[Wayner]

It seems like everyone here at AC is modding something with their table(s) in search of the vinylphools' holy grail. What table(s) have you tweaked, and was it a success?

Wayner

[jtwrace]

No tweak on my Transcriptor Skeleton but just replaced the motor.  It took < 60 days for the motor to arrive but was easy to replace and I'm still fascinated with this table. 

[BaMorin]

Tweaked a bunch of AR's.........both of mine are tweaked. First up is the pulley, it has 4 different compounds/materials to add mass and damp various vibrations. Next up is polish the spindle shaft and ballend, install my thrust plate (my ES-1 excluded). replace the armboard with one of lacewood. replace the suspension studs, springs, add "locators" for the linn upper grommet, replace the lower grommet with my design "spring perch"  <~~~<< forces the spring to stay 90º to the stud, and centered at all times. Mass load the subchassis so all springs are supporting equal weight at equal compression (70% of unsprung height) and level. Add "terminator" plate to free end of studs and lock it onto the spring perches.   I set my suspension up outside of the plinth to "perfect" before re-installation.  Just a brief overview.

[Letitroll98]

My VPI HW-19Jr came with the first tweak, a Mark III platter upgrade, I've been told it's the best upgrade for that tale, but have never heard an original so don't know.  Then I added some fancy Tenderfeet cones to replace the pitiful VPI stock rubber feet, well worth the cost.  Then I rewired the RB-300 arm with some no name silver wire from a guy in England, so it must be good right?  I was forced into the rewire, the grounding wire had snapped off and a cartridge pin connector had come off of a wire.  I needed to haul out the solder gun anyway, might as well upgrade.  I think I detected a small increase in sound quality, not much if any.  But the tweak that had the biggest effect in sound quality was ordering a new belt from VPI, something all belt drive table owners should do before any other mods.  Transformed the table to the next level in SQ.

[TheChairGuy]

I'm an inveterate turntable tweeker....

This is your brain on drugs, kiddies

[simoon]

Systemdek IIX.

My current table.

I replaced the glass platter with an acrylic one from IsoKinetic (they have many Rega upgrade parts also). Dynamated all wood and sub-chassis components. Replaced feet with much better isolation feet.


The differences were easy to hear.

Quieter background, tighter base & mid-base, better dynamics.

I also have a new motor that I want to use, but it is outboard and I haven't got around to working on the belt that will have to go around the outside of the platter yet. Problem is it needs a relatively long belt with a circular cross section.

I am assuming that using a better motor and isolating it will make further improvements.

[orthobiz]

I bought Johnchairguy's VPI HW-19 III. I put a new tonearm on it, got a SAMA, periphery clamp, dustcover (I just pull it off when I play anything, hinges unattached), and a SDS motor supply. The only real modification occurred when I got the Dremel tool out and excavated the base to fit the motor. I used Wayner's most excellent stylus adjustment system (available at Van Alstine) to fit the Grado. The TT sounds great with the mods. And since I am a garage sale hound, the periphery clamp is essential to flatten out all the little warps on used records. So this TT has become indispensable. I think if a fly landed on my venerable Linn Sondek, the platter would be rubbing.

Speaking of the Linn, it's great. I did Lingo 2 supply upgrade, the Cirkus suspension thing, new dustcover, new motor to go with the Lingo, Trampolin base cover, Rega 600 arm...but I did it all with the dealer. I'm afraid to touch the thing, figure the springs will go out of alignment or something. But it does sound great and I can't just have one TT hooked up, can i?

So the VPI is great because I can tear it down and put back together in a flash. Makes me feel like an ultimate vinylista!

And yes, the mods helped on both. As to why did I do the mods? Uh...................

Paul

[Ericus Rex]

I'm an inveterate turntable tweeker....

This is your brain on drugs, kiddies

Reminds me of that famous album cover with the girl covered in whipped cream.  You know the one!

[neobop]

Being a former professional TT set-up guy, I've tweaked quite a few. In the mid '80s I worked for a Linn dealer and owned an LP12. So I learned the Linn set-up procedures and became a certified (certifiable?) Linn setter-upper.

