I have - as I promissed before - made a nice example of the turntable and the tonearm (image).
The housing of the motor, bowl and support of the bowl are made of plastic.
The plinth of the turntable is MDF.
The housing of the motor, bowl and support of the bowl are made of plastic.
The plinth of the turntable is MDF.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Brasnwood,
At the moment the length of the tonearm wiring is 1 m – formerly 50 cm – so there is slightly more noise from the amplifier than before (ratio of the noise/signal is getting worser when the resistance of the connection increases). So I have to turn the volume a bit higher to get the same output from the speakers. And – because of that – I now can hear a very little bit of noise (my MC connection to the amp has a signal/noise ratio of 87 dB; not bad).
Besides of that, the (lack of) flexibility of the tonearm wiring is a problem for this kind of tonearm. The forces that drive the movement of the sphere are very small so every resistance of the wiring have to be compensated by some adaption. Nevertheless, the quality of the sound is so well that it is very attractive to get everything “perfect”.
Litz wire is not so much twisted, that’s nice because untwisted thin strands of wiring are the most flexible. Nevertheless, there is more resistance against deforming than the untwisted strands of wire I used before (before I used silver wiring; 7 strands of 0,06 mm). At the moment I use Litz copper wire of 30 strands (each 0,04 mm thick). I bought it on eBay so I don’t know the manufacturer. May be your Litz wire is more flexible than mine.
The tonearm keeps track when I play a normal LP (about 22 – 25 minutes recorded music). But when I try a recent high quality recording (only 10 minutes recorded music at one side of an LP) the sphere is to slow. Increasing the angle of the horizontal bar will compensate for the resistance of the wiring but if I want to increase the angle of the horizontal bar a lot, I have to lengthen the tonearm (from 400 mm to ~420 mm) because of the properties of the sphere and bowl. So I have to make another tonearm if I choose this solution. Another solution is to bring the tonearm wiring closer to the sphere (a hole in the armtube to let the wiring go out). Or... a shorter armtube behind the sphere (your first tonearm).
But the most attractive solution is trying to find a better “support” for the wiring. So now I am experimenting with different lengths of the wiring, the horizontal and vertical position along the hypothetical line parallel to the horizontal bar, etc., etc. So it will take a couple of days before I know what I have to do to get everything o.k.
At the moment the length of the tonearm wiring is 1 m – formerly 50 cm – so there is slightly more noise from the amplifier than before (ratio of the noise/signal is getting worser when the resistance of the connection increases). So I have to turn the volume a bit higher to get the same output from the speakers. And – because of that – I now can hear a very little bit of noise (my MC connection to the amp has a signal/noise ratio of 87 dB; not bad).
Besides of that, the (lack of) flexibility of the tonearm wiring is a problem for this kind of tonearm. The forces that drive the movement of the sphere are very small so every resistance of the wiring have to be compensated by some adaption. Nevertheless, the quality of the sound is so well that it is very attractive to get everything “perfect”.
Litz wire is not so much twisted, that’s nice because untwisted thin strands of wiring are the most flexible. Nevertheless, there is more resistance against deforming than the untwisted strands of wire I used before (before I used silver wiring; 7 strands of 0,06 mm). At the moment I use Litz copper wire of 30 strands (each 0,04 mm thick). I bought it on eBay so I don’t know the manufacturer. May be your Litz wire is more flexible than mine.
The tonearm keeps track when I play a normal LP (about 22 – 25 minutes recorded music). But when I try a recent high quality recording (only 10 minutes recorded music at one side of an LP) the sphere is to slow. Increasing the angle of the horizontal bar will compensate for the resistance of the wiring but if I want to increase the angle of the horizontal bar a lot, I have to lengthen the tonearm (from 400 mm to ~420 mm) because of the properties of the sphere and bowl. So I have to make another tonearm if I choose this solution. Another solution is to bring the tonearm wiring closer to the sphere (a hole in the armtube to let the wiring go out). Or... a shorter armtube behind the sphere (your first tonearm).
