Remember the AR turntable? It was simple, low cost, and very effective. For those of you with time on your hands here is the challenge. Make your own turntable (DIY) with parts cost less than $1000.00 As simple as you want to make it. The turntable does not have to be great, just good. What can you come up with?
Hi,
bought a Technics SL-5210 for 15€ at ebay, pimped it with a new plinth, hood, power supply and a Rega RB300 and serviced the electronics.
Costed me way less than 1.000€ and is without doubt a player one can be happy with
jauu
Calvin
Ps. The player is of course not just good , but grrrreat
bought a Technics SL-5210 for 15€ at ebay, pimped it with a new plinth, hood, power supply and a Rega RB300 and serviced the electronics.
Costed me way less than 1.000€ and is without doubt a player one can be happy with
jauu
Calvin
Ps. The player is of course not just good , but grrrreat
I had an AR turntable in 1970, a 1961 production model. When i walked around the wood floor in my Jim Walters home, the needle would bounce around on the record. This was with a Grado FTE cartridge at 1.5 g. The home had 10" floor joists on 12" centers, pretty stout floor I would think. I bought a US made BIC 940 changer in 1979; it worked a lot better, including passing the walk around test. I sold the AR in 1981. The BIC still works with the original belt (although it is due I am sure). I use it probably >500 plays a year now that I am not working. Using 1.5 g on a 1981Shure M97 Era IV cartridge. Found another BIC at a yard sale last year for $25. Worth every penny.
Hi,
I put a description of the MyTechnics project on my website and could maybe offer some assistance.
Basically any DD-Technics may be used for a similar modification, though most mods seem to rely on the SP-10 series.
The SL-1200/1210 can be used as donor the same way I did. I certainly would not opt for a SL-1200/1210 due to overhyped price tags, their quite often worn-out condition and more features than one needs.
Instead the rather less popular linear trackers or T4P-armed models are just as well suited and are typically better bepriced.
The differences between the models and over the years seem only to be the PCBs, i.e the chipset. The motor-bearing assembly looks to be the same throughout.
At vinylengine et al one can find service manuals and infos and other projects with Technics donors.
Afaik only three revisions of Chipsets had been employed. Starting with discrete devices as in the SP-10 and SP-10MKii, a 3-Ic Chipset followed.
A SP-15 relies for example on exactly the same 3-Chip Chipset as the SL-53xx. The SL-1300...1500MKii rely at least on two of the same Chips, just using a different Freq-generator-IC.
With later models Technics changed to a 2-IC Chipset and µController.
So there´s alot of Info around to help for repair/tuning/tweaking of old Technics-DDs. Just choose one and start building.
jauu
Calvin
ps. since the famous S-shaped arm features a quite nice bearing assembly, but a rather inadeqate arm tube, one could think of tweaking the arm with a better arm wand .
I put a description of the MyTechnics project on my website and could maybe offer some assistance.
Basically any DD-Technics may be used for a similar modification, though most mods seem to rely on the SP-10 series.
The SL-1200/1210 can be used as donor the same way I did. I certainly would not opt for a SL-1200/1210 due to overhyped price tags, their quite often worn-out condition and more features than one needs.
Instead the rather less popular linear trackers or T4P-armed models are just as well suited and are typically better bepriced.
The differences between the models and over the years seem only to be the PCBs, i.e the chipset. The motor-bearing assembly looks to be the same throughout.
At vinylengine et al one can find service manuals and infos and other projects with Technics donors.
Afaik only three revisions of Chipsets had been employed. Starting with discrete devices as in the SP-10 and SP-10MKii, a 3-Ic Chipset followed.
A SP-15 relies for example on exactly the same 3-Chip Chipset as the SL-53xx. The SL-1300...1500MKii rely at least on two of the same Chips, just using a different Freq-generator-IC.
With later models Technics changed to a 2-IC Chipset and µController.
So there´s alot of Info around to help for repair/tuning/tweaking of old Technics-DDs. Just choose one and start building.
jauu
Calvin
ps. since the famous S-shaped arm features a quite nice bearing assembly, but a rather inadeqate arm tube, one could think of tweaking the arm with a better arm wand .
I agree.
Here's my entry. Complete DIY table. For comparison, I own an AR "The Turntable" from the '80, with Linn Basik tone arm. Table was from the UK with 50hz motor. A replacement 60Hz cost $200.
My Turntable - My Photo Gallery
Cost:
$250- platter and bearing
$50- plinth
$5- wand
$25- pivot mount
$20- pulley (DIY)
$5- counter weight
$60- motor (new from Hurst)
$75- amp (new, for driving 60hz signal)
Free- queue lift (from pen clip)
_____
$490
Does not include cart and MP3 player for 33.3hz and 45hz signals.
Let's just say I have no urge to put the AR back in the system.
