Thanks for the info on anti skating, I've always done it the old way, set AS = to VTF. when I get this setup I'm going to dial in a little bit and go from there.
BillWojo
BillWojo
Have a Victor UA-7045 tonearm coming
I've been searching for either a Victor UA-7082 or a UA-7045 tonearm ever since I purchased my Victor CL-P2 plinth with two arm boards.
The rear arm is almost ready to go, it's a Audio Technica ATP-12T mounted in a custom aluminum armboard. I also had to machine a bracket to add a Jelco JL-45 tonearm cueing device and a tonearm rest. This should be perfect for my low compliance DL-103.I have been looking at both models of the Victor arms and have posted WTB on several forums, watching Ebay but nothing nice has come up. So for the past month I have been keeping an eye out on the Japanese website Yahoo Buyee and finally saw something I liked. It's a clean looking UA-7045 that should work out nicely.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/v741873067?_=cnZxVG5GZVlFQTA3VEZVTDBjQnRCS1RGYWtnTW1ZOTZORUVmb2R...=I won the auction this morning for $202.81, way cheaper than I've ever seen one of these go for. estimated shipping is around $50.00 via DHL. It takes up to two weeks for the seller to get the arm shipped to Buyee and they will inspect and repackage it for shipment via DHL. So in several weeks I'll have this in my hands.
Since I know the spindle to pivot distance I will machine an armboard for it in advance.
Anybody familiar with this series of arms knows all about the rubber damper in the counterweight stub that degrades and causes the dreaded tonearm droop where the weight starts hanging down.
There are two types of this series of arms, those that have the droop (most) and those that will develop it soon. Aging rubber and gravity never let up. Every arm will eventually have this problem.
I've talked to my friend Elliott about this as he had one of these arms for a short time. He sent me a sketch of a rubber piece that he made from hardware parts that he used to fix his. Between Elliott and the internet I found enough info to figure out how this comes apart but I'm not entirely happy with the fix. Since Victor can't supply the rubber dampers I've been thinking about possibly making a mold and casting them out of urethane. I have samples of urethane coming to me from a supplier so I can compare the hardness of the rubber bushing to the urethane samples to find a close matching durometer value.
The mold will be a simple affair, machined out of aluminum. I need to dig out a vacuum pump buried in my garage to see if it works and I found a vacuum chamber on Ebay for 50 bucks.
Once I get the arm I'll pull the stub off and get some critical measurements and work from there. I can even do a temporary fix on the stub until I have a decent result as I have never cast urethane before.Anyway, I'm very excited to be getting this tonearm and at least one member here (chakster) talks very highly of it.
BillWojo
The rear arm is almost ready to go, it's a Audio Technica ATP-12T mounted in a custom aluminum armboard. I also had to machine a bracket to add a Jelco JL-45 tonearm cueing device and a tonearm rest. This should be perfect for my low compliance DL-103.I have been looking at both models of the Victor arms and have posted WTB on several forums, watching Ebay but nothing nice has come up. So for the past month I have been keeping an eye out on the Japanese website Yahoo Buyee and finally saw something I liked. It's a clean looking UA-7045 that should work out nicely.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/v741873067?_=cnZxVG5GZVlFQTA3VEZVTDBjQnRCS1RGYWtnTW1ZOTZORUVmb2R...=I won the auction this morning for $202.81, way cheaper than I've ever seen one of these go for. estimated shipping is around $50.00 via DHL. It takes up to two weeks for the seller to get the arm shipped to Buyee and they will inspect and repackage it for shipment via DHL. So in several weeks I'll have this in my hands.
Since I know the spindle to pivot distance I will machine an armboard for it in advance.
Anybody familiar with this series of arms knows all about the rubber damper in the counterweight stub that degrades and causes the dreaded tonearm droop where the weight starts hanging down.
There are two types of this series of arms, those that have the droop (most) and those that will develop it soon. Aging rubber and gravity never let up. Every arm will eventually have this problem.