But the most attractive solution is trying to find a better “support” for the wiring. So now I am experimenting with different lengths of the wiring, the horizontal and vertical position along the hypothetical line parallel to the horizontal bar, etc., etc. So it will take a couple of days before I know what I have to do to get everything o.k.
Dyolf,
The turntable is on a shelf of a cupboard. So I cannot make pictures from above (there is another shelf above the turntable). Besides of that, I have to use the flash because there is not enough light to make a photograph without using the flash. And the surface of the water inside the bowl is reflecting everything... So I have tried some positions from aside and this picture is the best result.
Wait a couple of days and then I will take the turntable from the shelf to make some better pictures.
The turntable is on a shelf of a cupboard. So I cannot make pictures from above (there is another shelf above the turntable). Besides of that, I have to use the flash because there is not enough light to make a photograph without using the flash. And the surface of the water inside the bowl is reflecting everything... So I have tried some positions from aside and this picture is the best result.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Wait a couple of days and then I will take the turntable from the shelf to make some better pictures.
The only friction in your design, is the contact between the horisontal rod and the vertical "stag". Have you considered ways to avoid this friction?
Regarding the wires, I would suggest to try to exit the top of the tube at the "pivot" point, and hang the wires from a gallow 15cm. above the arm. Nice pic.
Steen
Dyolf,
I have tried the wiring from above at the centre of the sphere (see the image below). I have untwisted these strands of silver wire because the tonearm didn’t work well with untwisted strands. It works perfect with those untwisted silver strands, but... it is not handy all those very thin threads above the sphere you can hardly see (0,06 mm each).
The idea of Brasnwood to drop the tonearm wiring down – so it is a part of the counterweight – is a very nice solution that promises an easy DIY for everyone who want to make this tonearm. Unfortunately, the Litz wire I have used is not flexible enough to get everything real perfect.
Nevertheless, it has to be perfect because when you put the stylus on the record at the outside groove, you hear nothing. It is completely silence (Brasnwood calls this “black silence”). With every other tonearm I had before – even SME – I can hear a soft noise out of the speakers when I put the stylus at the outer groove at the beginning of the record.
So other tonearms are forcing the stylus to “scratch” trough the groove. This tonearm doesn’t. In other words, this is the proof that the quality of the reproduced sound is far better than all the fixed pivot tonearms and all the tangential tonearms too (air bearing, etc.). If you want a show of terrible “scratchers”, see the topic http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/165878-angling-90-tangential-pivot-tonearms.html.
The pull of the record changes all the time because of the local modulation of the groove. With other words: the friction between stylus and groove will change in exactly the same way. Therefore, it is necessary that the tonearm immediately anticipates to every change of the modulation. If the resistance of the copper wiring against deforming is strong, the anticipation is slow. May be we cannot hear it very well, but why shouldn’t I try to get the best possible result?
Because the problem is not the design of the tonearm, the problem is that I cannot buy very flexible tonearm wiring with a very low electrical resistance somewhere in a shop or at the internet.
At the moment I have solved most of the problems about the resistance of the Litz wiring. But personally I want a better result. It will cost a couple of days but then I will post the “final solution”.
I have tried the wiring from above at the centre of the sphere (see the image below). I have untwisted these strands of silver wire because the tonearm didn’t work well with untwisted strands. It works perfect with those untwisted silver strands, but... it is not handy all those very thin threads above the sphere you can hardly see (0,06 mm each).
The idea of Brasnwood to drop the tonearm wiring down – so it is a part of the counterweight – is a very nice solution that promises an easy DIY for everyone who want to make this tonearm. Unfortunately, the Litz wire I have used is not flexible enough to get everything real perfect.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Nevertheless, it has to be perfect because when you put the stylus on the record at the outside groove, you hear nothing. It is completely silence (Brasnwood calls this “black silence”). With every other tonearm I had before – even SME – I can hear a soft noise out of the speakers when I put the stylus at the outer groove at the beginning of the record.
So other tonearms are forcing the stylus to “scratch” trough the groove. This tonearm doesn’t. In other words, this is the proof that the quality of the reproduced sound is far better than all the fixed pivot tonearms and all the tangential tonearms too (air bearing, etc.). If you want a show of terrible “scratchers”, see the topic http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/165878-angling-90-tangential-pivot-tonearms.html.
