[Guy 13]

Hi all.
Soon I will be installing a PDR linear arm (Ball bearing + glass tubes) to replace my Rega RB301 on my Rega P3 turntable.
The PDR linear arm is a gift from a generous AC member.
With this new set up, I will not be using my Bellari VP-129 because of the interference and hum problems I had before.
Therefore, I did my homework and search on the web what would be the best buy for 150 USD or less, preferably 100 USD.
I usually whenever possible, try to buy Made in USA.
My first choices were the Vista at 300 USD and the Hagerman Bugle 2 at 189 USD, despite their very good reputation,
I have now a maximum budget of 150 USD (+ transport + custom tax.)
Many candidates fall into the 150 USD less category.
I went on Amazon and Crutchfield, but I have to pay for transport and custom tax or wait for a long time for a relative to bring it over to planet Vietnam.
However, on the first week of September I will be in Hong Kong on a business trip and I will take advantage of that trip to pay a visit to the ProJect authorized dealer to have a look at the ProJect Phono Box MM or DC.
Any opinions or advices on my choice.
Minds you, this is not final yet.
I am trying to stay away from 50 USD less and Made in China units.

Guy 13

One more thing.
My criteria are:
Same or better specs than the Bellari VP129
Walwart and DC from batteries.
Tube, but for 150 USD less, forget it.
Good reviews, minds you, I don't know why I am writing this,
reviews sometime are misleading.

[G Georgopoulos]

e.
Therefore, I did my homework and search on the web what would be the best buy for 150 USD or less, preferably 100 USD.
I usually whenever possible, try to buy Made in USA.
My first choices were the Vista at 300 USD and the Hagerman Bugle 2 at 189 USD, despite their very good reputation,
I have now a maximum budget of 150 USD (+ transport + custom tax.)
Many candidates fall into the 150 USD less category.

Guy 13

For 150 usd you can buy second hand...

[Guy 13]

For 150 usd you can buy second hand...

Hi Georgopoulos.
I rarely buy second hand,
maybe that's why my pockets are empty.
Second hand from another country is asking for trouble...
Thanks anyway.

Guy 13

[yeldarb]

I recently purchased an Emotiva phono pre.  It is solid state, but it does both MM and MC.  Don't know if they ship to you, but for $150, I have been very pleased. 

[Guy 13]

I recently purchased an Emotiva phono pre.  It is solid state, but it does both MM and MC.  Don't know if they ship to you, but for $150, I have been very pleased.

Hi yeldarb.
I went on Emotiva's website
and the unit looks good, seems to be well built,
but, I will have to pay for transport an custom tax which might amount to as much as 50%
of the price of the unit.
If I buy from Hong Kong, I can hand carry and pay nothing other than the price of the unit,
plus, I have to go to Hong Kong every three months anyway,
which increase my chances of being able to take advantage of the warranty.
Thanks anyway for the recommendation.

Guy 13 

[Guy 13]

Hi all.
My PDR linear arm is now at the post office and I am waiting to get the release of the custom to pick-it up.
In the mean time, I am so anxious that I have already started to take the Rega RB301 arm of the Rega P3 turntable.



The RB301 is for sales, but only for local pick-up, if I don`t get a good price for it, I might keep it in my museum of Rega horror.



I have also made from scratch a junction box for the interconnects and the tiny weeny little wires that will go the the cartridge, they have to be very small so that they don't interfere with the movement of the linear arm and cartridge.



Stay tuned, more interesting stuff to come.

Guy 13

[neobop]

Hi all.
My PDR linear arm is now at the post office and I am waiting to get the release of the custom to pick-it up.
In the mean time, I am so anxious that I have already started to take the Rega RB301 arm of the Rega P3 turntable.

The RB301 is for sales, but only for local pick-up, if I don`t get a good price for it, I might keep it in my museum of Rega horror.

I have also made from scratch a junction box for the interconnects and the tiny weeny little wires that will go the the cartridge, they have to be very small so that they don't interfere with the movement of the linear arm and cartridge.



Stay tuned, more interesting stuff to come.

Guy 13

Hi Guy,
You might want to hold on to that 301, at least for now.  It looks like you have a couple of feet of unshielded wire going to your junction box from the arm?

Assuming you still live in the same place, you might have a problem with those wires and RFI.  If you braid those wires it should help.
Good luck with the project,
neo

[Guy 13]

Hi Guy,
You might want to hold on to that 301, at least for now.  It looks like you have a couple of feet of unshielded wire going to your junction box from the arm?

