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In Reply to: RE: nude Black posted by unclestu on October 19, 2014 at 17:46:45
Added the magnet but not sure if any benefit. Had the longhorn on their before when running on a heavier arm so the leftover glue made a rough terrain. When I got the right piece, one that compled with being there, I glued it on.
Next up ... that paint would not come off. Used acetone and a toothpick to try to scrape it but it wouldn't budge. So I left it thinking it would interfere with the superglue sliding up the cantilever. I used fast drying gel superglue so that capillary action on the fluid would be assisted. [if you have to add tracking weight it could be that glue got up into the suspension.] Applied the gel along the length of cantilever from paint to almost bend at tip.
The benefit of all this fiddling? Seems smoother and a little more colorful. Sibilance is still there but more controlled. Hoping the 8MZ cures his ill.
~Thanks.
So did I get the desired effect?
Follow Ups:
Should have told you (and i am getting forgetful, sorry), that that Grado logo in the front can come off It is simply slid in and the two runners on the top sides hold it in. You can carefully pry it off with a jewelers screwdriver. Prying from the top is usually better.
On the bottom cartridge I have sliced off the two side rails in preparation for further work , but I screwed up and broke a coil wire
Placement of the magnet as close as possible to the pole piece is advantageous. Idea, incidentally, was stolen from close examination of a Van denHul Grasshopper MC which had a small magnet (looked like neodymium) glued on the front pole piece. Removal of the grado logo moves the magnet slightly closer or you could try a stronger small magnet.
I have enclosed a picture of a partially modified cartridge. I have actually milled out the top and the front. The top to the magnet below, and the front to the pole piece, which is partially visible. No mill or press right now so my work is very messy, (shaky hands). milling is not illustrated, don't know if you want to go that far out...
Usually before the drilling and milling I fill the back section between the pole pieces and the lead outs with a mixture of 30 minute epoxy and ferrite powder to increase the magnetic field. Plus when clamping, it prevents the clamp from ripping the delicate wires. Do not use 5 minute epoxy. it contracts as it cures and can break the delicate coil wires !!!! Trust me on this one.
I use painters tape to form a mold or well to contain the epoxy, being careful to drip in the glue in drop at a time. Take time in the set up and removal of the tape will reveal a smooth finished surface. Let it dry over night though....
For the stylus paint removal I soak the q-tip with the acetone and gently twirl it against the cantilever. It normally dissolves and comes off in a few seconds, with no need for scrapping.
If you try the carbon fiber tweak, use a more dilute super glue. Give more time to position the shard.
Side view shows the application of mumetal with a copper shield, which is what i was going to send you. Gotta glue it, but can use rubber cement initially to play with positioning.
You can cut the mu metal with scissors ( not your wife's favorite sewing ones, though, as the metal will dull it, tin snips work OK, too ). I like to keep the bottom edge parallel to the cantilever angle so that any magnetic field drawn down ( we are attempting to focus the magnetic field on the coils). The bottom edge should run through the middle of the two coils on each side ( this picture is of an early prototype)
When i mill out the top and bottom i place a small sheet of copper lined mu metal to "pull" the magnetic field closer and thus strengthening the motor assembly. I fill up with ferrite epoxy again to insure a strong field.
The modified Grado (I am NOT a dealer, BTW) can sound pretty good. I think it can sound the equivalent to many $1000 to $1500 MC types. The primary difference is the stylus is still elliptical and not the hyper elliptical or lie contact types.
Oh yeah. one other thing, I saturate the coils with ferro fluid. Pretty cheap on ebay.I apply with a toothpick and try to place a drop or two on each coil. Hard to be precise because magnetic field will simply suck the ferrofluid in. Guess I could try a diabetic syringe.
When playing the cartridge, it will sound lousy and you'll be cursing me for an hour or so, but the ferrofluid has to redistribute itself in the coil structure and then settle down. Bass will increase phenomenally, top end will be extended but will be limited by stylus shape.
Might want to try the ferrofluid first. 50 ml or even less ought to last you a lifetime
\
Have fun
moving the magnet that tiny bit closer made a difference.
balance evened out, seems calmer - much less grain, increase in touch and delicacy probably due to much quieter background.Grado does voices really well.
90% is merely effort - no money output so far.
I have two Grado's: An old GTE+ and the hacked Black.
I have seen posts where some prefer the older Grado to the Black. - Could this be due to the color, GTE being whitish, Black being black?
Edits: 10/20/14 10/20/14 10/20/14
Copper tape will address the E portion of EMF. Generally extends and sweetens the top end, which is good for Grado.
try a piece down the front of the.body. Should give more speed. you can just tape over the magnet.
must have been the magnet but sibilance has really taken a back seat in presentation. went back to the record which was a problem and forgot all about it up till a few trouble spots. This was my main complaint but there is now also loss of grunge that i associated with this cartridge.Looking pretty rough and ready now ..
If you have that mu metal i am willing to try it.
ferrofluid on order.
Edits: 10/20/14 10/20/14
On its way
Try another piece of magnet on the front BTw., over the copper
the second magnet dialed down the sibilance a little more.
things are getting more correct across the board. micro details are coming out of the background. this is sort of like a dimmer switch being moved up. ;-)
focus is on a close up scale. there are some hall effects but it is more like you are up close to the music[voices] instead of sitting away back from it.
?
ferofluid may arrive tomorrow. can i add the epoxy onto that without adding ferrite powder, seeing as the ferrite will already be in there?
Ferro fluid is in a mineral oil carrier and will not mix with epoxy. it does have ferrite in it though. what we want is to soak the coils(carefully) to present a more solid magnetic structure.