The pull of the record changes all the time because of the local modulation of the groove. With other words: the friction between stylus and groove will change in exactly the same way. Therefore, it is necessary that the tonearm immediately anticipates to every change of the modulation. If the resistance of the copper wiring against deforming is strong, the anticipation is slow. May be we cannot hear it very well, but why shouldn’t I try to get the best possible result?
Because the problem is not the design of the tonearm, the problem is that I cannot buy very flexible tonearm wiring with a very low electrical resistance somewhere in a shop or at the internet.
At the moment I have solved most of the problems about the resistance of the Litz wiring. But personally I want a better result. It will cost a couple of days but then I will post the “final solution”.
Thanks for the hint!
But… what the manufacturers of tiny earphones are doing, is changing the electronics so it works well with wiring with a higher electrical resistance (see Ohm's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Furthermore, most of these earphones have only 1 thread as the ground wire for both channels. Unfortunately, HiFi-equipment – like phono cartridges and phono amplifiers – is not designed in this way.
But… what the manufacturers of tiny earphones are doing, is changing the electronics so it works well with wiring with a higher electrical resistance (see Ohm's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Furthermore, most of these earphones have only 1 thread as the ground wire for both channels. Unfortunately, HiFi-equipment – like phono cartridges and phono amplifiers – is not designed in this way.
I had promised to post “the solution” about the use of 30 strands Litz wire of 0,04 mm each for the tonearm wiring. Nevertheless, it is a long story so I will describe it in more than 1 post.
First of all, what have I done to secure that no other influences are the cause of a wrong trajectory of the sphere along the horizontal bar?
Well, I have disassembled the tonearm wiring and the vertical “roller bar” of the tonearm.Thereafter, I have polished every surface area of the roller bar again so it sparks like a jewel.
I have shorten the tonearm wiring to 85 cm. Inside the inner tube of the tonearm all the threads are parallel to each other. No threads are twisted. The same I have done to the 4 threads from the end of the tonearm to the RCA-connectors.
I had some minor troubles with the quality of the sound. I thought that the increased length of the tonearm wiring – more electrical resistance – slightly influenced the noise ratio of the amplifier (more volume for the same output).
So I have soldered every connection again, using acetone for weakening the isolation of every single strand at the ends of the Litz wire and alcohol for cleaning the tin plated ends (I use an 11 Watt solder iron). Of course I have controlled every connection with a voltameter and a magnifier.
In the centre of the inner tube there was a small drop of glue so the 4 threads of the tonearm wiring touched each other at that point. I have removed the bubble of glue so the inner tube has no small blockage any more.
And now the very bad news: I can hear the difference...
The slightly audible noise is disappeared. Conclusion: when the 4 wires of a tonearm has only very thin isolation it is not wise to transit them through a very small hole. There is too much mutual electromagnetically influence.
I will describe all the different possibilities I have tried but the final conclusion is: the solution of Brassnwood – to drop the wiring down – is the easiest and most satisfying solution to handle with the mechanical resistance of the Lits wire against deforming.
First of all, what have I done to secure that no other influences are the cause of a wrong trajectory of the sphere along the horizontal bar?
Well, I have disassembled the tonearm wiring and the vertical “roller bar” of the tonearm.Thereafter, I have polished every surface area of the roller bar again so it sparks like a jewel.
I have shorten the tonearm wiring to 85 cm. Inside the inner tube of the tonearm all the threads are parallel to each other. No threads are twisted. The same I have done to the 4 threads from the end of the tonearm to the RCA-connectors.
I had some minor troubles with the quality of the sound. I thought that the increased length of the tonearm wiring – more electrical resistance – slightly influenced the noise ratio of the amplifier (more volume for the same output).
So I have soldered every connection again, using acetone for weakening the isolation of every single strand at the ends of the Litz wire and alcohol for cleaning the tin plated ends (I use an 11 Watt solder iron). Of course I have controlled every connection with a voltameter and a magnifier.