Adjusting the suspension on a sprung deck, can make all the difference in the world. If you have a suspended deck and are not familiar with the procedures  of tuning it, here's a few tips:

You want the movement of the suspension to be straight up and down. Any lateral movement of the suspension interferes with tracking or muddies the water. Every sprung deck I've encountered sounds best this way. This includes the Goldmund DD I owned. To check this, find a point on the platter along the line between the spindle and arm pivot(s), that corresponds to where the standard lead out groove is. That's around 60mm from the spindle. If you use a clamp, have it on the table. Then push straight down at that point so the suspension bounces the table. Do this a few times to be sure of your results. If your table doesn't bounce straight up and down, then adjust it so it does.

If you have an adjustable suspension like a LP12, look for the spring or side that bounces faster than the others. Turn the adjustment device to get that springs bounce rate to correspond with the others. Keep doing that till it's perfect. If you don't have adjustable springs then use the same procedures only use weight to get it even. A table like a Sota is designed that way, but on some tables it might be hard to apply weight to some springs and you might be limited in how much. Happy tweaking.
neo

[orthobiz]

Reminds me of that famous album cover with the girl covered in whipped cream.  You know the one!

As a boy I looked at that cover from every angle and can attest that the whipped cream covered everything!

Paul



Here she is in 2005

[Delta Wave]

My Luxman PD121 has a solid cast aluminum frame w/ "pockets". I filled them with steel shot and 22 weight hydraulic oil (organic "green" oils will grow bacteria). The thing weighs about 80lbs now. I just have to move it very carefully if and when I ever have to.
Aside from that it has a Funk Firm 5mm Achromat, solid bronze clamp and a tweaked SME 3009S2I arm.
It has deep, fast bass, pitch black backgrounds and zero noise on my system.

[Delta Wave]

Reminds me of that famous album cover with the girl covered in whipped cream.  You know the one!

Or it was part of one of those old Gillette "Foamy" shaving cream commercials. 

[Letitroll98]

Reminds me of that famous album cover with the girl covered in whipped cream.  You know the one!

Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights

A Taste of Honey was the hit song.

[Letitroll98]

I'm an inveterate turntable tweeker....

This is your brain on drugs, kiddies

Just...step...away...from...the...table ...sir.  We have help on the way and your wife is here, she wants to speak to you now.

[TONEPUB]

The two best tweeks I've done have been the Groovetracer subplatter on the Rega P3 and P25 and the complete set of Sound HiFi mods on my SL-1200.  Outboard power supply, SME armboard and adding an SME 309 to the table.  Excellent results with both.

Rega P9, Oracle and Spiral Groove all stock and just fine that way!

[AllynW]

I have finally upgraded the arm on my 1210 MKII.  It was an easy process and it took a little less than two hours.  I purchased an arm board/plate and Jelco SA-750DB w/cables on eBay. The arm board/plate is purpose designed for the Jelco SA-250 and SA-750.  On YouTube there are step by step videos which walked me thru the 12xx tone arm removal.  The installation of the new adapter plate and Jelco arm was super easy.  Performing the VTA adjustment was a trial and error process and took the most time.

The upgrade was well worth the time and the $700.00 investment. 

[WGH]

The most effective turntable tweek was to make an outboard power supply for the venerable Harman Kardon T55C. The tweek moves the transformer from under the table to the outboard supply and increases the capacitance which improved the sound by eliminating the transformer vibrations and adding greater speed stability.

The power supply mod was first described in Audio Basics VOLUME THREE NUMBER FIVE, MAY 1984
"We have designed an outboard power supply box for the unit (H/K T-25) We remove the power transformer and raw power supply card from the T-25 chassis, increase the power supply times thirty-three (300 mF to 10,000 mF) which decreases the ripple on the 12 volt DC supply from nearly 1 volt to less than 40 millivolts (33 times less), improves the speed stability by the same factor (and it was good in the first place), and makes it start nearly as fast as a direct drive unit. AC hum is simply gone! There are no AC fields inside the turntable at all. The revised T-25 is quiet! The external power supply box contains the power transformer, power supply parts, AC line cord, AC power switch and indicator lamp, and a RCA phono jack which is the 12 volt DC power supply feed for the turntable. The supply box also contains a fuse for the system, an item Harman-Kardon did not originally supply. The turntable itself has a shielded DC supply cord which plugs into the power supply box, rather than the original AC power cord. No AC current, no AC hum fields, and thus no hum at all, its that simple."

The DIY instructions for the power supply are in:

VOLUME FOUR NUMBER TWELVE, DECEMBER 1985
VOLUME FIVE NUMBER TEN, OCTOBER 1986

with the arm tweek described in VOLUME FOUR NUMBER SIX, JUNE 1985

The Audio Basics newsletters can be downloaded on the AVA website under Resources.
http://www.avahifi.com/

The Harman Kardon T55C



The arrow points to the soon to be removed transformer, the DC motor is next to the transformer on the right.



