Post your turntable setup...can't get enough of those spinners!

Technically not my mine, but rather my father's DIY TTs:



I helped somewhat, especially regarding construction and ideas. My dad did however build and polish most of it. The right TT has a 12" carbon armwand and the left ones are 16" aluminium for the stereo cart and 14" for the mono cart.
I also did the setup and basically listened to them through all the stages.

The platters are bought parts. Maybe some of you recognize the left one. I'm not entirely happy with the tolerances of either of them, but it is what it is.
Both use dual motors, which we found somehow sounds better, despite not really measuring any better.

The left one is decoupled using squash balls and the right one is decoupled using a foam in between its two layers of wood. Both are Ashwood, just the left one treated with a heck more of the white pigmented hard oil.

It started with a Dual CS504 that we built an extra arm for. In the beginning based on the Schroeder arm with the string and the magnet. However we couldn't get proper anti-skate from that, so that design was discarded. The arm would always turn one way and also the VTF was never constant.

However a lot of time was invested until we discarded the design. At one point we were like "screw this, let's just do a unipivot:



In hindisght I should've cleaned the dust before taking the picture, those aren't scratches.
So this is a bit of a VPI copy. There's a spike and a small hex rod with a hole in it that the spike sits in. The tonearm lift is a bought part. The tonearm is height adjustable while playing, though it's a bit tricky. There's a large screw inside the counterweight to easily make small adjustments. I wish more tonearms did it like this or in a similar way. Azimuth doesn't have to be adjusted with the weight, you can simply rotate the armwand and then screw it down with a setscrew.

One arm I kind of want to copy at some point is the Schroeder LT, but I feel copying it would be a disaster. It just wouldn't work properly without all the right bearings and tolerances and machining, etc. Nothing you can just copy at home.

The 16" arm uses solid core silver wire, the 12" carbon one a Mundorf solid core silver gold wire and the mono arm just uses regular old copper litz wire.

In the lower right corner of that picture you can make out my dad's newest creation: A tonearm raiser!
When my dad told me he wanted to build his own I said he was nuts! It would require such fine tolerances and would basically be impossible to do at home. I told him to just buy the Audio-Technica one and be done with it.
Well, after two days of swearing and tweaking the design he had one that worked - most of the time. By now it just works. Crazy.


The carts used are:

• Smaller turntable: DL103 with Shiabata stylus
• Larger turntable: DV-20X2L and AT33 Mono

This all goes into a Restek MRIA+, which then goes into the Freya and into the Aegir for the M/T section and a 400W Class D Hifiakademie amp for the bass section. Speakers are Canton Reference 3K.

More details on the whole system here:
https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...f-your-speaker-system.480/page-59#post-411228

 

Anyone have a record hunting/carrying bag they like? I've gotta take about 30 or so crate-digging scores on a couple flights. Have been rolling with a light tote bag, but it won't be big enough. Was thinking a shoulder bag rather than a backpack. A big, heavy-duty zippered tote might be good, but hard to get the dimensions right.

 

Tritium Air Bearing Tonearm Turntable.

 

Air bearing tonearm, Picture from 2010. Click for larger picture.


Air Bearing Arm in Action:

 

This Technics bag might be what you're looking for.
https://www.turntablelab.com/collections/technics-alpha/products/technics-dj-record-bag-black

 

Is there a bottom board that fits on that thing? I can see using it without, seems kinda unfinished though.

 

Very Cool! I'm happy to see someone posting some interesting DIY designs.

 

Here's my modest office setup that is seeing more use of late than my main rig, which I recently upgraded w/ a new cart and phono-pre. The table is a nicely preserved and recently reconditioned Pioneer PL-112D which was an entry-level table in it's day. There is nothing obviously/glaringly wrong with it's performance, and its limited configurability means less nervosa. At moderate volumes rumble is not offensive. Presentation is a bit 'soft' and not as dynamic as I'd prefer but for $120 via Facebook marketplace I'm more than happy to listen to music on it until I replace it later next year with a Technics 1200-series of some kind. The tonearm is a better match for the DL-103 than the Fatboy gimbal arm on my VPI Classic - bass was weak and dynamics were comparatively insipid there but it boogies here. Not sure what I'll do with the 103 once I get a Technics as that arm will almost certainly not play as well.