In the centre of the inner tube there was a small drop of glue so the 4 threads of the tonearm wiring touched each other at that point. I have removed the bubble of glue so the inner tube has no small blockage any more.
And now the very bad news: I can hear the difference...
The slightly audible noise is disappeared. Conclusion: when the 4 wires of a tonearm has only very thin isolation it is not wise to transit them through a very small hole. There is too much mutual electromagnetically influence.
I will describe all the different possibilities I have tried but the final conclusion is: the solution of Brassnwood – to drop the wiring down – is the easiest and most satisfying solution to handle with the mechanical resistance of the Lits wire against deforming.
@oshifis,
No, I haven’t tried silicon oil. And that’s because silicon oil with the lowest friction – M5 – is 5 times “thicker” than water. Therefore, the tonearm will become very slow when it has to correct misalignment. And that’s not “high fidelity”.
There are some another reasons too! You cannot prevent the dust from falling down into the bowl. So after some time you want to clean the bowl and refresh the liquid (and throw the old oil into the toilet or the sink...). Silicon oil is not a liquid we like into the waste water treatment of the cities. Fortunately M5 silicon oil is not so cheap (1 litre costs about 30 euro without shipping costs).
Fishing line... First, it will not decrease the friction between the roller bar and the horizontal bar (that will be nearly unchanged). But there is a another drawback: adjusting – and moving the tonearm to the startposition – will become more difficult.
Nevertheless, I have tried this solution long before and found that both centres of the elliptical are to be found within the start and end position of the sphere. So it will be a hard job to get easy solutions to line everything up (and without any profit).
Besides of that, because of the metal horizontal bar I don’t need an armlift. When you push upon the armtube – at the right side of the sphere – the cartridge get straight upwards. Because you better use 2 hands to put the stylus at the record – the sphere is not at a fixed position – an armlift is not a real gain. Yesterday I have decided to remove the one I had attached to the bowl and only will keep the support of the armtube.
It is nice to know that it is not easy to damage your records with this tonearm. I have made a lot of accidents when I – lazily – changed the position of the bowl without stopping the turntable and lifting the stylus from the record. But none of these accidents have resulted into an audible “crack”. And that’s just because there is no fixed pivot that forces the armtube in a rigid position.
The fact that this tonearm doesn’t scratch the groove like fixed tonearms, will reduce the wear of the groove considerably. Personally I estimate the wear about 10 – 15% of the wear caused by fixed pivot tonearms.
Moreover, I have tried to decrease the VTF of my phono cartridges. And when I lower the weight beneath the minimum value advised by the manufacturer I cannot hear a decrease of the quality of the sound. Unfortunately, most of the styli are not suitable for this trick because lowering the VTF will change the angle of the cantilever in relation to the surface of the record (vertical misalignment of the stylus into the groove).
No, I haven’t tried silicon oil. And that’s because silicon oil with the lowest friction – M5 – is 5 times “thicker” than water. Therefore, the tonearm will become very slow when it has to correct misalignment. And that’s not “high fidelity”.
There are some another reasons too! You cannot prevent the dust from falling down into the bowl. So after some time you want to clean the bowl and refresh the liquid (and throw the old oil into the toilet or the sink...). Silicon oil is not a liquid we like into the waste water treatment of the cities. Fortunately M5 silicon oil is not so cheap (1 litre costs about 30 euro without shipping costs).
Fishing line... First, it will not decrease the friction between the roller bar and the horizontal bar (that will be nearly unchanged). But there is a another drawback: adjusting – and moving the tonearm to the startposition – will become more difficult.
Nevertheless, I have tried this solution long before and found that both centres of the elliptical are to be found within the start and end position of the sphere. So it will be a hard job to get easy solutions to line everything up (and without any profit).
Besides of that, because of the metal horizontal bar I don’t need an armlift. When you push upon the armtube – at the right side of the sphere – the cartridge get straight upwards. Because you better use 2 hands to put the stylus at the record – the sphere is not at a fixed position – an armlift is not a real gain. Yesterday I have decided to remove the one I had attached to the bowl and only will keep the support of the armtube.
