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The knob on the "right" (outside) is the VTF adjustment

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In Reply to: RE: Talkin' business posted by jmlattu on September 11, 2010 at 08:16:19

The 'wooden' P3 'plinth' is not so much a plinth as a shroud.
It is not solid. If it were solid, it would not be movable.

Here is a pic of the inside of a P3. The plinth is a large box which sits on the lower platform. The P3 is 'isolated' between the lower platform and the upper platform. The arm and motor are mounted on the upper platform to be a rigid set.

The insulators are built into the P3 - they are springs which are oil-damped (inside those rubber casings) which put the resonant frequency down to below 5Hz. I think adding a Vibraplane beneath it might improve it, but the appropriate thing to do in that case would be to remove the springs from the P3, and build the vibraplane into it. I have not done that but I am planning on doing a hotrod job on a P3.

One could do the same thing with magnetic footers but I don't have enough of them (or strong enough ones) to support a P3. My set's limit is about 80lbs. This thing weighs 100lbs.

Follow Ups:

RE: Quite impressive system - jmlattu 10:36:13 09/12/10 (6)
So all major settings can be adjusted during playback, brilliant.

Is there a point in upgrading the tonearm cable or is a cleanup of the connectors sufficient, in your opinion?
- I didn't try that... - travisty 16:03:31 09/12/10 (5)
  I am told that it always make sense to upgrade the tonearm wire on old tables after so many years, but I have yet to do it to most of my tonearms. I just now have a vintage tonearm visiting Mr. Tubes for a new bearing and new tonearm cable, and I have a basically NOS version of the same arm. It'll be interesting to see the difference in sound when it gets back.
  
  In this case, however, the tonearm wire actually ends at the mounting chuck for the tonearm wand, and has a very short trip through the pivot to the end of the arm (unless it is straight to phono plugs but IIRC it is a DIN connection at the bottom of the arm, where you plug in the phono cable.
  
  I think there is a metal plate screwed into the back of the plinth with a metal grommet in the hole where the phono cable comes out the back. The phono cable may be pretty thin as-is but that cable/plate can be removed, the hole enlarged, etc allowing a larger diameter phono cable. If I remember correctly, the amount of space between the 'straight-out-the-bottom' connection on the tonearm and the table under the plinth is quite limited, which means that the phono cable can't be too stiff whatever you do.
  
  FWIW, the Pioneer repair center guy who repairs the old tonearms can redo the wiring on the arms but he does say that one wants to avoid damaging the wire in the armwand (at least on the P3) because they are a pain to try and rewire.
  
  FWIW, I never advocate actually moving the settings while the stylus is in the groove. I always lift the stylus to make any changes... Well, almost always... on my Denon the anti-skating and damping are electronically controlled so I can do those. The VTA adjustment also works while playing but I have gotten into the habit of not making the change because of all my other tables where it would scare me (including the P3) so I don't.
  - RE: Yet another question - jmlattu 07:51:53 09/14/10 (3)
    Is it easy to fiddle with the azimuth on the straight arm wand?
    - Not that I remember. Can't remember how that would be done - travisty 08:31:02 09/14/10 (2)
      I'll check my P3 tomorrow.
      - Azimuth - jmlattu 09:08:41 10/05/10 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Not that I remember. Can't remember how that would be done posted by travisty on September 14, 2010 at 08:31:02
        
        Hey travisty, have you forgotten your task? :)
      - RE: Not that I remember. Can't remember how that would be done - jmlattu 09:02:40 09/17/10 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Not that I remember. Can't remember how that would be done posted by travisty on September 14, 2010 at 08:31:02
        
        Have you checked your P3 yet?
  - RE: I might try that... - jmlattu 07:18:30 09/13/10 (0)
    If one has an expensive cartridge one might want to avoid changing the settings on-the-fly but small changes shouldn't do any harm (never say shouldn't :) and it would be interesting to hear how adjusting the anti-skate and VTA affects the sound output on a test record.

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