Assuming you still live in the same place, you might have a problem with those wires and RFI.  If you braid those wires it should help.
Good luck with the project,
neo

Hi neo.
Of course the tiny wires going from the cartridge to the junction box are not shielded,
how can such small wires like that be shielded?
As far as I know, no linear arm wires are shielded.
(I hope the way I wrote the above is not too rude,
because from previous experience, I know a lot of sensitive AC members would take that as a rude behavior from my part.)
I did try that set-up with my wife’s home theater Pioneer amplifier with a phono input and no hum at all.
So far, so good.
Of course I will keep the Rega RB301 arm, at least until I know the new set up works 100% hum and interference free.
However, after that, I will say: Farewell RB301 trouble maker.
Please don’t assume that I still live in the same place, because I do live in the same house, remember, I am stuck here.
To braid the wires, I presume that’s the same as twisting them together, so that’s what I will do, but I have to be careful not to make the bundle too stiff.
Thanks for the good luck, because with that project, there is still a lot of unknown factors.
Thanks for your concern about my set up.
By the way, the PDR linear arm is still at the post office, because they want an official letter from my wife for the quantity of unit in the box, they have no idea what a linear arm is, especially that it’s in a kit and the value, again, they haven’t got the slightest idea of the value of those odd bit and pieces, separate parts in a sealed packaging.
Stay tuned, more to come and what’s coming will be a lot more interesting than the boring stuff you already read.

Guy 13




 

[Speedskater]

Often the tone arm has at least a thin layer of metal to act as a shield.  And each channels tw wires should be a twisted pair.

[Guy 13]

Often the tone arm has at least a thin layer of metal to act as a shield.  And each channels tw wires should be a twisted pair.

Hi Speedskater.
I will surf the Internet to find some pictures of how they do it.
My reference is often Needle Doctor.
Thanks.

Guy 13

[brooklyn]

Hey Guy13, I read most of this thread late last night before I went to bed.. I’m sorry I don’t have the type of knowledge to help you like other members have.

You must have the patience of a saint because I remember thinking as I went to bed at 2am groggy from reading …. if that was my turntable and phono preamp.. The Rega would have been flying out of my third floor window, closely followed by (and probably still attached Bellari)

I do hope you can figure out a way to correct this extremely annoying problem.

Best of luck,
Brooklyn

[Guy 13]

Hey Guy13, I read most of this thread late last night before I went to bed.. I’m sorry I don’t have the type of knowledge to help you like other members have.

You must have the patience of a saint because I remember thinking as I went to bed at 2am groggy from reading …. if that was my turntable and phono preamp.. The Rega would have been flying out of my third floor window, closely followed by (and probably still attached Bellari)

I do hope you can figure out a way to correct this extremely annoying problem.

Best of luck,
Brooklyn

Hi Brooklyn.
For my patience, it’s like a roller coaster, up and down.
Many times I wanted to throw out of the window from the fourth floor the Rega and Bellari, but I did not do it, because at the last second I came back to my senses.
According to my wife that took care of the paper work for the post office, the PDR linear arm should be in my listening room no later then Sunday, if everything goes well, which is rarely the case here on planet Vietnam.
If I’m switching from the Rega RB301 to the PDR linear arm, it’s because it’s a gift from a generous AC member and at the same time, it’s to get out of my face the Rega RB301 cheap arm.
For the Bellari VP129 I gave up trying to solve the hum problem
and there is good chance that I will buy a ProJect Phono Box DC or MM with a walwart and compatible with battery to eliminate chances of 50Hz hum.
I hope the Rega/phono stage up-grade will eliminate all my problems, because I don’t need problems in my life, enough already.
Thanks for taking the time to write me.

Guy 13

 
 

[bacobits1]

Hey Guy did you mount that glass linear on your Rega?
Picts? Followup?
I think that is a real cool tonearm setup. Those wires cannot really be twisted so leave them hang separated that is all you can do.
 
Let us know.

[PDR]

Hey Guy,
Wondering if the tone arm made it as well.
Been longer than a goats gestation.....lol.

Remember the P3 I used to measure for your arm?
its seen better days, holes drilled in the plinth,
marked and scuffed. So I made a new one.
I'll start a thread, its different looking now.

I hope you get the bugs all worked out with your
phono pre problems, I really hope that new arm works for you.
Dont get rid of the 301 just yet....there are glass tubes in the package,
I hope they made it.

[Guy 13]

Hey Guy did you mount that glass linear on your Rega?
Picts? Followup?
I think that is a real cool tonearm setup. Those wires cannot really be twisted so leave them hang separated that is all you can do.
 
Let us know.

