perhaps some clarity...
Ideally each cartridge would have a different headshell. But as long as the distance between the points (I call this "Lateral distance") is smaller than the between the forward single hole and the line created by connecting the 2 cartridge mounting holes, then everything should be fine. If the Lateral distance is greater than this distance, you run the risk of creating noise in the record groove.
Ideally each cartridge would have a different headshell. But as long as the distance between the points (I call this "Lateral distance") is smaller than the between the forward single hole and the line created by connecting the 2 cartridge mounting holes, then everything should be fine. If the Lateral distance is greater than this distance, you run the risk of creating noise in the record groove.
Attachments
hey, everybody seems to be getting busy.
guys: Well it seems their are a few more arms being built out there...
They all look very good to me. I do prefer to not use a fitting such as what sled has used, but I understand the reasons for it in his case (and others' too when creating some sort of azimuth adjustment).
Perhaps discussions concerning the sound of the arm and any comparisons that have been done can be brought into the thread (or a new thread created?).
guys: Well it seems their are a few more arms being built out there...
They all look very good to me. I do prefer to not use a fitting such as what sled has used, but I understand the reasons for it in his case (and others' too when creating some sort of azimuth adjustment).
Perhaps discussions concerning the sound of the arm and any comparisons that have been done can be brought into the thread (or a new thread created?).
Hello Folks
This is where I throw a spanner in the works. Some of you may have seen my contribution to the WTL thread. If not-have a look. The upshot is that although I am mightily impressed with my unipivot (as noted in my contributions to this thread) I have just completed over the last couple of weeks my version of the WT. I've built quite a number of versions over the past few months. I consider the WT clone to be the better of the two-in soundstaging, presence (it's like I've turned the volume up a couple of notches), detail (I've never heard some of the low level detail on The Wall so clearly before), bass-which starts and stops so quickly etc..................... And this is before I've actually attached the headshell properly to the arm- it's a loose 'push fit' at present and needs fitting properly with a bolt and superglue.
Don't get me wrong-both are super arms and outperform many of the commercial designs (I know, I've owned a lot of them previously)-it's just that my WT clone takes things to another level.
Chris
This is where I throw a spanner in the works. Some of you may have seen my contribution to the WTL thread. If not-have a look. The upshot is that although I am mightily impressed with my unipivot (as noted in my contributions to this thread) I have just completed over the last couple of weeks my version of the WT. I've built quite a number of versions over the past few months. I consider the WT clone to be the better of the two-in soundstaging, presence (it's like I've turned the volume up a couple of notches), detail (I've never heard some of the low level detail on The Wall so clearly before), bass-which starts and stops so quickly etc..................... And this is before I've actually attached the headshell properly to the arm- it's a loose 'push fit' at present and needs fitting properly with a bolt and superglue.
Don't get me wrong-both are super arms and outperform many of the commercial designs (I know, I've owned a lot of them previously)-it's just that my WT clone takes things to another level.
Chris
and now the fun begins 
Chris: Just remember the specific goals of the 219 vs. other tonearms: the use of existing (but better) materials and "found" objects to improve Charles Altmann's "joke" tonearm.
No doubt the WTL arm is a great arm, and depending how closely you clone it, should be a solid performer (I have never heard one, but a friend owns one and really loves it). Each iteration of Bill Firebaugh's tonearm has small improvements over the previous one.
As to the sound: As I pointed out earlier I might add that your arm, although similar to the 219, isn't. The 219 has an internal female bearing cup and doesn't use anything but the tube as part of the arm wand itself. I could suggest that the additional items in contact with the arm tube could colour the sound in any number of ways. This is not intended to be a "slight" of any sort, Chris, just an observation
John ALSR: Yes to your points as listed.
All: And this is where your mileage may vary, should you wander from my interpretation of Altmann's design.
Chris: Just remember the specific goals of the 219 vs. other tonearms: the use of existing (but better) materials and "found" objects to improve Charles Altmann's "joke" tonearm.
No doubt the WTL arm is a great arm, and depending how closely you clone it, should be a solid performer (I have never heard one, but a friend owns one and really loves it). Each iteration of Bill Firebaugh's tonearm has small improvements over the previous one.
As to the sound: As I pointed out earlier I might add that your arm, although similar to the 219, isn't. The 219 has an internal female bearing cup and doesn't use anything but the tube as part of the arm wand itself. I could suggest that the additional items in contact with the arm tube could colour the sound in any number of ways. This is not intended to be a "slight" of any sort, Chris, just an observation
John ALSR: Yes to your points as listed.
All: And this is where your mileage may vary, should you wander from my interpretation of Altmann's design.
Stew, I was able Thread the Cedar Arrow Shaft Arm to set the Female, but the Carbon Arm is only 5/8" O.D. and it cannot be Threaded...At first I thought of drilling larger, then Epoxy setting the Female Screw...But, looking at the Shaft I could see that its Wall Thickness is not enough for that...So, that's why I used a $2.00 Aluminum Volume Knob for the Pivot...It's drilled Thru for the Shaft, then Top to Bottom for the Pivot, and angled for the Outriggers which also Cinch the Pivot to the Shaft...Can a Carbon Shaft be used without doing this?
