I really wanted to see if I can help my cartridge stylus do the impossible, that is, tracking a groove.
So I've built my own LP weight outer ring.
There are such rings to buy on the internet... but they are crazy expansive! 500Euro or more...
I have searched for some alternatives until I came up with the idea of using Epoxy and coind for extra weight. In the end I'm glad I did! This construction is maybe crazy but truly works.
The benefits of puting such weight on a record is threefold:
-Damping the tiny tiny vibration created by the stylus.
-flatting out wraped records
-adding outer mass- eventually a stable speed.
The downside:
-Could be too much for the motor system?
-need to be carefull with cartridge placement.
Cost=15€ (epoxy is not cheap)
But the result are awsome 😀
Resaults:
Better then I hoped for! a defintive step up in resolution, better details and gain in clarity. It just feels more in control and less background noise.
It wouldn't make me stop looking for a better phonostage or cartridge but it is a bigger upgrade then I hoped for.
After two days of playing with it I had a visitor for a listen... he concluded that I'm not halucinating and that there is indeed a big step up in resulotion... however he also added that ring tooked some liveliness from the recording. I have to admit, it does sound quiter with the ring on.
So, maybe great addition for your turntable or an absolute waste of time, depending on your preferances.
Maybe it will inspire you to do the same 😉
So I've built my own LP weight outer ring.
There are such rings to buy on the internet... but they are crazy expansive! 500Euro or more...
I have searched for some alternatives until I came up with the idea of using Epoxy and coind for extra weight. In the end I'm glad I did! This construction is maybe crazy but truly works.
The benefits of puting such weight on a record is threefold:
-Damping the tiny tiny vibration created by the stylus.
-flatting out wraped records
-adding outer mass- eventually a stable speed.
The downside:
-Could be too much for the motor system?
-need to be carefull with cartridge placement.
Cost=15€ (epoxy is not cheap)
But the result are awsome 😀
Resaults:
Better then I hoped for! a defintive step up in resolution, better details and gain in clarity. It just feels more in control and less background noise.
It wouldn't make me stop looking for a better phonostage or cartridge but it is a bigger upgrade then I hoped for.
After two days of playing with it I had a visitor for a listen... he concluded that I'm not halucinating and that there is indeed a big step up in resulotion... however he also added that ring tooked some liveliness from the recording. I have to admit, it does sound quiter with the ring on.
So, maybe great addition for your turntable or an absolute waste of time, depending on your preferances.
Maybe it will inspire you to do the same 😉
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Routed the circle to contain exactly the fitting of coins, with no gaps... the filled with epoxy. It feels very accurate
Nope, I haven't mesured it... but if there is an unbalance it must be extremely small.
I did the first routing for the 5cent, put a first layer of epoxy, then after two days routed another circle in to the epoxy laying 2cents coins in a smaller diamater. (those 2cent coins are the one that are sitting on the lp itself.)
Then poured a second epoxy layer on top of the 2cents coins and waited.
afterword I just planed the excess epoxy with the router and pulled the thing out.
fair enough, your Turntable is probably not sensitive to that anyway given it's construction. suspended turntable manufacturers used to try and outdo each other with how balanced their rotating assemblies were for marketing rights 🙂
It is excactly why I went for it... Stable and balanced the platter might be, I have good records that have just that tiny bit of wrap and the cartridge goes rollercoasting an impossible groove. My Denon Dl110 have a much calmer ride now.
Anyhow, I still think its pure magic.
Liszt rulez!
I mean, a piano recording is extremely sensitive to speed fluctuation, so it is a good indicator of imbalance.
I mean, a piano recording is extremely sensitive to speed fluctuation, so it is a good indicator of imbalance.
Nice , but you do know that those coins are copper covered steel ??
Not that it really matters unless they become magnetized .
Regards F.
Not that it really matters unless they become magnetized .
Regards F.
Depends where they are from. A US "copper penny" is now mostly (97.5%) Zinc. We have a large and politically active Zinc industry, so the penny will never be eliminated. Even though it now costs 2 cents to make a 1 cent coin. (Apparently still not worth melting down to Zinc bars.) The Canadians dropped their cent a decade ago.
There is actually a going market for bulk pennies. Fifty vintage cents for 8 bucks.
https://bullionsharks.com/1909-1956-wheat-penny-circulated-roll-of-50-dallas-hoard/
Probably makes no sense (cents?) in Germany, but your local coin dealer probably knows what is cheap, not magnetic, and not too ugly.
I believe you on the steel cents. The US did that in 1943, I used to see them (they rusted bad). The Belgian cent of that time was similar metal and was being struck in the US (we know because the steel turned up in 1944 US cents, leftover blanks from the Belgian run). A steel cent is VERY cheap even against Zinc: the 1943 steel penny only cost roughly one-ten-thousandth of a dollar. (They favor the softest grade of steel to reduce die wear.)