Hi bacobits1
After a long space shuttle trip from the US of A to planet Vietnam,
the PDR arm landed safely on this planet,
planet Vietnam that is.
Then the PDR arm was taken hostage by the Vietnamese post office
because they did'nt have the slightest idea what that device was,
they probably thought it was some world war I destructing device.
My wife filled in tons of paper work and whent thru lots of red tape,
but at last, at long, lonmg last, the hostage was release
and landed in my listening room.
And because the Vietnamese custom people did not know what it was,
even after my wife sent them a picture of it and it did not look even close
to a flying saucer, they came up with a hefty bill of:
26,800 Dollars, Vietnamese dollars of course, which are called Dongs here
and in real money that's the huge amount of 1.25 USD.
(One dollar and twenty five cent)
I really don't know how I will be able to pay that,
I guess I will have to sell my turntable.
O.K. enough of my absurd jokes.
The PDR arm arived in a zillion tiny pieces...
Joking again.
It was really well packed, nothing was broken and no parts were missing.
Thanks Mr. PDR (Perry) the mysterious man that gave me such a nice gift.
For a few days, I will try to recover from my yesterday business trip
to Hong Kong (23 hours without sleep) and then I will start assembling the puzzle, the audio lego, the kit.
Look forward to have fun and frustrations.
Will get back to you all interested AC members
with pictures and comments,
including the frustrations as they put some spice into my writings.

Guy 13

For the tiny hair size wires, I will see how I can make them stick together
when I have reached that point.
By the way.
I need to buy a phono pre-amplifier to replace my Bellari VP-129 the unfamous trouble maker.
I wanted to buy the Pro-Ject Phono Box MM from the Hong Kong authorized dealer while I was in Hong Kong, but he did even know what the Phono Box MM was, therefore, I will buy the unit from Cructhfied USA and get it shipped to my wife's nephew in Seattle.
It's only 99 USD and if I want,
I can operate it on batteries (12V + 6V = 18VDC) or with the supplied walwart adaptor. Hopefully that will eliminate the interference and the hum.
 



 

[Guy 13]

Hey Guy,
Wondering if the tone arm made it as well.
Been longer than a goats gestation.....lol.

Remember the P3 I used to measure for your arm?
its seen better days, holes drilled in the plinth,
marked and scuffed. So I made a new one.
I'll start a thread, its different looking now.

I hope you get the bugs all worked out with your
phono pre problems, I really hope that new arm works for you.
Dont get rid of the 301 just yet....there are glass tubes in the package,
I hope they made it.

Hi there Canadian fellow.
Yes, I took forever for your gift to reach destination,
I don't know how long is a goat gestation,
but look to me like it was forever...
Anyway, it did reach destination unharmed.
Thanks for your super packing job.
Wow,
I am anxious to see you past about the new plinth you made
for your Rega P3.
Different looking is good.
I have good hope that in the end,
this new set-up will work fine
and I am sure, it won't sound worst that what I originally had
in the first place.
Thanks again and again.

Guy 13
 

[Guy 13]

Hi all.
O.K. now it's phase one of the PDR linear arm puzzle.
I've put into the large hole, the large bolt that hold the glass tubes assembly
and that was easy.
I tighten by hand so I could aligned everything.
I've been told/warned that I would chase the ball bearings
and I did when they fell off from their glass tube gutter.
While adjusting the zillions allen screws the ball beraing
fell off a few more times.
I finally after a few draken double drak adjusted the arm itself and I temporally taped the cartridge so it would not bang on anything.
So here are a few pictures so that anyone that want to comment
can do it more easily with pictures.

One question.
Where should be located the ball bearing in relation to the arm's shaft?


The three little brass knobs are for adjusting the angle of the tube
for the tracking force.






Phase two is the adjustments and fine tuning.
Soon to come, don't go away.

Guy 13


 

[PDR]

Guy,

With the arm all the way over to the right, on the arm rest....

One bearing should be over the arm, the other should be all the way to the left against the rubber o ring.

You'll need to draw a line on a piece of paper, punch a hole on the line at one end and use it like a protractor on the platter.

You need to make the line on the paper and the glass arm parallel.... then the needle has to follow the line

Hope this helps...

[Guy 13]

Guy,

With the arm all the way over to the right, on the arm rest....

One bearing should be over the arm, the other should be all the way to the left against the rubber o ring.

You'll need to draw a line on a piece of paper, punch a hole on the line at one end and use it like a protractor on the platter.

You need to make the line on the paper and the glass arm parallel.... then the needle has to follow the line

Hope this helps...

Hi Perry.
Thanks for the info.
I have a protractor and I will use it.
However, my wife and I are in the middle of a large contract
that's giving us more trouble than we can handle.
I think next Sunday I will be able to complete the installation,
minus the phono stage.

Guy 13 

[Guy 13]

Hi all.
My wife's business keep me off the road chasing nice Vietnamese chicks
and since I'm in my office, I took a 5 minutes break and started to adjust my PDR linear arm.
I've use this angle ruller to make sure evrything is at 90 degree.



Then, I tighten the big bolt (I hope the larger washer goes on top ?)



Then I made the adjustment to make the glass tubes parallel to the plinth.



Then, I made sure the arm with the cartridge holder is parallel to the protractor.



and made sure that the ball bearing are at the right place.




Is everything O.K. ?
Please tell me know while I am in a good mood.
Tomorrow, I might be in a not so good mood or even worst.

Guy 13

Next step, mount the cartridge and connect the wires, that part might be more delicate and will need some agile and precise fingers, something I don't have...