Building high-end 'tables cheap at Home Despot II

Merry Christmas everyone...haven't been on the thread for a while-been Lenco-less for quite a few months now. Decided to treat myself to a new cartridge as a Christmas pressie as its been far too long since Ive been able to spin that vinyl. So, this afternoon (yeah, Santa came early in downtown Surrey-well...I wanted to wake up on Christmas morning and welcome in Christmas with the albums Ive been collecting this year ready for when my Lenco was back up and running). Started to fit the cartridge, and unfortunately one of the connecters came off. So....down to the garage to dig out the soldering iron...and, to my dismay, found there wasnt any solder. Oh the joy of having teenage sons who use the last of your solder creating a latenight sculpture from empty beer cans and don't let you know its all finished!!
So...no vinyl tomorrow-will have to wait a few days til the shops open again. Ah well....just a few more days for the suspense and tension build up until that final moment when I gently lower the needle onto the groove...and an explosion of sound fills my room...

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and may Santa bring you everything you've been hoping for

Just got myself a Rega RB300 arm...time to see if I can find the nice piece of purpleheart I got about 18 months ago and get making an armboard...

At long last....my Lenco is singing again! Its taken me nearly a year to get the energy together to do this, but I've now got a Rega 350 arm mounted on a lovely piece of purpleheart. Not sure why, but I didnt ever feel confident with my Decca International arm-I was never sure that I'd got it set up correctly. Downside is that the Goldring cartridge I bought for the Rega arm somehow seems to have lost its stylus, so Ive had to mount the crappy Ortofon one from my old Dual deck on it at the moment until I can find my other cartridge thats lurking around somewhere. There are times when I wish I was more organised and didnt lose things But still...I'm lying on my bed listening to the vinyl Ive not had chance to hear for over a year....bliss!!! Managed to aquire some Jah Wobble on vinyl a few months ago-that man is a real maestro-I feel like a teenager again!

Sorry-me again...All I can say is......wow!!!!!!!! I'd forgotten how the lenco takes music to another dimension...am totally blown away, just as I was the first time I heard Gilbodavid's Lenco over two years ago. The music is ALIVE...my room is throbbing with the beat...makes the CD player Ive been listening to for the past year seem one dimensional. Its got Va va voom....Vive la Lenco!!!

Oops...sorry...meant Rega 300 arm, not 350. Was getting carried away!!

I agree Johnnantais...I'm totally blown away by my Rega 300 arm. I've got a very mediocre Ortofon cartridge on it, but...the music is sooo alive!! It leaves the Decca International arm at the starting grid. my god, what would it sound like with a decent cartridge on it??? I'm using it with a homemade (not by me I hasten to add) valve amp,volume control is via a Marantz 2230 tuner and have two sets of speakers linked up- Spendor BC1's and a superb pair of prototype Tannoys ( a friend of mine used to design speakers for Tannoy and gave me a pair).Every musician is right here in the room with me, the music is part of me, every instrument is playing just for me, a very intimate connection...lying here, totally immersed in the music..every note, every breath is here in the room with me. No boundaries, i am right in there with the music, its resonating with every cell of my being. This is how recorded music should be....alive, present, ...am so grateful to gilbodavid for introducing me to the Lenco..thank you David!

Good luck Jean with your preparations for the almighty challenge...having just read Srajan's article in 6 moons, he sounds pretty open to the possibility of the ultimate enlightenment experience.
Ive been doing a few comparisons of my own this evening, prompted by one of my sons asking why I bothered with vinyl, weren't CD's easier?....sat him down next to me...started the same U2 track on CD and vinyl simultaneously-Helter Skelter-turned the volume up and then played him 30 seconds or so of the CD version, then let the mighty Lenco rip into it. As a follow up, played both versions of the guitar intro to Van Diemen's Land. When he heard the Lenco version, he looked at me and a grin spread across his face.....the mighty Lenco bringing through the rich warm textures of the notes, on Cd the sound was tinny, flat and made me want to yawn, the Lenco kept me entranced and enthralled at the beauty of the music.. But then he whipped out his iPod, started playing the film 'A hard day's night' saying "but your Lenco can't do this, can it?". I had to agree with him, but...

What auditory delights I'm blessed with! Sometimes I just feel so grateful for having such amazing sound quality to listen to...yeah, my system hasn't cost a fortune, but after listening to £50k+ system a couple of weeks ago, I don't see how anyone can justify spending an extra £49,300 for a system that didnt sound a vast amount better than mine! The RB300 arm is growing on me more and more, have put TWL's fishing weight mod on (anyone want to buy a Decca International arm??? I'm sticking with my Rega!). Got an Empire EDR9 cart on it at the moment...thanks to Gilbodavid who suggested it on Raul's recommendation. What an amazing match for the Rega arm and the Lenco. Wham...an incredible flexibility...presence and slam as well as the capacity for infinite softness and depth of timbre. And the carts only had about 30 hrs run in so far.
Only thing at the moment I'd like to improve on at the moment is my speakers. My problem is having heard Quads, i want that sound, or as close to it as I can get. My room is only 6x10 feet, so Quads arent really feasible. Am using a combination of some prototype Tannoys and Spendor BC1's at the moment...anyone got any suggestions for how to get a Quad sound in a smaller and ideally cheaper speaker?