It is nice to know that it is not easy to damage your records with this tonearm. I have made a lot of accidents when I – lazily – changed the position of the bowl without stopping the turntable and lifting the stylus from the record. But none of these accidents have resulted into an audible “crack”. And that’s just because there is no fixed pivot that forces the armtube in a rigid position.
The fact that this tonearm doesn’t scratch the groove like fixed tonearms, will reduce the wear of the groove considerably. Personally I estimate the wear about 10 – 15% of the wear caused by fixed pivot tonearms.
Moreover, I have tried to decrease the VTF of my phono cartridges. And when I lower the weight beneath the minimum value advised by the manufacturer I cannot hear a decrease of the quality of the sound. Unfortunately, most of the styli are not suitable for this trick because lowering the VTF will change the angle of the cantilever in relation to the surface of the record (vertical misalignment of the stylus into the groove).
When we buy a turntable we only have to put it on the shelf, adjust the tonearm and plug the turntable in the wall and the amplifier.
Therefore I like it to connect the tonearm wiring to a small box, mounted at one side of the support of the bowl to get a compact turntable (see the image from aside of the turntable). Although I knew that the Litz wire is not so flexible as untwisted silver wiring, I have tried to get this “imaginary simplicity”. Furthermore, when someone will DIY the tonearm and have very flexible tonearm wiring, he probably will try a compact solution and then it is helpful when someone else has already described some possibilities.
The graph below shows the forces that influence the movement of the sphere along the straight horizontal bar, just because the angle between “roller bar” and horizontal bar increases all along the trajectory of the sphere (line AB: angle at the start = ½ angle at the end of the groove, therefore the friction decreases). So when we bend the horizontal bar in a way that the angle between roller bar and horizontal bar will be constant, we get the black dotted horizontal line. The bandwidth is the area where the cartridge is able to correct any misalignment of the sphere in relation to the stylus.
When we connect the Litz wire to the box (image above) we introduce a heavy resistance against deforming – movement of the sphere – and it is clear that the tonearm will lose track near the beginning of the spiral groove (it comes above the bandwidth).
But... we can shift the position of the 4 threads and when we bring them to the middle of the trajectory of the front side of the tonearm – side of the counterweight – we get the red dotted “V”. And it is clear: the Litz wire will immediately pull the sphere to the middle of the horizontal bar.
Therefore I like it to connect the tonearm wiring to a small box, mounted at one side of the support of the bowl to get a compact turntable (see the image from aside of the turntable). Although I knew that the Litz wire is not so flexible as untwisted silver wiring, I have tried to get this “imaginary simplicity”. Furthermore, when someone will DIY the tonearm and have very flexible tonearm wiring, he probably will try a compact solution and then it is helpful when someone else has already described some possibilities.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The graph below shows the forces that influence the movement of the sphere along the straight horizontal bar, just because the angle between “roller bar” and horizontal bar increases all along the trajectory of the sphere (line AB: angle at the start = ½ angle at the end of the groove, therefore the friction decreases). So when we bend the horizontal bar in a way that the angle between roller bar and horizontal bar will be constant, we get the black dotted horizontal line. The bandwidth is the area where the cartridge is able to correct any misalignment of the sphere in relation to the stylus.
When we connect the Litz wire to the box (image above) we introduce a heavy resistance against deforming – movement of the sphere – and it is clear that the tonearm will lose track near the beginning of the spiral groove (it comes above the bandwidth).
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
But... we can shift the position of the 4 threads and when we bring them to the middle of the trajectory of the front side of the tonearm – side of the counterweight – we get the red dotted “V”. And it is clear: the Litz wire will immediately pull the sphere to the middle of the horizontal bar.
What will happen when we divide the 4 threads of the tonearm wiring along the length of the trajectory? (image below) Well, first we have to understand some relations about the trajectory of the stylus, the sphere and the end of the armtube.