Gain will increase a bit but more detail will be present.
while this works on many MC types be careful as the mineral oil carrier can react with rubber suspensions.
Its ok on grados, though. I like to place bit on the circular ring on stylus assembly too.
its amazing what these minute tweaks will do to a cartridge.
what's nice about this reputed POS Pioneer PL-7 is that it has a repeat function which lets me set a record to repeat for an hour while the fluid settles.
Be sure to clip corners of magnets eben if only a mm. makes a noticeable difference on sweetening highs
cutting these magnets little edges off is crazy. I couldn't get it right - hacked the magnet size all out around. So I said eff this and went and got a hole puncher. Made a nice sized circular magnet.With the square magnets some of them want to orient themselves into an angle across the front so I had to cut another till i got a good one. With the circle it can orient itself and fall into 'line' just easy. it's a bit bigger.
Having a look at that vDH cartridge you mentioned, he used a circular magnet as well.
this larger circular magnet really put the sibilance almost to rest. and with that a lot of focus again shows up. I may remove the first magnet or instead may start to work on the old GTE+. it's tan and according to some sources that may increase top end. ;-)
Edits: 10/22/14
I drill/mill out the front of the body and the bit will stop when it hits the pole piece. I then carefully clean out the hole to expose more of the pole piece, a flat piece of steel (nickel) so i can place the magnet directly against the pole piece.
A bitch and my ancient fingers cramp holding the cartridge body, Be careful if you attempt as squeezing it too hard can break the coil wires.
Incidentally, I must congratulate you. I've posted about modding cartridges in the past, but you actually started to do mods on your own. It's cool that you've broken the typical consumer mold....
I even have medical tuning forks in my ebay queue. ;-)
I put the ferro fluid in and waited an hour and there is a change in stereo width, much wider. but something wasn't right. I added a third magnet and it seemed to calm the floating anxiety. I added a pool of superglue to the front to stiffen the structure. Added glue to bottom of stylus assembly that shows after inserting to stiffen that. I then added copper tape wrapped left and right and over the top. Added silver conductant grease to the headshell contacts.
Sibilance has not fully gone away but otherwise I can't find anything to complain about. Things like tremolo on voices is present, instruments stand distinct from each other instead of riding a crowded elevator, and a general sense of ease as if more current were supplied.
here's hoping the mu metal and/or the 8MZ stylus kills sibilance. Or maybe it is a genetic feature of this cartridge?
I may try drilling out the Black after I get the GTE+1 running. Don't want to risk losing it all now. ... I will get the kid to hold the cartridge while I drill. bwahahahahaha.
Oh oh, Time is one thing but you have to play the cartridge as the changing magnetic field will settle the ferro fluid Takes an album or two to settle things down.
when i placed he fluid i shook the bottle and drew up when it was mixed but he drops that came out of he syringe looked too clear.The turntable has a repeat feature so that when I sat down to listen a record had already been playing for an hour on repeat.
now after a few more records last night details are more present but didn't jump out or no WOW moment kind of thing. was I supposed to get more? Or does it sound like I didn't place the fluid correctly?
the cartridge is far beyond it's original sound. Much smoother, detailed, clear, and open.
Edits: 10/24/14
My ferrofluid looks dark almost black.
I use a toothpick, mainly cause I have trouble controlling the diabetic syringe. When placing the ferrofluid you can see it wick almost instantly into the coils, Be sure that you pace about the same amount in the top and bottom coils. That is difficult because the magnetic field causes the fluid to sort of "jump" right out and usually not to where you really want it. The bottom coils are especially hard to access. Normally i can see a bit of the ferrofluid lingering for a second or two before it wicks away.
The idea here is the ferrofluid is filling the gaps in the coil windings in order to present a more "solid" magnetic field. If you think you placed a bit too much and the ferro fluid has a consistent presence on the coil windings, I use a common q-tip pressed gently against the coil in question to wick away a bit of the fluid. Be very careful as those damn coil wires are tiny and easily torn.
Incidentally you should get the Mu metal any day now. Three pieces, two for the sides and one under the front magnet. They are very tiny of course....
Incidentally I also impregnate the motor coil windings of my CD player (focus motors) Been using primarily on Sony transports with no issues.
It does add dynamics and detail as the focus motor simply reacts faster to the servo systems. Have to be careful to add equal amounts to the four coils, though or the servo system will react assymetrically
unfortunately i killed the black and the left channel on the GTE trying to place the ferro fluid. taking a little break.
just when the going was getting good.....
my condolences and I really can sympathize. all the pics i showed were of dead bodies....
i cancelled the 8MZ stylus in exchange for a vivid stylus for the Shure M97x. See if i can't kill that next.
I did place two circular cutout magnets on the front of a DL-103 and it reduced noise a bit. also on front of an Audio Technica AT14sa - but didn't notice anything.
I shoulda left that Black alone when I had it where it was. Just wanted to add more ferro.
Question: when placing the magnets on cartridges is it best to align straight at the magnet? Or lower towards the coils?
Idea is to concentrate the magnetic field on the coils, Makes for a more powerful motor assembly. You want to work with the existng magnetic field just strengthen it.
Most MC type have a yoe type assembly:magnet (s) on top and two pole pieces extending down ( like a horseshoe) to focus the field on the coil structure. Some MC use dual magnets front and rear instead
Of course MM are different, although the Grado follows the MC type construction. Shures literally have a moving magnet in the stylus assembly and the coils are on u shaped former going vertical and then back down.
so moving the magnets down toward the stylus on the 103 gets them closer to the coils.
I will have to have a look at the Shure's stylus when I get it. I may buy one of those $20 Shure's stylus' just to mess with.
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