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4.241.222.87
I finally got the Garrard 401 up and running. This thing about having to have a day job really interfers with one's ability to do audio.So how does it sound? The sound is sooooo musical. Huge soundstage. I use Jennifer Warnes: Famous Blue Rain Coat, Bird on A Wire cut to set VTA. She was right there in my living room. I kept listening to her sing rather than listen to VTA. What kind of audiophile am I?
Still a few more tweaks to go: outboard power supply, damping of spindle bearing, removal of eddy brake linkage ( not brake ;-) ). Once that is done I will compare it to my 'audiophile approved' TT and see what the differences are.
Follow Ups:
simply gorgeous. I remember your earlier post, before assembly, and I noted the Mapleshade feet. I almost sprung for a set of those myself (and I still might)! It is very interesting to me that you mention the huge soundstage early in your description of the sound--this aspect of my Russco MkV was the first to hit me and I was simply astounded (even with the modest arm and DL103 cart I'm using). Still am!Beautiful work, beautiful TT. Very much looking forward to the comparos!!
Congratulations!
Jim
..thoughts?? may well go for one on my Technics SL150 Mk2..Steve
What is an RSR?
.
~Slainte,
The OMalley
I've seen people putting Graham arms on humble Lenco idler wheel drives so why not put a Schroeder on a gorgeous 401 like this one. A big idler well set up can take any arm. The use of a separate arm pod should help bringing the noise level down. Nice plinth too. I also experimented with a variac on my Lenco, i went down form 230V (Europe) to ca. 120, then i heard the motor running almost quiet. At the expense of torque though. Please report back on your findings comparing the 401 with the Technics 1200 etc.
Since you're an expert on classical music i wonder how the idler compares to a good beltdrive when it comes to reproducing classical/opera/chamber music. I tend to use my TD125mk2 for classical.
"The torture never stops"Greetings Freek.
Frank Schroeder owns a Garrard 301 and guess which arm he has on it. There is also a picture on the Loricraft website of Frank installing one of his arms on a Loricraft skeletal plinth.
The currently unoccupied arm pod tower is for a VPI 12.5 arm which resides on my belt driven VPI TNT-5. The project for next weekend is to move the arm back and forth between the two tables and hear what the differences are between the two tables using the same arm and cartridge. I will use LPs of large orchestra classical, rock, pop, and small ensembles to see if the differences are the same regardless of the genre or if one table favors one type of music over another. It should be interesting.
I've seen one before and was thinking about getting one but i've lost the link and you pic just reminded me.What's the name of that thing?
~Slainte,
The OMalley
Van Slyke Engineering Orbital LP weight
Is it solid or is it hollow and filled? I remember you saying you wanted to do vtaf. Did this work out on your current tonearm?Cheers!
The tone arm pods are machined from solid brass. Looking in the remnant pile at a metal supply warehouse I found a 4 foot cylinder of brass 3 3/4" in diameter. The pods in the picture are 5" high. These pods are for surface-mount tonearms like Schroeder (pictured), Triplanar, and ET 2.5. These pods will not work for central pillar arms like Rega/OL, Moerch or the new airbearing Conductor.For the central pillar arms I purchased two surplus hardwood armboards (monkeywood and purpleheart) from Teres Audio. Teres installed one of their VTA adapters in the purpleheart armboard. The armboard is 1 1/4" thick, seven inches long and comes with a predrilled threaded hole (3/8"-16) on the bottom 1 3/4" from the end opposite the VTA adapter. I need to have machined two more columns of brass from my cylinder, each column 3 3/4" high with a 3/8-16 hole tapped in the center. Screw a brass stud into the pod and then thread the armboard onto the pod and you have a wooden armboard securely attached to the top of the brass pod with over 3" of overhang. Different inserts can be purchased for the Teres VTA Adapter: 22mm for Rega/OL, 20mm for Moerch, and 17mm for the Conductor air bearing. Or I can drill any size mounting hole needed in the monkeywood armboard. The Teres VTA adapter will give me on-the-fly VTA adjustment for any central pillar tonearm. Since I have a Moerch DP-6 with 12" blue dot arm, I am hoping to get these new brass pods machined in the next month or so.
