Building high-end 'tables at Home Depot: Photos
Since those who are following this project will find it difficult to find the required answers for easy reference, and also for anyone not familiar with it, I start this new thread with the promised photos. Sorry, but I must once again re-post what was posted on my other thread to do so. For more detailed information re. this whole thing, please refer to the other Home Depot thread, as all of the enormous amount of information is contained there. Of course, I would be pleased to answer questions from the curious. I will also copy an answer I gave someone else at the end of the other thread, after this intro. Please excuse me, as this does give good info as well regarding the whole point of this project. Here we go:
PICTURES!!!!
I here re-run the whole thing together with address to see the Home depot creations:
"These are three "Home Depot" creations: the marbled beast is the prototype I wrote about, with sloppy marbling (didn't stir it enough, didn't dip it in right), but still you can see the effect, it fools many into thinking it is made of stone. The two-tier design was meant to address that worrisome rumble aspect which I later found out wasn't an issue. I removed the motor entirely from the top-plate and mounted it on the large bottom plinth, which is made of a sandwich of 1 1/2" chipboard, drywall (for plaster's resonance-killing properties when sandwiched: an experiment) and Baltic Birch-ply. This is very difficult to do, as the motor must be in precisely the same orientation without a millimeter's deviation, or there will be serious wow. The motor rests on the original Lenco springs inside the large non-resonant box, for which a space sufficient for the motor was cut out. I later found that all this trouble was not necessary, as I could not hear any more noise (which is none) leaving the Lenco as is in a single solid plinth. Much simpler, much easier. The top plate is mounted on a simple piece of Baltic Finnish birch-ply, to reduce total mass (mass being reserved to kill motor resonances/energy only) so as not to store energy. That was the design brief for my prototype: a mix of the advantages of high-mass design with the advanmtages of low-mass design. The top tier is further isolated from the bottom tier by lossy silicone putty, held in place by nuts and washers. Rudimentary, but effective.
The oak-trimmed version is built of pure MDF (four 3/4" layers) to which I actually glued the oak, which is a "false" box, much easier to do than building a real box. Using a miter saw, I simply cut each piece of solid oak to the precise dimensions of each side consecutively, so that slight deviations caused by having the pieces cut at Home Depot were not an issue. Each slab of oak is glued and held in place with small nails, then left to dry overnight. For those interested, I can give furtehr details. One of the pieces of MDF had significantly smaller dimensions (1/2" all around), which I filled with caulking gun rubber compound before gluing the oak in place, to further damp the Beast. The feet are large acorn-headed bolts, which used to be available in that attractive brass, which act precisely like Tiptoes, but without the cost: small contact area, strong "escape route" for vibrations coming from the 'table itself. The black piano finish is spray-painted, and the whole routered (quite easy) for that elegant look. This 'table wit Rega arm had a Kiseki Purpleheart Sapphire, rare, expensive and exotic moving coil from Koetsu's main competitor of the day, low-output moving coil at .4 millivolt, played through tube separates through speakers with below 40 Hz reach, with no audible rumble, even in the silences between the songs, at the end of the LP, or at the beginning. In fact, I often get up to make sure I remembered to lower the stylus!
The black and white version is made of MDF to which is bonded the white Corian slab. Very effective as well: no box, no rubber damping (except the metal top-plate) needed. The style was my capitalizing on the black Lenco body and the white Corian, to recreate the Black and White linoleum of the '50s. It is small and heavy (Corian being very dense), and also has black spray-paint finish, which looks like a piano finish. It has the same acorn-headed bolts for Tip-toe feet as the others, the point being small contact area to prevent vibration moving up into the structure as well. All feet are adjustable and lockable for easy levelling, as they are for all three 'tables. Cheap and easy, using wood glue and contact cement.
Other photos show the solid internal structure to understand the principle: no enclosed resonating spaces, therefore the motor hangs in the air in open space to further dissipate its vibrational energy. The rest is dense, inert, solid. Simple, cheap, easy.
The marbling I will show you with better instructions than I had when I built my first one on a whim, the others all being so beautiful I sold them at a large profit to fund my travels to exotic places!"
