[gooberdude]

After trying nearly every turntable tweak under the sun, I found one that truly makes a total transformation of the sound.  The Longhorn stabilizer by Van Alstine is simply awesome!   I made one for about $1 - lucked out & found the K&S #181 brass U channel at Ace Hardware for 65 cents.

The improvement is simply astounding. Much, much, much more bass and sounds I always thought were in the background are now audible with full force.  I'm constantly tweaking my Pro-Ject tt - this is the first thing that has made me really, really proud to be a vinyl addict.

http://www.avahifi.com/root/equipment/other_equipment/cartridge.htm

the one i made looks exactly like the one in the picture, took about an hour.

My Grado Gold doesn't 'shake' during the last 10 seconds of Cardas Sweep Track anymore....

[TheChairGuy]

Brother goober, you are a vinyl tweeker extraordinaire    Your interest in vinyl is infectious - and we need more of that around here 

Yup, a few of us did the Longhorn mod - and found the same as you - it's a great tweek with no drawbacks (except to ergonomics and looks).  Check it out:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=24666.0

You'll also see we caught Frank van Alstine in a bit of hip-related pain that day...and he fessed up on another part of the recipe, that of damping the internal coils (as Grado's are notoriously microphonic) as well as adding the stabilizer across the front.

Some more background on the recent purchase of a Grado Green here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=32272.0

[gooberdude]

thanks Chairguy,

I have spent WAAAAAAYYYYYY too much time fussing with my tt   

I think with the Longhorn installed, though, i'm gonna pay a lot more attention to the tunes   

Can you forward me any info on damping the coils?   In a few weeks I have to get a new stylus
installed (from the needledoctor.com) and I'd be up for looking at the internals then.  Frank Van Alstine is held in high regards at this point.

This next weekend I'm gonna put a LH on a friend's $100 1980's plastic Dual tt w/Ortofon cartr, if his improves as much as mine i'm calling 'shananagans' on the entire hi-end vinyl industry!!!    A few weeks back I stuck 3 $2 maple blocks under the Dual and was simply shocked that it sounded a whole lot (too much) like my set-up which costs 20 times more.

With my diamond being spotless via the Magic Eraser, the static removed via the Dustbug and the music  flowing thanks to the Longhorn, i'm all tweaked out.    So crazy that $50 in tweaks trumps the improvement of an $800 phono preamp & an $800 tt set-up.

matt

[TheChairGuy]

Frank's reply on damping the coils is in the Longhorn topic (it's a few pages in from beginning, don't remember where exactly now)

I love that Magic Eraser tweek.....it's a relatively hard product to find in US (even tho it's from Mr. Clean, a division of mighty Proctor & Gamble.  But, lucky me, my (chair) distributor in Europe sells it in Europe as 'Balbo' and outsells Proctor & Gamble's product there with it.  The pad is actually made by BASF in Germany...but marketed by others worldwide. 

I'll have to try it soon - thanks 

There is one last thing you must do in time to your Project if you're fairly happy with it....get some speed control for it.  I think there is a Project Speed Box (and an SE model) that addresses these failings. And, they are pretty dang major failings once you've addressed them with speed control. 

[ohenry]

That magic eraser trick is intriguing to me as well, though I gotta ask:  How are you determining if that tiny little rock glued to the end of the cantilever is clean, dirty or damaged? I thought about buying a portable 30X scope for that purpose (approx. $20 shipped).

What do you guys do?  Me and my failing, bi-focaled peepers don't want to hear that you can just see it with your perfect eyes alone, that would just be cruel.

[gooberdude]

I have a tiny 30x magnifier that I bought at Radio Shack not long ago...with a decent
backlight I can at least see if the diamond is yellow or clear.  I just jumped on the ME bandwagon
a few weeks back...before i used the Extreme phono gel on every side of play...what a hassle!

After reading about the virtues of the ME on another forum, i sat down with a chunk one night
and began to scrub.  To my surprise, the diamond was not clear at all when i started...it was black and rounded.  After 10 minutes of cleaning the diamond tip/shape came through and the diamond was yellow - 5 minutes more & it was totally clean & clear and sharp.   I do not use the phono gel anymore.

Now, i scrub & brush clean the diamond every few lp's.

Chair Guy, glad you mentioned the Speed Box.  It was one of the 1st tweaks I ever bought into.  Adding it made a big difference - the real eye opener was when i separated the 2 tiny wires of the wall wart.  Instantly the sound got sooo relaxed and involving.  I've thought about buying the 2nd version, can't pull the trigger yet though.  If anyone reading has the Speed Box, i recomend unscrewing the face and screws and setting it on a wood base.   The lid is still on the little box, but its sits there unscrewed.  I have no idea the thought behind doing this, but somehow controlling the vibes as described increased dynamics. 

I tried this with the lid off, but ran smack dab into rfi issues (or something that made the highs WAY too high).  Since the box gets hot I figured I'd cool it off - not a good idea if you live in a big city.

that's great that BASF makes the ME...those guys are smart.

After I used the ME on the diamond, I attacked my L/R walls with it.  The product is outstanding if you have eggshell finish or glossy.  It sucks on flat paint surfaces.  Also, you must wear gloves when using the whole pad...I cleaned one wall and noticed my hands felt funny...the pad was cutting up my hands! 

One last really good tt tweak.  I bought a bottle of Belt Dressing for $2 from Ace Hrdwre and treated the inside surface of the Pro-Jects belt.  The belt is not even 2 yrs old, but really benefitted from this.  My guess is the belt now 'grips' the subplatter and motor pulley more...the result is better dynamics. 