When the pods are done I will post a picture of the table with the DP-6, the Schroeder Reference, and a VPI 12.5. I also have three identical AT OC9/II cartridges. I will now be able to do A-B-C comparisons with tonearms with the only variable being the arms themselves (assuming the wood base does not sound that much different from the all brass pod).
Good call on the Teres gear for armboard & Vta.To me, the essence of sensible Diy is making the call on which elements you can do as well or better than the commercial version...
And which elements to recognize as far better than what you might do (without a machine shop). Sometimes it's the better part of wisdom to make that judgement call ....
J.
Really nice.What kind of voltage are you feeding it with the variac ?
And just for comparison, what kind of voltage is your mains giving you to start with ?I know you're just getting adjusted here, but I wonder if you'll be finding that you'll have a daytime-voltage setting and then one for late at night ...... ?
J.
Mains voltage is 117v. Right now the variac is set at 104v. Below that point the platter starts to slow. By adjusting the eddy brake you can bring the speed back up. Below 92v the life just drops out of the music. So I need to do experimentation to find the sweet spot between 92v and 104v. I will probably wait until I get an Imbabi power supply before I make a final judgement.We live in a area where the power supply is very good. No voltage sag during the day and very little contamination on the lines either day or night. We have lived in our house for over 13 years and most of the light bulbs and fluourescent bulbs were in the house when we bought it. An EE said that the bulbs last so long because there are no spikes or surges in our power.
I use the light bulb trick on my 301 to lower the voltage just enough so I get proper speed, and no more - don't want to lose all that torque ;-)
How am I to judge, but i would definitely plan on upgrading the table to match the arm. A Terres 360 maybe :-).dee
;-D
as rgordonpf points out, Schroeder himself uses a Garrard 301, and if you look on Salvatore's website he quotes a reader who says that a diy Lenco (another idler drive table) "betters the Teres, Nottingham Analogues and SME 10s that I have heard." Just two opinions, of course. I don't know myself, never having heard a Garrard, or a Teres either.
The gentleman who originally bought the arm had some financial reverses and had to sell the arm before taking delivery. Thus, I was able to acquire the as yet unbuilt arm at a discount. Would you have said "no"?I also have a Moerch DP-6 12" blue dot which will be the main arm for the 401. However, I need to machine another brass pod on which to mount the Teres armboard (purpleheart wood) with Teres VTA adjuster so that the DP-6 will have VTA on-the-fly.
The Schroeder Reference is intended to go on my next TT which will be a direct drive. That way I will have a DD, a BD, and a idler wheel - after all, we shouldn't discriminate. It could go on a Technics SL1200. I already have an SL1200 armboard for it. How do you think a Schroeder Reference with a ZYX UNIverse cartridge would sound on a fully modded SL1200?
However, I think I will try resurrecting a Nakamichi TX-1000 first. I know a couple of guys that own TX-1000s and they seem to like them a lot. So many turntables, so little time.
Let us know when you try it the Technics.That will show any flaw the table might have.
Thank You
and whatever you put it on it will make that piece sound its best. It is the reference arm Teres uses for they 360.Please salivate freely you already have the arm for it :-)
dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.Kurt Vonnegut
Actually, what I want is the Teres 380 plus matching stand. I will get a chance to see and hear that at RMAF in October. However, I won't be bringing it home. Darn!
no sign of the 380 on their site. But either case, My wife saw the picture and said that was a gorgeous table, she never made asthetic comments about audio gear.dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.Kurt Vonnegut
The model 360 with the $4,000 direct drive option is the model 380 or model 400 dependng upon who you talk to.
Well good news i guess. But i am a flat earth kinda guy, so it is belts for me :-)dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.Kurt Vonnegut
Upgrade the table ?You may find that AC Induction / Idler Drive is distinctly preferred, by some, to DC Servo / Belt Drive..............
And aren't the Teres people themselves now moving toward.... Direct Drive ??
J.
Chris uses a Schröder too. Me too.That TT is perfectly "deserving" of the arm as if one needed to do that.
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