Hello Stew
fully understand what you are saying and my comments are simply subjective listening results based on my experiences. In no way do I infer one is inferior to the other. You requested comments on listening experiences-I've given mine- my design differs from yours in the headshell mainly-still can't get my head round your thoughts on cartridge mounting (I'll have further thoughts as I walk the dog today)-and it's a great performer-what more can I say?
Chris
fully understand what you are saying and my comments are simply subjective listening results based on my experiences. In no way do I infer one is inferior to the other. You requested comments on listening experiences-I've given mine- my design differs from yours in the headshell mainly-still can't get my head round your thoughts on cartridge mounting (I'll have further thoughts as I walk the dog today)-and it's a great performer-what more can I say?
Chris
Female bearing
My 2 penarth's worth,
This may seem like a lot of trouble to go to but it's very rewarding...In case you've missed the way I did my female part of the bearing.
And it doesn't get much simpler, well cheeper,
I used the brass end cap from a blown fuse.
To find out if it is Brass scratch the side & if it looks slightly yellow it is brass.
Q, Why Brass cos it's a very good material & as good as it gets, for this kind of application.
All you do is,
1 Carefully drill an appropriate size hole in the tube, i.e. a good snug for the fuse end cap.
2 break glass fuse. I found crunching the glass between a pair of pliers quite satisfying.
3 hold end cap very firmly but without squeezing or squashing it.
4 Drill out any left over glass, the drilling is quite nice to do (but do ware glasses) & can be done by hand so you can Feel the glass, crunching & breaking, (I love the sound of breaking Glass) Use a slightly smaller drill for this part,
Next use a closer fitting drill to clean out the fuse wire then the solder at the bottom of the cap. Do this part carefully till you begin to see shiny Brass. You should also get a depression at the bottom of the cap, This is a good thing.
If your drill has left a to flat bottom right in the centre. then you can use something pointy to VERY CAREFULLY make a sharper indent.
5 now glue this into pre drilled hole in arm tube. A drop of epoxy onto the end cap & little on the sides.
6 job done.....but if you f....d up the first one you still have the other end of the fuse to play with to get it right....
Jay
____
My 2 penarth's worth,
This may seem like a lot of trouble to go to but it's very rewarding...In case you've missed the way I did my female part of the bearing.
And it doesn't get much simpler, well cheeper,
I used the brass end cap from a blown fuse.
To find out if it is Brass scratch the side & if it looks slightly yellow it is brass.
Q, Why Brass cos it's a very good material & as good as it gets, for this kind of application.
All you do is,
1 Carefully drill an appropriate size hole in the tube, i.e. a good snug for the fuse end cap.
2 break glass fuse. I found crunching the glass between a pair of pliers quite satisfying.
3 hold end cap very firmly but without squeezing or squashing it.
4 Drill out any left over glass, the drilling is quite nice to do (but do ware glasses) & can be done by hand so you can Feel the glass, crunching & breaking, (I love the sound of breaking Glass) Use a slightly smaller drill for this part,
Next use a closer fitting drill to clean out the fuse wire then the solder at the bottom of the cap. Do this part carefully till you begin to see shiny Brass. You should also get a depression at the bottom of the cap, This is a good thing.
If your drill has left a to flat bottom right in the centre. then you can use something pointy to VERY CAREFULLY make a sharper indent.
5 now glue this into pre drilled hole in arm tube. A drop of epoxy onto the end cap & little on the sides.
6 job done.....but if you f....d up the first one you still have the other end of the fuse to play with to get it right....
Jay
____
Almost inspired me...?
Helmuth and all folks unsure of themselves: This arm is so easy to build, you should build one even if you decide to never use it, as an exercise. The cost is so low, and the results are very good. Even if all you do is play around with the bearing and arm tube. It will amaze you how good the bearing is.
Jay1234:The use of a brass fuse end is a good one, I think. I would still glue it into a small piece of dowel so that the cap is very secure to the dowel and the dowel is very secure to the arm tube (I use Gorilla Glue polyurethane glue which expands as it cures).
ChrisG: I was pointing out that your arm is not constructed exactly in the same manner as mine. It could be better, it could be worse. And as I stated, I do know many who love the WTL tonearms and I have no doubt that your clone sounds excellent. I'll have to try my hand at one and see how they might compare.
All: I may be starting a new job this week, one that will actually pay me enough to really enjoy this hobby (it can help finance some tools that I can use to improve the arms even if I am not successful with my Kickstarter project). As all of the work will require me to be away from home for up to a month at a time, I may not do much in terms of updating the design, or responding to PMs or emails in a timely fashion. Just know that as long as I have access to wifi or a direct link to the Interweb, I will respond. Some of locations can be literally "in the middle of nowhere", so please be a little patient.