The graphic below shows the difference between the radii of the beginning and end of the modulated groove of an LP (nearly 86 mm). Because the platter has a constant speed, half the trajectory of the stylus is about half the duration of the record. But that’s not the situation when we observe the movement of the sphere and the movement of the end of the armtube. The green dotted “vertical” line shows “half time” and it is clear that the forces – caused by wiring at the end of the armtube – are not linear in relation to the movement of the sphere. Therefore we have to conclude that calculating the right position of the tonearm wiring – the resulting forces – will be a waste of time. It will partly become a matter of trial.
The graph below shows the shift of the 4 threads of the Litz wire all along the trajectory of the end of the armtube. The length between the rightmost and the leftmost thread is about 42 mm. When I divide the resistance of the single threads against deforming in the graph and adjust some values to the forces I can add the 4 vertical values and divide the result by 4 to get the resultant force at that position (red points).
When we look back to the graph in the post before, it is clear that those red points are above the bandwidth of the horizontal bar. But when we increase the angle between the roller bar and the horizontal bar the force that moves the sphere will increase so the bandwidth will raise vertically. Unfortunately, the width – range of correcting forces – will decrease too.
When I tried this solution – with a straight horizontal bar – there was a lot of misalignment. And worsen, the flexibility of the correction of the position by the tonearm was nearly gone. The stylus was constantly “drifting” between underhang and overhang in relation to the spindle. So I asked myself what will happen when I change the position of the wiring from the end of the armtube to a point just behind the sphere/bowl...
When you observe the first graph in this post you will see that this displacement of the wiring will increase the trajectory of the 4 threads. As a result there will be not much gain to get because decreasing the force and – at the same time – increasing the trajectory will not change a lot. But what will happen when I position the 4 threads parallel to the bowl (image below)?
When I tried this solution I had to conclude that the situation didn’t differ a lot in relation to the wiring at the end of the armtube. It can be done but the tonearm hardly will keep the right track. Only very flexible tonearm wiring will probably give a good result.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The graphic below shows the difference between the radii of the beginning and end of the modulated groove of an LP (nearly 86 mm). Because the platter has a constant speed, half the trajectory of the stylus is about half the duration of the record. But that’s not the situation when we observe the movement of the sphere and the movement of the end of the armtube. The green dotted “vertical” line shows “half time” and it is clear that the forces – caused by wiring at the end of the armtube – are not linear in relation to the movement of the sphere. Therefore we have to conclude that calculating the right position of the tonearm wiring – the resulting forces – will be a waste of time. It will partly become a matter of trial.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The graph below shows the shift of the 4 threads of the Litz wire all along the trajectory of the end of the armtube. The length between the rightmost and the leftmost thread is about 42 mm. When I divide the resistance of the single threads against deforming in the graph and adjust some values to the forces I can add the 4 vertical values and divide the result by 4 to get the resultant force at that position (red points).
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
When we look back to the graph in the post before, it is clear that those red points are above the bandwidth of the horizontal bar. But when we increase the angle between the roller bar and the horizontal bar the force that moves the sphere will increase so the bandwidth will raise vertically. Unfortunately, the width – range of correcting forces – will decrease too.
When I tried this solution – with a straight horizontal bar – there was a lot of misalignment. And worsen, the flexibility of the correction of the position by the tonearm was nearly gone. The stylus was constantly “drifting” between underhang and overhang in relation to the spindle. So I asked myself what will happen when I change the position of the wiring from the end of the armtube to a point just behind the sphere/bowl...
When you observe the first graph in this post you will see that this displacement of the wiring will increase the trajectory of the 4 threads. As a result there will be not much gain to get because decreasing the force and – at the same time – increasing the trajectory will not change a lot. But what will happen when I position the 4 threads parallel to the bowl (image below)?
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
When I tried this solution I had to conclude that the situation didn’t differ a lot in relation to the wiring at the end of the armtube. It can be done but the tonearm hardly will keep the right track. Only very flexible tonearm wiring will probably give a good result.
Back to the solution of Brassnwood (dropping down the threads). The image below shows the tonearm wiring “falling down” from the end of the armtube and than in a bow up to the RCA connectors. The horizontal bar is not bended so it is more difficult to get everything working well. As you will see at the photograph, metal wires don’t behave like ropes. They are too stiff to fall down in a straight line by their weight. Touching a thread will result in bending the thread a bit. And because a metal wire has far more resistance against deforming, every thread will act a bit like a spring.
