in the opposite direction. Having heard so many combinations of table and arm with the Shelter, I'd say, IMHO, that the silver can run with the Spacearm but the Aurora is really no match for the Spacedck.
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