Solid or viscous tonearm counterweight?

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Conrad Hoffman

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Joined 2007
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#1
I have a Thorens TD295III, which is basically a Pro-ject with shiny paint. The arm is nothing special (TP41/42?), but shouldn't be all that bad either. It has a rubber isolated/damped counterweight. In spite of a lot of tune-up work, I don't think the arm and its Ortofon OM30 tracks all that well. My plan is to go out to the garage and turn a fixed brass counterweight, offsetting the hole slightly to lower the cg. Why? Ran out of other things to fool with. Any thoughts on The Philosophy of Counterweights before I start making chips?
 
#2
Machining the overall counterweight took almost no time at all, but making a tool and broaching the slot to clear the pins on the arm (their idea of threads) took forever in my unheated shop. The results?

I wish I could say they were dramatic, but they're quite subtle, if real at all. The bass seems tighter and some overall fuzz seems a bit reduced, but it's tough to say it's an improvement. It's as if the sound is more accurate, but maybe a bit too dry. Seemed more real with the rubberized and off-center factory weight. I'll leave the new one on for a while and try it with more music to see if I'm missing something.
 
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