Building a table from Linn parts

[sleepy]

After a lot of jiggling about and upgrading various parts of my LP12 I have various spare parts which I thought will be a great basis to design my own turntable.
I have a spare bearing , inner platter , motor and various springs and bolts and a subchassis.i may not use all of these probably just the bearing, motor and inner platter.
i could then use my otter platter and lingo on either deck just by swapping them over.
Now down to ideas.
I don't want to go the linn route as I already have a full LP12, I was thinking more the fast and simple route say like a Rega P9 or other unsuspended decks.
But how to stop motor vibrations from getting into the bearing and arm?
Either a stand alone mass loaded motor, or maybe mount the motor on a plinth that is made of several layers, with the motor on one then an absorbant layer and then another layer with the bearing mounted on it.
The arm would be directly bolted to the plinth.Or how about cutouts like a Roksan to stop vibrations traveling along the plinth?
Maybe cutouts filled with vibration absorbing material like a RDC board would work , in fact I could buy an RDC board and drill holes in it and use that as a plinth.
So many ideas.
Has anyone here tried buliding a deck, what have you found to work and what theories as to design do you have?

[Raka]

Hi,

This seems to be a good idea. I have a TD160 and many times an idea to build a clone of a similar to linn deck passes in front of me. I think both are similar in the design, aren't they? Well, saving the distance, they are spring suspended, etc. I haven't already checked completely the DIY turntable thread, but as I don't have special tools, maybe I settle on clone some standard design. I'd like to buy a decent bearing from linn, do you know if this is possible? Any alternative? About the motor, I started a thread about the frequency mains that resulted in a power supply scheme that can be built without many problems (I will make it, but I'm busy now sourcing the ono components) so the power supply definition is mainly done (kind of). About the motor, I like the idea of the hole because i like the looking of a standard deck.
The plinth material?? I've seen many times the mdf, but...
I don't know nothing about the roksan arm fitting, how's this?
I've already sold all my tt's but the TD160 (so I have fresh money) and I'm very interested in builiding one like you say (unsuspended). I join the project!!

[wrankin]

I am also very interested in this discussion. I have been contemplating a rebuild of my Rega Planar-2 deck. Alot ot the Planar-2 upgrades have been discussed elsewhere, like upgrading the arm (new weight & wiring) and replacing the glass platter with acrylic, but I am also interested in building a new base to allow for better motor isolation.

I know that I could go spend $155 for the motor upgrade from Rega, but that doesn't deem in the DIY spirit. :-)

Like you, I was thinking of a design where the bearing and arm would a sub-plith, the motor would be mounted to a base plith and the sub plith would sit on top of this with some sort of isolation between the two. I am still trying to work out the details, so if someone has a pointer to a forum thread on this type of design, I would be grateful.

-bill

[planet10]

This is an interesting thread for me too... i have an inner platter & bearing and a 50 Hz motor/pulley.

I was thinking a solid plinth with an independent motor block inside the main plinth. A friend had good success with a Corian platter for his Rega 3, so that is the leading candidate for an outer platter. I'll probably use a Hadcock (which i have to rewire) as an arm. Hopefully this will get me back close to my LP12 (which i had to sell ) and be an upgrade from my TD160/Mayware F4.

dave

[Raka]

Well, we are now a few.

Wrankin, you can save the 155$ for the motor upgrade, and can build a power supply as discussed in the thread "change in mains supply". It works now beautifully in my TD160Mk1+OL250+Coral MC88.
I think that a suspended chassis shouldn't add much difficulties to a simple design. What about a simple plate (marble?) ala Thorens 318 (that is, cut in two) but supported by three springs instead of cones? This also has the advantage of the Roksan style of getting rid of the vibration, well kind of. I'll try to find out if the marble can be got cut with the required tolerances. I have a shop close to my job. What about cristal instead?
Dave, which bearing do you have? Do you think it's possible to buy just a bearing set from a Linn dealer?, BTW congratulations for your TD160, I like those

[analog_sa]

Don't want to sound too negative, but i have the feeling that a Linn is more than the sum of its parts. I certainly would not call the bearing ground breaking. Or the motor. If you want to achieve a better result than the Linn (after all that's the whole point, isn't it?) why not use a real bearing and real motor and get rid of the subplatter idea altogether? I'll be truly astounded if you built a solid plinth for the Linn and it played better. Maybe you can get better/deeper bass, but to achieve the overall sound quality of Linn using its junk parts would be a miracle.

cheers
peter

[wrankin]

Appologies in advance if there are "stupid newbie" questions. I have read up on various turntable designs over the ears and it seems that there are about 47 different solutions for every design issue. I am just looking for suggestions on godd basic approaches. I am hardly a vinyl-phile and in fact have only owned about 4 decks in my lifetime (a couple budget japanese tables from years ago, this Rega I found on Ebay, and I just received a Beogram 8k as a gift.)

Raka: I had read the thread on PS designs for the AC motor. I was actually contemplating this as the last phase of the project, since it is pretty much a drop-in (or more accurately "plug-in") upgrade for the deck.

The main questions I have are more mechanical and concern how best to separate the arm/platter assembly from the base and motor mount. (The terminology is killing me here - which one is the plith versus the sub-plith versus a base?) Which structure should be heavier? lighter?

I am concered that if the suspension between the two structures is too compliant, then I'll run into the flutter/wow problems that plague the existing rubber-band motor mount, do I look at cones or some sort or springs/rubber?

planet10: Corian vs. acrylic? Hmm, thats a thought. I can probably find a couple half inch thick cutouts that are big enough. From what I have heard, it should machine better that acrylic (at least with hand tools and a router).

Thanks all!

-bill

[planet10]

Originally posted by analog_sa
Don't want to sound too negative, but i have the feeling that a Linn is more than the sum of its parts. ... but to achieve the overall sound quality of Linn using its junk parts would be a miracle.

My goal is not to build a TT better than the Linn, but to build a TT, and hopefully have it outprform the one i'm using.

dave

[analog_sa]

Sorry. It was addressed to the original poster.

[AlanElsdon]

I own a Notts Analogue Mentor (original and very heavy - no suspension) on which I had to re-site the motor. To do this I used 3 loudspeaker spikes attached to a plate to which the motor is firmly attached. This then sat on a base plate on which was sited the platter/arm board decoupled with sorbothane pillars. I was very surprised that the motor did not move when initally turning the very heavy platter. Transmitted motor noise is very low and could probably be bettered by the 'cut a groove / fill with rubber' method.
I shall also be building a tt from parts and see no reason to not use the same method of decoupling.