This is an experiment i built using the bearing and platter from an lp12 and the motor and idler wheel from a lenco gl69.
You can see the motor standing upright on the left which drove the idler wheel against the edge of the platter. the arm is a 12" high mass unipivot and the cartridge a denon dl103. it was a very interesting exercise in engineering inasmuch as i had to surmount the problem of vibration from the lenco motor due to it being mounted upright, rendering the normal sprung isolation useless.
You can see the motor standing upright on the left which drove the idler wheel against the edge of the platter. the arm is a 12" high mass unipivot and the cartridge a denon dl103. it was a very interesting exercise in engineering inasmuch as i had to surmount the problem of vibration from the lenco motor due to it being mounted upright, rendering the normal sprung isolation useless.
Here is a Thorens TD150 mk 1 which i replinthed. The plinth was made from a roofing joist of all things, and built oversized to accomodate a linn lp12 sized armboard. It was then sprayed gloss black.
It sounded really nice but was sold shortly after it was built.
It sounded really nice but was sold shortly after it was built.
This one sounded lovely. It was originally a Technics sl3110 direct drive that looked terribly decrepit when I got it. As standard it was quite nice, but stripping it out of the nasty plastic plinth did wonders for the sound quality. All its original electronics were housed inside the plinth which was made from 30mm oak. The arm is a carbon fibre twin tube arm I made, I made the aluminim bearing and adjustable aluminium cartridge mount with simple hand tools. The tower it stood on was an integral part of the design, and had holes drilled up through the bottom with silicon injected to control and damp resonances sent back up the arm and through the bearing.
Here is my sadly missed Garrard 401 in a 30mm acrylic plinth. The arm is a Victor UA5045 which i rewired with Transfi litz cable. The legs were made from large chunks of beech and spiked on the bottom. Not shown here was the bottom plinth it stood on, a massive 35mm slate slab which i kept after the deck was again sold due to me getting made redundant.
It sounded really special .......................
It sounded really special .......................
Here is another TD150 mk1, this time i replinthed it in solid beech and made it oversized again to accomodate a 10cm armboard. I added a sonus formula 4 unipivot tonearm and again it was sold shortly after it was built. The missus wanted me to free up some space and apparently i had too many turntables............ One can never have too many turntables in my opinion.
Here is another creation, not elegant in any way shape or form, but it sounded superb. A Lenco GL75 in a twin tier slate plinth. The legs were solid beech, and the decidedly odd arm was a high mass perspex unipivot i made specially for the denon dl103. It was a lash up, note the kids toy giving it something to rest on.
Here is one of my very early experiments in building my own gear. This was infact built from an LP12! (sacrelige i hear you cry). The arm was a high mass design i built to get some control over the denon dl103. Built in 3 sections, the large section held the bearing and arm and was a laminate of perspex and birch ply. The left hand section was the same and held the Linn motor and Valhalla power supply, and it all sat on an adjustable base. It was a wonderful deck but was broken up to make some money off the bits.
Here is a pic of a bought turntable, this is my jbe slate direct drive as i bought it. As you can see, some berk had butchered the arm cutout, so i made a plate from carbon fibre to cover the hole and allow fitment of a sonus formula 4 unipivot, and later a rega rb250. At the moment its psu is poorly so its waiting for some attention on the work bench.
There are more decks ive built lurking in my photo files somewhere, i'll add these when i can find them. i still cant quite believe how much stuff i built!
I love this hobby!
I love this hobby!