Although I tried a lot of positions of the RCA connectors, the result was not perfect. So I decided to change the vertical position of the RCA-connectors into a horizontal position (see image below). The distance between the four threads about 14 mm (to get about 42 mm) and no longer a “full” bow of the threads. The result was very good.
I could reduce the angle between roller bar and horizontal bar a bit and the tonearm corrected misalignments quicker. Now I bended the horizontal bar to get a nearly perfect result. And indeed the tonearm kept the right position along the trajectory in relation to the centre of the spindle.
Therefore I decided to make this solution permanent and I took the box to attach the RCA-connectors. But when I was ready and observed the tonearm while I played an LP, I had to correct the position of the box several times before everything was perfect again. It seems a bit strange but moving the connectors only 1 cm from the right spot will influence the movement of the sphere. And... touching a thread of the Litz wire will bend it a bit and changes the existing balance too.
Fortunately there is a way to get nearly the right position of the RCA-connectors. In the image below you see the sphere and the bowl from above. The platter don’t rotate. When you put the stylus at the first modulated groove and pull the tonearm a bit backwards, the roller bar don’t touch the horizontal bar any more. Now only the force of the tonearm wiring is active and the sphere drifts to a position in the middle of the trajectory if the RCA connectors are at the right spot. So when you put the stylus at the last modulated groove the sphere have to drift to nearly the same position. That’s all.
Conclusion: the solution of Brassnwood to drop the tonearm wiring straight down is easy and gives a very, very good result.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Although I tried a lot of positions of the RCA connectors, the result was not perfect. So I decided to change the vertical position of the RCA-connectors into a horizontal position (see image below). The distance between the four threads about 14 mm (to get about 42 mm) and no longer a “full” bow of the threads. The result was very good.
I could reduce the angle between roller bar and horizontal bar a bit and the tonearm corrected misalignments quicker. Now I bended the horizontal bar to get a nearly perfect result. And indeed the tonearm kept the right position along the trajectory in relation to the centre of the spindle.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Therefore I decided to make this solution permanent and I took the box to attach the RCA-connectors. But when I was ready and observed the tonearm while I played an LP, I had to correct the position of the box several times before everything was perfect again. It seems a bit strange but moving the connectors only 1 cm from the right spot will influence the movement of the sphere. And... touching a thread of the Litz wire will bend it a bit and changes the existing balance too.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Fortunately there is a way to get nearly the right position of the RCA-connectors. In the image below you see the sphere and the bowl from above. The platter don’t rotate. When you put the stylus at the first modulated groove and pull the tonearm a bit backwards, the roller bar don’t touch the horizontal bar any more. Now only the force of the tonearm wiring is active and the sphere drifts to a position in the middle of the trajectory if the RCA connectors are at the right spot. So when you put the stylus at the last modulated groove the sphere have to drift to nearly the same position. That’s all.
Conclusion: the solution of Brassnwood to drop the tonearm wiring straight down is easy and gives a very, very good result.
@Dyolf,
I will make some pictures too but here you can find a video of the tonearm.
I have misaligned the bowl a bit so it is visible that the tonearm corrects itself only by the force (pull) of the rotating record. See Linear tonearm - YouTube
I will make some pictures too but here you can find a video of the tonearm.
I have misaligned the bowl a bit so it is visible that the tonearm corrects itself only by the force (pull) of the rotating record. See Linear tonearm - YouTube
Thanks Tom,
I must have been lucky when I first set my 'Floater' up but since I have rearranged my TT & arm, I am getting the 'sluggish' reaction from the arm/sphere so I will be experimenting as you have suggested.
Will update over the next couple of days
Cheers
GC
ps. enjoyed the you-tube clip
I must have been lucky when I first set my 'Floater' up but since I have rearranged my TT & arm, I am getting the 'sluggish' reaction from the arm/sphere so I will be experimenting as you have suggested.
Will update over the next couple of days
Cheers
GC
ps. enjoyed the you-tube clip
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