I'm not even finished with this thing yet.
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Yes, having my brother machine a bigger platter and bearing, but I'll need help designing it.
And the reason it jumped was because it - and MANY other - turntables ran the arm off balance such that the center of gravity is not at the vertical pivot. Your Thorens and all Dual turntables balance the arm and then add spring force relative to the deck plate. I sold a LOT of Duals back in the '70s by showing you could bounce it while it's playing. I don't remember if BIC ran off balance or not. The main bearing was so poor we didn't push them.
Man I don't miss turntables.
G²
$1000 is a lot of money for which you can buy used high-end deck ,all those unfashionable Sotas , LP12/Ittok with careful shopping ., very good Nottingham , or Well Tempered tables. Spending $1000 on DIY table when you're on a budget is a nonsense. Once you get table in $2-4 k (which can be had for $1k used ) and will be able to realize it's potential with appropriate (read rather expensive) cart and phono pre and know what to expect from DIY project and what direction take it than you can amuse yourself with throwing away $1k plus for such project. Three years ago my friend bought used Acoustic Solid table with Rega tonearm just for $1k. He looked it up , noticed how crude and simple device it is and said to me that he can copy it with the help of machinist for much much less than $1k .It didn't happened. He spent over $1.2k and couple of weeks polishing that table , bought two Chinese motor controllers which were rather marginal and the table sounded slightly worse than original. Slightly worse sounds rather innocent and if he hadn't have original table to compare he would have thought that it's a true high-end straight from his hands. Unfortunately the slightly worse quality was constant and constantly annoying him so not verbalized plan to sell original and enjoy the copy was not realized and his copy shines in the bedroom and I assure you he could use an income from the sale.
Now , Linn tweak for bouncing floors is to set the table on the stand next to the wall and rest (screw to the top shelf )two square pieces of wood between the top shelf and the wall -works like a charm.
Now , Linn tweak for bouncing floors is to set the table on the stand next to the wall and rest (screw to the top shelf )two square pieces of wood between the top shelf and the wall -works like a charm.
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... amp ... dac .... cables. And if you don't like them you can sell, sometimes even at a profit and move on. Boring old common sense
Where is your diy spirit man??? Like spend 4x the cost of the drive units on crossover components. Or 3x the cost of a phono preamp on teflon riaa caps - happened just recently.
We need to tinker! Don't ya get it?
And to hell with common sense
I had two AR turntables. I still have one. They are simple, low cost, and not at all effective. Suspension bottoms out with heavy LP's. Platter direction of rotation is random. Mat disintegrates. Stylus not perpendicular to the record groove.
In the winter a light bulb had to be placed next to the arm bearing to keep it from seizing.
In the winter a light bulb had to be placed next to the arm bearing to keep it from seizing.
... amp ... dac .... cables. And if you don't like them you can sell, sometimes even at a profit and move on. Boring old common sense
Where is your diy spirit man??? Like spend 4x the cost of the drive units on crossover components. Or 3x the cost of a phono preamp on teflon riaa caps - happened just recently.
We need to tinker! Don't ya get it?
And to hell with common sense
All true and I apologize for lacking the spirit
Here is mine clunker in works for ...I stopped counting years and money but getting close .,Zeiss microscope platform costed me $500 plus shipping (original price supposed to be ~$2.5-3K ) the rest ... I don't want to remember.
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Yes , it is inspired by Kuzma and the fact that I had an access to fairly inexpensive machining bronze rods. It will probably ring like a bell but since the platter is a PVC little ringing may bring some pleasant vibrations hehe , also since it would be medium weight I decided to incorporate a suspension of a sort . Then my initial plan of using tape drive was defeated since it requires rigid relation between motor and table so I acquired two additional pulleys (one just for a case ) for thread drive. Then I read how wonderful and precise Basis rubber belts are (at $120 a piece they better be) which would enable me using the tape pulley...then I got distracted and bought Rega P9 because the price was right then I thought I should do something with Thoresn TD124 sitting in the closet since everybody and their uncle was saying how wonderful they are ..My friend asked me to sell his old Linn Lp12 , what a marvelously colored sound .I just had to find myself one and I did and of course had to spend money on DIY Armageddon PSU I didn't have inclination to finish until this day .Then mint Acoustic Signature Final tool MKII German tank appeared in the neighborhood and I said to my distressed girl ..we're going to make a profit on this one...after 5 months she said well can we keep it and sell something else and the first time I felt like Ivor Tiefnenbrunand I said sure we KAN .
Back to the topic Linn springs work for AR-XA table and surely I have one in the box drilled out for Grace 707 waiting for fitting that arm which of course waits in another box. You get the drift now ??
Back to the topic Linn springs work for AR-XA table and surely I have one in the box drilled out for Grace 707 waiting for fitting that arm which of course waits in another box. You get the drift now ??
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