Good evening all
I have decided to try my hand at building a turntable. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to source the following parts
Motor and pod/housing ac/dc usa 60hz
Motor speed control
Main bearing and platter to fit
I am somewhat on a budget. I am not looking for a $400 bearing and $700 motor. Dont forget, I enjoy living and my wife would kill me if i go crazy on parts since we havent listened to a LP in a while. I hope this gives you an idea of what im looking for.
P.S. You Diy guys have sucked me in to your world. Now I just want to keep building stuff.
It keeps me off the streets.
Thanks in advanced
Brian
I have decided to try my hand at building a turntable. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to source the following parts
Motor and pod/housing ac/dc usa 60hz
Motor speed control
Main bearing and platter to fit
I am somewhat on a budget. I am not looking for a $400 bearing and $700 motor. Dont forget, I enjoy living and my wife would kill me if i go crazy on parts since we havent listened to a LP in a while. I hope this gives you an idea of what im looking for.
P.S. You Diy guys have sucked me in to your world. Now I just want to keep building stuff.
It keeps me off the streets.Thanks in advanced
Brian
Teres - Sale
on the upper end of your budget but a key part so a worthy investment (there was a group going on here buy for these a while back).
on the upper end of your budget but a key part so a worthy investment (there was a group going on here buy for these a while back).
For a bearing, there's this thread:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/96655-magnetic-turntable-bearing.html
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/analogue-source/96655-magnetic-turntable-bearing.html
I gave up on the motor pod thing and just bought a Timaudio motor pod unit on eBay for $99 that I use to drive the rim of the platter in my just-for-fun diy TT project.. It seems quite speed stable, can't vouch for its durability as I have only had it for a week.
The platter, sub-platter and bearing are parts I purchased on eBay that originally lived in a Thorens TD-125 MKI.
Lots of parts are available on eBay..
The platter, sub-platter and bearing are parts I purchased on eBay that originally lived in a Thorens TD-125 MKI.
Lots of parts are available on eBay..
Attachments
Last edited:
For my money, the AC hysteresis synchronous motor is an ideal turntable motor. They lock on AC line frequency like the typical stepper type synchronous motors commonly available, but unlike them have extremely smooth operation with essentially zero ripple torque.
Hysteresis synchronous motors were once used extensively for tape casptan drive, among other things. They're not much used anymore but they can be had on the surplus market, for example from Surplus Sales of Nebraska. A couple of manufacturers may be still making new ones. I haven't priced any, but expect to pay a lot for a new one.
My turntable, which I built from scratch except for the tonearm and cartridge, uses a Beau Electronics 900 RPM hysteresis synchronous motor that I picked up as surplus about 20 years ago.
Good luck!
Hysteresis synchronous motors were once used extensively for tape casptan drive, among other things. They're not much used anymore but they can be had on the surplus market, for example from Surplus Sales of Nebraska. A couple of manufacturers may be still making new ones. I haven't priced any, but expect to pay a lot for a new one.
My turntable, which I built from scratch except for the tonearm and cartridge, uses a Beau Electronics 900 RPM hysteresis synchronous motor that I picked up as surplus about 20 years ago.
Good luck!
Just out of interest, I am building a bit of a hybrid using Rega motor/sub platter/bearing and a Thorens TD150 main platter. I am going to machine a stepped aluminium ring to adapt the Rega sub platter to the Thorens outer platter. Why this route? I was concerned over possible wear in any Thorens main/motor bearings that would not be evident until they arrived. There was also the cost and future availabilty of these items. Virtually new Rega items have cost me about £40, including drive belt and replacements will be around for a long time. I did however want the look of a heavy cast platter so chose the Thorens TD150 outer platter at £10 on ebay. All a bit of an experiment but can't see any problems yet. The other route for someone using Rega mechanicals would be to use a rega glass or MDF platter which are available fairly cheaply.
In all honesty, you are probably right about older Thorens bearings being fine. On reflection, this was not my main reason for choosing the route I did. I wanted to get on with the build and the design was not for a sprung sub chassis affair. As such I would be buying, at the very minimum a sub chassis and bearing, subsequently discarding most of it which is not the way I really want to treat a piece of Thorens kit. I therefore decided to go the Rega route as the parts came as I wanted them. I am happy to leave the Thorens bits available for people using them as intended.
On ebay, Rega bearing/subplatters tend to go from £5 - £15, motors £15 - £35 (used upgraded low vibration motors were on as "buy now" for £50 recently), MDF and glass turntables £10 - £20 and new drive belts from about £5. A number of the older motors are now appearing due, I would imagine, to people upgrading to the said low vibration unit which I believe is around £80ish. Because Rega plinths are fairly simple affairs anyway, their mechanicals are ideal for DIY.