Chairguy, since i'm new how about some info on your chairs?   Your picture seems to be of a folding dolly...If you can convince folks to sit on that versus the ground, then you're a killer chair salesman!

I'll be sure to read the link you sent further.  i'm kinda glad VanAlstine isn't making his Green's anymore or I would be selling my Gold....

[ricmon]

yho gooberdude I’ve heard about the wire trick on the speed box but instead I user the wall wart that cam with the tt (it's 15 mv the speed box's ww is 16mv).  I'll try the wire trick if you try the adapter swap.  Then we can compare notes on the effect.  I thought about the longhorn mod but bought a Sumiko Blackbird.  As innovative as the Longhorn mod is I doubt if in the end it provides the same level if performance as upgrading to an high performance cartridge.  maybe some time in the future I may try the Longhorn mod on my BB.

[TheChairGuy]

That magic eraser trick is intriguing to me as well, though I gotta ask:  How are you determining if that tiny little rock glued to the end of the cantilever is clean, dirty or damaged? I thought about buying a portable 30X scope for that purpose (approx. $20 shipped).

What do you guys do?  Me and my failing, bi-focaled peepers don't want to hear that you can just see it with your perfect eyes alone, that would just be cruel.

Henry,

I have a record cleaner from a company called TrackMate (I don't think tye make it anymore) and on the upside of the record cleaning brush is a stylus brush with rounded fibres of brushed polyester.  Kinda' similar to Magic Eraser.  LAST Factory used to recommend it as a good cleaner - but that was 15+ years ago now. 

The Magic Eraser maybe better at it with newer fibres available now. Good tweek idea, gooberdude.

John/TCG

[TheChairGuy]

Goober,

My company doesn't sell to individuals, only in bol to large retailers, etc, but my website is listed among options on me right under my name and selected image to the left of this post. Click on the Globe icon (WWW) and you'll have it.

Click on it and you'll see what we make, sell to, etc.

Thanks for asking...and a greater thanks for your uber-tweeking 

[gooberdude]

hey Ricmon, irie yeah!

Ok, so you're saying to use the orig wall-wart that came with the Expression
versus using the one that came with the Speed Box?   very cool....

I've always noticed that the tt itslef sais 15V & the Speed Box is 16V (or maybe its the
other way around)...anyways, the orig wall wart has been sitting in a box for 2 years, used only briefly.
From what I recall, its a bit beefier than the SB one.

I'll give it a try tonight and let you know.  I don't think i've separated the wires on that one yet either.  If the new/old wall wart does give an improvement, i'll let it sit a day & then pull the wires apart to see if anything changes.  I'm a free Mapleshade tweak junky, what can i say....


Hey ChairGuy, your orig link is fantastic.  F Van Alstine seems like a great guy.

A few questions:

Is Tower Hobbies still the place to buy the proper silicone?

I've never opened up a cartridge before...can you walk me through this mod a bit more than Frank's
explanation?   How do I expose the coils?      

And since i'm about to re-tip my Gold, should I wait & do everything in the same night?     Will it be easier to damp if the stylus is un-installed (the new tip)?


thanks to everyone!

matt

[TheChairGuy]

Tower Hobbies is the cheapest I know of for silicone and a good selection, too.

If you're uneasy about opening up the cartrdige (not terribly hard to do, btw), yo ucn just drop a drop or two in to the hole where the stylus protrudes from the body...at least you've partially damped things that way until you pony up nerve to open the cartridge up to further scrutiny 

Frank pretty much described what to do best of all.

[ohenry]

Hi gooberdude,
You should have a little plastic tool for separating the stylus assembly from the cart body.  The instructions with the cartridge should show the way.  From what I recall, it took a little more force than I thought it would to make the stylus assembly pop off, but it will.  That will expose the coils.  You'll probably notice some black tar looking stuff smeared on them, just leave it.  A drop of silicone on the coils should be adequate to seep in and do some good.

Or you can do as TCG suggested for now.

[gooberdude]

Thanks Ohenry & Chair Mod, i'll get into that project in a few weeks probably.   What effect does damping the coils have?  I'm completely enthralled with the Gold's performance right now, not sure if i want it changed, ya know?      The Longhorn is really amazing. FVA knows Grado mods.


Hey Ricmon, the orig wall wart did not work well at all in my setup.   
Its fairly broken in, I used it for 2 months before buying the SB, and i tested them
both cold.   The orig 15v acted like a high pass filter - no lows whatsoever.  quite fatiguing.

Any ideas?

I used the re-issue of Catch A Fire and none of the background singers sounded right - everything was bright.    side 2 track 2 Kinky Reggae, the guy and girl singers should send chills up you yet they sounded really thin, the entire spectrum was thin.  initially there was a clarity there i hadn't heard - but soon it was apparent the bottom end was gone completely & all the imaging magic was faded bigtime.   I tried both in both polarities..both were wired right at the factory. 

I'm going to leave it on for a week or so again & re-evaluate.  great to know I have an extra if the SB stock one poops out though.   

[TheChairGuy]

Grado's are inherently microphonic (you may have heard that they cannot be used on some belt tables and many direct drivers as they will hummmmmm).  A lot of folks think that it's got EMI issues...but it's just microphonic so it hums on some tables.  There are lots of unshielded cartridges out there that don't hum, so that's not really it.

Damping the coils damps the microphonics - much as would putting a tube damper on a tube, etc. Some folks probably like the microphonics...but damping tends to make it sound a little tighter, more focused.  It'll change, and if you love the Grado now, you might just want to stand pat with it only with the Longhorn stabilizer affixed to it