I would also like to point out the photo with the cartridge resting on the record, to demonstrate the amount of VTA deviation: you might like to find other solutions than cutting off the edge of the metal top-plate, as the deviation is not huge. I have used cartridge spacers, and there must be quite many thick platter mats available. While too-high VTA does make things brighter, the Lenco's thunderous bass goes a long way towards restoring the balance.
Pictures at John's Turntable Site, at http://www.terrypogue.com/Johnnantais/john.html.
PICTURES!!!!
I here re-run the whole thing together with address to see the Home depot creations:
"These are three "Home Depot" creations: the marbled beast is the prototype I wrote about, with sloppy marbling (didn't stir it enough, didn't dip it in right), but still you can see the effect, it fools many into thinking it is made of stone. The two-tier design was meant to address that worrisome rumble aspect which I later found out wasn't an issue. I removed the motor entirely from the top-plate and mounted it on the large bottom plinth, which is made of a sandwich of 1 1/2" chipboard, drywall (for plaster's resonance-killing properties when sandwiched: an experiment) and Baltic Birch-ply. This is very difficult to do, as the motor must be in precisely the same orientation without a millimeter's deviation, or there will be serious wow. The motor rests on the original Lenco springs inside the large non-resonant box, for which a space sufficient for the motor was cut out. I later found that all this trouble was not necessary, as I could not hear any more noise (which is none) leaving the Lenco as is in a single solid plinth. Much simpler, much easier. The top plate is mounted on a simple piece of Baltic Finnish birch-ply, to reduce total mass (mass being reserved to kill motor resonances/energy only) so as not to store energy. That was the design brief for my prototype: a mix of the advantages of high-mass design with the advanmtages of low-mass design. The top tier is further isolated from the bottom tier by lossy silicone putty, held in place by nuts and washers. Rudimentary, but effective.
The oak-trimmed version is built of pure MDF (four 3/4" layers) to which I actually glued the oak, which is a "false" box, much easier to do than building a real box. Using a miter saw, I simply cut each piece of solid oak to the precise dimensions of each side consecutively, so that slight deviations caused by having the pieces cut at Home Depot were not an issue. Each slab of oak is glued and held in place with small nails, then left to dry overnight. For those interested, I can give furtehr details. One of the pieces of MDF had significantly smaller dimensions (1/2" all around), which I filled with caulking gun rubber compound before gluing the oak in place, to further damp the Beast. The feet are large acorn-headed bolts, which used to be available in that attractive brass, which act precisely like Tiptoes, but without the cost: small contact area, strong "escape route" for vibrations coming from the 'table itself. The black piano finish is spray-painted, and the whole routered (quite easy) for that elegant look. This 'table wit Rega arm had a Kiseki Purpleheart Sapphire, rare, expensive and exotic moving coil from Koetsu's main competitor of the day, low-output moving coil at .4 millivolt, played through tube separates through speakers with below 40 Hz reach, with no audible rumble, even in the silences between the songs, at the end of the LP, or at the beginning. In fact, I often get up to make sure I remembered to lower the stylus!
The black and white version is made of MDF to which is bonded the white Corian slab. Very effective as well: no box, no rubber damping (except the metal top-plate) needed. The style was my capitalizing on the black Lenco body and the white Corian, to recreate the Black and White linoleum of the '50s. It is small and heavy (Corian being very dense), and also has black spray-paint finish, which looks like a piano finish. It has the same acorn-headed bolts for Tip-toe feet as the others, the point being small contact area to prevent vibration moving up into the structure as well. All feet are adjustable and lockable for easy levelling, as they are for all three 'tables. Cheap and easy, using wood glue and contact cement.
Other photos show the solid internal structure to understand the principle: no enclosed resonating spaces, therefore the motor hangs in the air in open space to further dissipate its vibrational energy. The rest is dense, inert, solid. Simple, cheap, easy.
The marbling I will show you with better instructions than I had when I built my first one on a whim, the others all being so beautiful I sold them at a large profit to fund my travels to exotic places!"
I would also like to point out the photo with the cartridge resting on the record, to demonstrate the amount of VTA deviation: you might like to find other solutions than cutting off the edge of the metal top-plate, as the deviation is not huge. I have used cartridge spacers, and there must be quite many thick platter mats available. While too-high VTA does make things brighter, the Lenco's thunderous bass goes a long way towards restoring the balance.
Pictures at John's Turntable Site, at http://www.terrypogue.com/Johnnantais/john.html.