Again noting that my experience is limited, the TimAudio motor pod worked just fine during an entire day of critical listening in the living room demo system during our recent audiofest. (Line stages, phono stages, and speakers swapped in and out all day as was intended with this system.) Speed did not need to be adjusted once and the thing ran continuously for over 10 hours.
The thing is ready to go, just set it up and plug it in.. Note that depending on platter diameter you may not be able to run it at 45rpm, however my intent was for 33 rpm operation only so this was not an issue. The motor pulley is a bit too small for 45 rpm operation with an 11.8" platter. Drive is by 4lb test nylon fishing line - works great!
My main system is in a dedicated basement room where a TD-124 does the playback chores, so the "Phenolic Wonder" which is TimAudio powered probably will not be used again until the next diy meet. It incidentally worked way better than I expected and despite its unsuspended design was amazingly insensitive to footfall frequencies. No mis-tracking due to heavy footed audio types was noted..
I have attached a picture of the table which uses a recycled TD-125 MKI main bearing, platter, and sub-platter. (eBay) Arm is a Linn Basik, and the cartridge an AT-120E/T. The thing sounds way better than it has any right to..Attachments
Last edited:
You might look at buying a used Rek-O-Kut belt drive tt (N33, etc.) off the ebay and use the motor and platter for your own rig. They used the wonderful German Papst AC synchronous motors in those decks (as did Empire TTs), and the platter bearing is also very nice-a spiral grooved steel shaft to constantly bring the lubricant up in the cast bronze well. Using a package like this, the motor pulley will already be sized correctly for accurate speed, and belts are readily available. If you definitely want to roll your own, the advantage is you can buy the crappiest looking deck possible just to get the parts, or even buy separate parts if available. Or conversely, buy a nice complete model and just use it until you get the urge to build a new plinth.
I built this deck from an ebay Papst motor from an Empire (about 60.00), a platter and bearing of unknown vintage (again about 60.00), and some woodworking. SAEC arms. Miraculously, the motor pulley size is almost perfect-I can get the speed dead on with a VPI motor controller (commonly found used for about 700.00), but in reality it's close enough that I don't really need it. The motor pod was made from a piece of aluminum tube, with some polishing.
I'm a big fan of these Papst motors, and though the idler drive Rek-O-Kuts have seen a pretty steep price increase in the last couple of years, I think the belt drive models are still pretty inexpensive. In fact, I have a N33 platter and motor on deck (hah) for an upcoming project.
Have fun
I built this deck from an ebay Papst motor from an Empire (about 60.00), a platter and bearing of unknown vintage (again about 60.00), and some woodworking. SAEC arms. Miraculously, the motor pulley size is almost perfect-I can get the speed dead on with a VPI motor controller (commonly found used for about 700.00), but in reality it's close enough that I don't really need it. The motor pod was made from a piece of aluminum tube, with some polishing.
I'm a big fan of these Papst motors, and though the idler drive Rek-O-Kuts have seen a pretty steep price increase in the last couple of years, I think the belt drive models are still pretty inexpensive. In fact, I have a N33 platter and motor on deck (hah) for an upcoming project.
Have fun
Attachments
Thanks Kevin.
I was just looking over your Thorens thread-it's looking great. Was glad to see you hooked up with Steve (User510) as a source of additional info. Check out his web site if you haven't already.
I've got a couple of idlers in the works also-a G301 that's in the queue, while I'm currently working on a Rek-O-Cut (shown). These things have massive motors, it will be interesting to hear how it sounds. I've polished the aluminum plinth and platter, but I'm currently researching how to do engine turning, or jeweling, which I think would look cool. Plus, it has the advantage of adding tons more work to what would otherwise be a relatively simple job. (-:
Checked out your site too-I envy your electronic skills. Keep up the good work.
I was just looking over your Thorens thread-it's looking great. Was glad to see you hooked up with Steve (User510) as a source of additional info. Check out his web site if you haven't already.
I've got a couple of idlers in the works also-a G301 that's in the queue, while I'm currently working on a Rek-O-Cut (shown). These things have massive motors, it will be interesting to hear how it sounds. I've polished the aluminum plinth and platter, but I'm currently researching how to do engine turning, or jeweling, which I think would look cool. Plus, it has the advantage of adding tons more work to what would otherwise be a relatively simple job. (-:
Checked out your site too-I envy your electronic skills. Keep up the good work.
Attachments
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.