The drawing from Audio Basics



My interpretation of the drawing


Wayne

[Wayner]

A couple of tweaks that I have done to my Technics SL1200MKII is to  change the cartridge alignment. It comes with a tool to set the  cartridge for a 15mm overhang (14.929 actually) that brings it into a  Stevenson's alignment, putting the inner null point in the lead-out  groove. This alignment is "old fashioned" as it has a rather high lead  in distortion and a high overall average distortion.
 
 Changing the overhang to 18.282, changes the alinment to a Lofgren B, with a much lower overall distortion curve.
 
 I also replaced the way too hard stock mat with a .09" think open cell mat the reduces the platter noise to near zero.
 
 Wayner

[TheChairGuy]

Just...step...away...from...the...table...sir.  We have help on the way and your wife is here, she wants to speak to you now.

The wife is just happy to know I'm not texting Erin Barry

That was my first DD table and my first back from self-imposed vinyl exile in 2004.  I bought it on ebay for $50 (got lucky, too, a functioning ADC XLM MkIII Improved, too).

Once I realized that DD tables could indeed play well...I set out to do everything I could to optimize it.  After a few months I realized it's a soon-to-be-junker on my way up to better tables.

Thing is, that table was sensational....and gave me great insight into what works on future tables. It had:

* 7lbs of modeling clay inside

* 1lb of modeling clay on top (HUGE benefit, but looks sooo ugly...told me how much energy is trapped in these plastic decks)

* Plast-i-lator.  A wedge of modeling clay between headshell and cartridge body

* Plast-i-strips.  Per Wayner's recent post and borrowed from Mr. van Alstine. 2-3 thin, well placed strips on the tonearm does wonders.

* Constrained layer damping dots.  On the tonearm and tonearm mount....less is more with this mod

* Homebrew silicone damping trough.  Noise, especially low end rumble, dramatically reduced.  Outboard trough always more beneficial than pivot damping I've found.

* Brass feet.  In place of junker stock ones. A must.

* Maple cutting board.  I've yet to find better anything under a TT.

* Platter Mats.  Tried rubber, Rubbermaid/Griptex shelf liner, 5 sheets of paper cut out in 12" rounds, Isodamp 12" round pads and more.  The best?  No contest - Herbie's mat made of some silicone compound.

There was so much more on that junker table tried...all have come to good use for the 4-5 tables that have come after it.  It was a very well spent $50 for me (and I still slightly prefer direct drive)

John

[Delta Wave]

The wife is just happy to know I'm not texting Erin Barry

That was my first DD table and my first back from self-imposed vinyl exile in 2004.  I bought it on ebay for $50 (got lucky, too, a functioning ADC XLM MkIII Improved, too).

Once I realized that DD tables could indeed play well...I set out to do everything I could to optimize it.  After a few months I realized it's a soon-to-be-junker on my way up to better tables.

Thing is, that table was sensational....and gave me great insight into what works on future tables. It had:

* 7lbs of modeling clay inside

* 1lb of modeling clay on top (HUGE benefit, but looks sooo ugly...told me how much energy is trapped in these plastic decks)

* Plast-i-lator.  A wedge of modeling clay between headshell and cartridge body

* Plast-i-strips.  Per Wayner's recent post and borrowed from Mr. van Alstine. 2-3 thin, well placed strips on the tonearm does wonders.

* Constrained layer damping dots.  On the tonearm and tonearm mount....less is more with this mod

* Homebrew silicone damping trough.  Noise, especially low end rumble, dramatically reduced.  Outboard trough always more beneficial than pivot damping I've found.

* Brass feet.  In place of junker stock ones. A must.

* Maple cutting board.  I've yet to find better anything under a TT.

* Platter Mats.  Tried rubber, Rubbermaid/Griptex shelf liner, 5 sheets of paper cut out in 12" rounds, Isodamp 12" round pads and more.  The best?  No contest - Herbie's mat made of some silicone compound.

There was so much more on that junker table tried...all have come to good use for the 4-5 tables that have come after it.  It was a very well spent $50 for me (and I still slightly prefer direct drive)

John

I still love that thing after seeing it a year or so ago... I'm thinking you need some clay cartoon creatures or maybe even some snow men on there... perhaps as an arm rest.