The upgrade to my main setup has allowed me to 'max out' the setup with a Soundsmith Carmen MK2 and MMP3 phono stage. I currently have a DL-103 mounted running into a Bob's Devices 1:20 SUT from my main rig. I'm going to be swapping the SUT for a used Denon AU-300LC on the way via eBay/Japan as soon as it arrives to get the main rig back in business.

 

Lafayette PK300
Part 5 of my series on Japanese idler-driven turntables

 

Twin-armed Thorens TD124: SME 3012 + Alfred Bokrand AS309

 

Not mine but this is @Erroneous setup at his job (how cool is that?). Stopped by to chat as I sometimes do, and always marvel at this.

 

It would be cooler if the TT was not on top of electronics that produce warmth (do these?). That was always a big no-no back in my younger days when the record player was our prime source. Do not warm up your vinyl!

 

I think the heat isn’t so much the issue as the magnetic fields coming off the transformer(s) in the component directly under, and thus very close, to the very low level signals from the cartridge through the arm and out. I would think the potential for induced hum might be an issue? I know I have to have at least 6 inches below the shelf my TT is on with nothing but air, or the hum is pretty bad. That said, I use low output MC’s (.3mV), maybe with a 5mV MM it’s less an issue?

That said if the hum isn’t too bad, and if space is truly at that level of premium,.. (though a taller rack giving some separation could be done/used).

 

No hum at all in this setup. Everything was built around the 1-off Moth amp but space is at a premium and I needed to use what I had available furniture-wise. I'm just happy that I can spin records at work. It lowers my stress levels.

Also those subs aren't plugged in and are purely used as spacers. The speakers are kindly on loan from the wonderful @famish99 until I can find something appealing on the used market. Currently thinking after posting in the general speaker advice thread that I'll likely be moving my modded Quartets to this system and replacing them in my main (home) system with some modded Cornwalls or Fortes.

 

I always had my turntable close to the other electronics. No hum, as long as the earthing was connected properly. Of course, I never was much of a nervosa audiophile. Perhaps some might have run, shrieking, with their hands over their ears, from my systems .

But heat and vinyl absolutely do not mix. I learned that lesson in more than one hard way!

@Erroneous, if your system is heat and hum free, then that certainly is cool. And it looks great .

 

It sounds pretty good too! But I know my Quartets will take it to the next level. Those speakers are just ridiculously satisfying to me and I love them to bits. I really have no motivation to move them out of my main rig other than I need different speakers for work and anything that would be to my satisfaction will be close enough in price to a larger Klipsch plus modifications, that I may as well just go bigger at home.

 

Agreed.

If it ain’t broke…

I know mine (with .3mV MC) is never (at least not YET, haha) silent… I have hum that gets better with more distance/isolation… then again, I’m running 70dB gain in the phono Pre along…

Glad it works, @Erroneous it’s a killer AT work setup!. (Back in the day I had a CD player feeding my Superphon DM220 to my Vandersteen 2C’s at work, but that was back when I was “higher up in management” and had a huge office… Now, I work from home as I slave towards retirement

 

Yeah, at home I have a little hum but it's not enough to bother me. Work setup is high output moving magnet vintage cart into some bullshit Amazon phono pre with a tube buffer. Not going to spend a lot on that setup, just has to be good enough.
At home I have a Hana ML mounted to my VPI Classic into an Allnic H-1202 into the rest of my system and while I understand I could just keep on spending money until I'm out of money for incremental improvements, I'm fairly certain that I've hit the ceiling for what I want unless I win the lottery. Fantastic sounding setup for my working class budget. My favorite past time is just sitting on my sofa absorbing the amazing music coming out of my speakers while listening to records.

All this to say that I think hum is just a part of low output cartridges hooked into tube phono preamps, unless one wants to go crazy trying to eliminate it. I'd rather relax and enjoy, personally.

 

Yep! That said, if I *can* lower the hum further by going balanced from arm to Skoll it’s worth it (if it’s not big bucks).

Hana ML or SL is on my “next cartridge” list. (For the SME309, SOTA Star Sapphire III and into the Schiit “Pre” stack…

Finances (at my age) mean I’m basically at End Game with things like speakers, amps, cabling, turntable, etc…. Only things left at this point are replace amp if/when it dies, re-foil the Ribbons when (there is no IF with Apogees) the mounting foam degrades, and at some point get a really goo d DAC. The foundations have been excellent for 30 years, that isn’t going to change without epic (and silly IME) expenditures.

But, LP’s at work, that is uber-cool!