I've talked to my friend Elliott about this as he had one of these arms for a short time. He sent me a sketch of a rubber piece that he made from hardware parts that he used to fix his. Between Elliott and the internet I found enough info to figure out how this comes apart but I'm not entirely happy with the fix. Since Victor can't supply the rubber dampers I've been thinking about possibly making a mold and casting them out of urethane. I have samples of urethane coming to me from a supplier so I can compare the hardness of the rubber bushing to the urethane samples to find a close matching durometer value.
The mold will be a simple affair, machined out of aluminum. I need to dig out a vacuum pump buried in my garage to see if it works and I found a vacuum chamber on Ebay for 50 bucks.
Once I get the arm I'll pull the stub off and get some critical measurements and work from there. I can even do a temporary fix on the stub until I have a decent result as I have never cast urethane before.Anyway, I'm very excited to be getting this tonearm and at least one member here (chakster) talks very highly of it.
BillWojo
Showing 15 responses by billwojo
Never made the mold up. I’m hoping to get on that project soon as I have 2 Victor tonearms that need one. I will let the forum know if and when they become available. What tonearm is on your turntable. From what Chakster say's, the UA-7045 is suitable for medium and high compliance cartridges and the UA-7082 is suitable for low compliance cartridges. I don't know of any published specifications that gives the recommended compliance values.
BillWojo |
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/attachments/analogue-source/619994d1496782254-jvc-ql-7-counterweight...If you look at the picture you will see that the brass bolt does not touch the aluminum ring, the rubber gets pushed into the notches and is trapped by the square head of the bolt. This gives total isolation of the tonearm stub when assembled. That small bit of rubber doesn't need to deteriorate much before the stub and counterweight droops. I think this point is often overlooked when folks repair these arms. They let the brass bolt come in direct contact with the ring, this will render the damper as ineffective. BillWojo |
lewm, I agree that it certainly doesn't look like a low mass arm. I really doubt that it is. My Denon DL-103 played pretty well on it, actually it was the UA-5045 tonearm that I paired it with but they look almost identical from the top of the mounting base on up. At least the parts of the arm that move are pretty much the same. I think it works well on higher compliance cartridges because it's designed and built very well. Here is a description from VE. "The high-quality JVC UA-7045 gimbal support tonearm features high sensitivity and long lasting ruggedness. It permits low-mass, high-compliance cartridges to accurately track even the most complex groove undulations. The ultra-effective support system converges the effects of forces on both the horizontal and vertical planes on one point equidistant from both the horizontal and vertical bearings. Thus in principle the new gimbal support support of the UA-7045 works like a one-point support and is therefore very sensitive. However, its performance is far better than conventional gimbal or one-point types since it uses adjustment free bearing units. SpecificationsType: statically balanced arm with new gimbal support for tracing hold system Length: 350mm Effective length: 245mm Overhang: 15mm Tracking force: 0-3g (0.1g steps) Cartridge weight: 12-32g (including headshell weight) Arm elevation range: 40-60mm Weight: 610g Accessories: oil damped arm lifter, low capacitance signal cable" This description comes directly from JVC, not something that VE wrote up. Pull up the manuals for this arm and read the JVC literature. Note, don't look under Victor, it's listed under JVC.
