Schiit Sol Turntable Sneak-Peak

Diesel works better. Mixing it with fertilizer works best.

 

I'm tempted to try that actually... but probably not so good if I've got a dog running around eh?

If I google this, am I gonna get put on a watch list?

 

No. Just quoting me did that.

 

I use those spray cans of carburetor cleaner to kill weeds.

 

I guess s/n ratio month really did end in August?

 

I use those spray cans of weed killer to kill carburettors.

 

OK, so this started off as a silly question, but now it is bugging me...

Would a three-phase motor be superior to single phase for a turntable? I can find advantages of three-phase motors from the net, but do they apply to this application?

 

It also bugs me why V belts / keyed belts are not used.

 

My thought process... because timing is not critical? Oh wait! Don't be stupid! It could hardly be more critical. **

Try again: Because timing is critical but not in the mechanical indexing sense of, say, valve positions in an engine, and, the motor is innacurate enough to require a slightly elastic belt?

Thinks again: well how about direct-drive, then?

Oh heck... I don't know!


**Maybe I wasn't so wrong: speed is critical rather than timing.

 

Bill Carlin (Phoenix Engineering, Falcon, Eagle, Roadrunner) certainly thinks so. In this thread he talks about his experiments with 3 phase motors and controllers, with direct comparisons to the Hurst AC motors used in VPI belt drive decks (he owns a Scout). FWIW, he thinks the Hurst AC motors are "crappy" (they are certainly cheap), and finds the new-ish VPI ADS controller to be an engineering Hindenburg, and the old-er SDS to be a better design.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/288730-3-phase-bldc-motor-turntable.html

I'd like to see Schitt enter into a consulting agreement with Phoenix Engineering (if they are amenable) to produce a speed/motor controller, or even buy the rights to the Falcon/Eagle and Roadrunner, which were excellent products that Phoenix is no longer interested in producing.

 

You'd hope so, if for no other reason to get as much 'wrap' around the tt platter as possible, to reduce slippage.

 

Ann Arbor has a great selection of used vinyl, especially jazz, btw. I hit up almost every record store in town and was impressed.

 

Haha! Yeah, they'd need to make it usable by and marketed to a much wider base than those who buy SOL. Bill Carlin has said that Phoenix stopped manufacturing not due to lack of interest or sales, but because the principal (BC) just wanted to do other things with his time than run a company. If true, Schiit might have the right business model and size to step in to a ready made market. Along with the engineering, there may be patent issues, etc.-I have no idea. I'd just like to buy one!

 

I'm confused, is it still a Schiit turntable thread ?

 

It is hard to wait indefinitely. Gosh.... when is this going to be available to public? If there is an estimated target date at least, it would be a lot easier to sit tight and patiently wait for it to become available.

 

Our intrepid tonearm designer has been spending an inordinate amount of time with his Mettler lab balance, CAD layouts and spreadsheets. I think he might have a case of SiSS, spreadsheet induced stress syndrome. He was mumbling in his sleep again. Sounded like "vinyl pharts", "sector of sanity", "mounting a geisha" and "impressive ass". The lab's supply of Bable fish has been dwindling, but after putting one of the remaining few in my ear, it turns out he was saying "final parts", "center of gravity", "moment of inertia" and "effective mass". Then he kept repeating 12.32 over and over.

Now, if the Sol tonearm has an effective mass of 12.32 grams, that would be a nice midrange value and pretty good for such a long arm. One could calculate the resonant frequency with a given cartridge, say an MP110, but only if it had a published dynamic compliance for 10 Hz. I'm pretty sure it doesn't, but if one read a bunch of stuff on the 'net and took a guess, it might be about 14E-6 cm/dyne. That would place the resonance at maybe 9.9 Hz, not a crazy number.

Increasing the effective mass is easy, just add more depleted uranium to the headshell. There are also some places to remove metal if lower were needed.

Nothing is written in stone, more like invisible ink on flashpaper, but that's probably not far from what we'll actually get. Unless it was a nightmare instead of a dream. Now, aren't you thankful for split personalities?

Maybe someday I can dish on motors.

 

While sweeping up the lab, I found this top secret photo had slipped under an old Tek scope. Hey, finders keepers. The head shell is kinda interesting. It's important that the stylus remain on the vertical plane running through the pivot and counterweight, otherwise the arm would rock on warps. Thus, the slots to move the cartridge need to be parallel to the tube. The cartridge however, needs to be at the proper offset angle. The solution here was to put the slots at the correct distance for the angled cartridge, not the usual standard spacing. The angle machined on the front lets you know things are correct. Or, maybe it was all just to mess with people's heads.

 

Nicely looking tonearm.