Helmuth and all folks unsure of themselves: This arm is so easy to build, you should build one even if you decide to never use it, as an exercise. The cost is so low, and the results are very good. Even if all you do is play around with the bearing and arm tube. It will amaze you how good the bearing is.
Jay1234:The use of a brass fuse end is a good one, I think. I would still glue it into a small piece of dowel so that the cap is very secure to the dowel and the dowel is very secure to the arm tube (I use Gorilla Glue polyurethane glue which expands as it cures).
ChrisG: I was pointing out that your arm is not constructed exactly in the same manner as mine. It could be better, it could be worse. And as I stated, I do know many who love the WTL tonearms and I have no doubt that your clone sounds excellent. I'll have to try my hand at one and see how they might compare.
All: I may be starting a new job this week, one that will actually pay me enough to really enjoy this hobby (it can help finance some tools that I can use to improve the arms even if I am not successful with my Kickstarter project). As all of the work will require me to be away from home for up to a month at a time, I may not do much in terms of updating the design, or responding to PMs or emails in a timely fashion. Just know that as long as I have access to wifi or a direct link to the Interweb, I will respond. Some of locations can be literally "in the middle of nowhere", so please be a little patient.
I agree it REALY is a simple design & to implement it. What you put in is what you get out.... & sometimes it can be very surpriseing, just what does come out.
Stew,
The fuse cap is epoxied into the arm tube so is very secure. With this method It takes the ball of the baring to within about 1 - 1.5mm of the top of the arm tube, so adding to its overall stability. No bad thing with a designe that's inherently unstable!!!!!
Jay
Stew,
The fuse cap is epoxied into the arm tube so is very secure. With this method It takes the ball of the baring to within about 1 - 1.5mm of the top of the arm tube, so adding to its overall stability. No bad thing with a designe that's inherently unstable!!!!!
Jay
thanks guys...
...hoping this one works out (or rather that I work out....). It pays well enough that I could make a comfortable living working 60 or so days a year. 100 days a year would be better, but I'm trying to be pragmatic. My wife deserves some comfort in her life and this would do it.
I took a picture of what I think the the 219 will end up looking like with a proper mount. I will stick with either a strung hung weight, else an offset circular one, or a trapezoidal one (which I quite like and should be easy enough to have made). The string hung one is the best sounding one (I think).
As of yet I don't see the need for anti-skate. I suspect any attempt to create an anti-skating device will upset the arm's bearing (it really is very low friction and not much effort is required to move it). I suppose I could just use the force that the wiring can provide if twisted.
Photobucket is being stubborn, so I can't upload the picture. I will as soon as I get it figured out....
...hoping this one works out (or rather that I work out....). It pays well enough that I could make a comfortable living working 60 or so days a year. 100 days a year would be better, but I'm trying to be pragmatic. My wife deserves some comfort in her life and this would do it.
I took a picture of what I think the the 219 will end up looking like with a proper mount. I will stick with either a strung hung weight, else an offset circular one, or a trapezoidal one (which I quite like and should be easy enough to have made). The string hung one is the best sounding one (I think).
As of yet I don't see the need for anti-skate. I suspect any attempt to create an anti-skating device will upset the arm's bearing (it really is very low friction and not much effort is required to move it). I suppose I could just use the force that the wiring can provide if twisted.
Photobucket is being stubborn, so I can't upload the picture. I will as soon as I get it figured out....
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Kickstarter...and a couple more comments.
guys: I haven't release my Kickstarter project yet, I merely added a link to Kickstarter for those not familiar with it. Once I think I have the arm developed completely (or rather the aesthetics better developed), I'll release the project. I should be able to put together a short video as well, including an example of a prototype playing. As I only have a point and shoot camera that allows for video The quality of the images and sound may not be very good.
Helmuth: based on your loudspeaker construction abilities, I can;t imagine you having any difficulties building a 219. Your monitor project reminds me of a Klipsch Heresy. Moray's brother has (or had) a pair that they had modified through the wazoo whilst still retaing the factory look. They were spectacular to listen to (via Quad heavily modded Quad current dumpling amplifiers.
Helmuth: how do you like the horns and HE speakers driven by the Sony V-fet? I have a Yamaha B-2 and really love it.
guys: I haven't release my Kickstarter project yet, I merely added a link to Kickstarter for those not familiar with it. Once I think I have the arm developed completely (or rather the aesthetics better developed), I'll release the project. I should be able to put together a short video as well, including an example of a prototype playing. As I only have a point and shoot camera that allows for video The quality of the images and sound may not be very good.
Helmuth: based on your loudspeaker construction abilities, I can;t imagine you having any difficulties building a 219. Your monitor project reminds me of a Klipsch Heresy. Moray's brother has (or had) a pair that they had modified through the wazoo whilst still retaing the factory look. They were spectacular to listen to (via Quad heavily modded Quad current dumpling amplifiers.
Helmuth: how do you like the horns and HE speakers driven by the Sony V-fet? I have a Yamaha B-2 and really love it.
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