BillWojo |
bukanona, I have samples of different durometers of urethane coming to me. That way I can try and compare the original rubber to the urethane I'd like to use. Of course the rubber is probably somewhat changed after close to 40 years so it's all going to be a "best guess". It's going to be one of the softer durometers I'm pretty sure of that. It it was hard and firm I could simply machine it out of urethane barstock. The softer material doesn't machine well at all. Hence the casting research. If the UA-7045 works well as is I may just run it like that for awhile as well. BillWojo |
Well it came with a nice TT 61, a rare unit only found in Japan it seems. Not quartz locked though. I started looking around and came across a recapped and serviced TT 71 for an awesome price so it sits in my plinth now. The specs on the TT 71 and TT 81 are the same for speed and wow and flutter so I figured it's good enough. I do love the digital speed readout on the TT 101 though. The more I learn about Victor and the engineering that went into this series the more I like them. They really were on top of their game and were a big supplier to Micro Seiki and others as well. BillWojo |
lewm, o-rings won't fix the problem if the rubber is deteriorated to the point that it is falling apart. You can add all the rubber you want to the exposed section of the tonearm and make the stub stick straight out but if the square head of the bolt touches the small collar that holds the assembly in place than you have lost the damper effect. Might as well epoxy it in place as a rigid unit at that point. I would like to develop a permanent solution that fixes it forever. Urethane doesn't degrade like rubber. When new the square head of the bolt when tightened deforms the end of the rubber bushing and pushes it into the notches of the collar, there is no metal to metal contact. BillWojo |
lewm, you don't seem to understand that there is rubber inside and on the other side of that short aluminum piece that is attached to the pivoting collar. That must be replaced as well. The brass bolt must never touch any other metal except the stub that it screws into. The original rubber piece was a molded part and it's the best way to replicate it. It's actually a very simple shouldered bushing with a hole in the middle. Very easy to make a mold up. As far as o-rings I have o-ring kits in both inch and metric as I am a service tech. I also have an account at McMaster Carr, the main warehouse is only 35 minutes from me. BillWojo |
Thanks guys. Currently I’m using a JVC QL-A7 with the UA-5045 tonearm that has auto lift. It’s a nice tonearm but this is even much, much nicer than that. Fit and finish on this reminds me of a high end camera. This doesn’t even have any minor scratching on the tonearm tube. Who ever owned the table this came off of either was fastidious about using it or never used it. I can’t wait to hear it.I’m going to mount my retipped DL-103S on it. Has an elliptical stylus. Tracking will be around 1.8Gr. How have you found the anti skating adjustment to be? I don’t have any of the fancy setup tools to check it. If I set the adjustment to 1.8Gr will it be very close? BillWojo |
Well it wasn't supposed to arrive till Wednesday but it came this afternoon. Very well packed, I paid extra for having it repacked. DHL works on a holiday! So far this far exceeds my expectations, it looks like brand new and has zero tonearm sag! Not sure when I'll get to my buddy's shop to use his Bridgeport, I'll need to bore a hole out to mount it. It's an absolutely beautiful piece of engineering and craftsmanship. Even the tonearm lock is at a whole another level compared to any tonearm I've handled before. The "On the Fly" VTA collar works as smooth as a focusing ring on a high dollar camera. The anti skating adjustment is smooth as silk as well. When set to zero the arm stays where you put it and as soon as you start dialing a little bit in it will start to swing. Very sensitive! I'm very happy. Now I want to find a UA-7082 in this condition. That may take awhile. BillWojo |
The tonearm tube is a aluminum -magnesium alloy. Anodizing the tube after it's made creates a thin protective layer of aluminum oxide. Anodizing is also an effective electrical insulator, it's why so many heatsinks are anodized. I agree totally about tonearms and even DD motor drives that were built back than. It was a golden age and better products are very few and far between. There is a current thread about "Tonearm Inspiration", chakster gives his short list of tonearms that he recommends and they are all beautiful crafted Japanese tonearms with a big following. Most are far cheaper than the new arms built today but prices for nice examples are slowly creeping up. BillWojo |
knollbrent, are you talking about Vlad out of CD? chakster, I assumed that this was going to need the isolation bushing but was wrong. Even with the weight out at the end of the stub it barely moves down. Not a single scratch on the tonearm tube or anyplace else. I’m more than pleased, it’s much nicer than I was expecting. No hint of corrosion either, a big problem with stuff coming from Japan, an island in the middle of the Pacific. BillWojo |