Plinth ideas for DENON PD-80 DD turntable

Would be nice, Lew. Which kind of slate you have ?
The OMA digging their graphite in Pennsylvania 

The stock Dk 300 Denon plinth is bad ?

@genesis168 

The plinth is solid. Well made but the feet is the weak spot there. Poorly executed. The feet on the DK300 can be upgraded to Stillpoints or equivalent.

I have my AT616 pneumatic feet, so i am well prepared to replace feet under any turntable. 

It's a good news that stock DK300 plinth is good, maybe i have to buy DK300 first. 

Great, just ordered my DK-300, so everything must be like this.

@genesis168 I also have a local friend who’s asking me for a tunrtable to ugrade his cheap pro-ject belt drive. So maybe this is not the last DP-80 i’ve bought.

DK-300 stock plinth is reasonably priced.

Acustand plinth for Denon DP-80 is 449 GBP + shipping from UK, looks very nice on the pictures. It’s funny to read about their "original design". I think the smart idea of adjustable PTS armboard has been stolen from Dr.Feickert and the overall plinth also reminds me Feickert plinth.

@genesis168 yeah, i know lower models are easy to find, but we're looking for the best only. Bought it out of curiosity, so much has been said about DP-80, i must try it. I'm also an SP-10mkII & SP-20 owner, but main machines in my studio are two PD-444. I don't like belt drive TT at all. My two Victor TT-101 collecting dust in the corner, i'm glad the next vintage DD is Denon DP-80 and i hope i will be able to run it quickly. 

Thanks for the link, Peter
The lighter mass platter mat (400-900g) would better than 1.8kg Micro ?

Denon DP-80 versus Victor TT-101 
Anyone can comment ? 

System rearrangement. This my current setup. Some nice gear in this lovely corner: Gold Note, Pass Labs, ZYX, JLTi, First Watt, Fidelity-Research, Luxman, Victor, Sony, Lustre, Micro Seiki, Zu Audio ... and more. I don't use digital, strictly vinyl !

Currenty under impression of my new Victor MC-L10 Direct Couple on Victor UA-7082 tonearm. What a great cartridge! 

Denon DP-80 on its way and the next in the most will be DK-300 plinth. 

I have one problem: i don't know how to place more than 2 turntables around my central rack with phono stages. May be i will have to make another (lower) table for 3rd turntable. 

*How do you deal with many turntables connected to the same system in your room ? 

I designed and made two metal racks especially for my Luxman PD-444 few years ago. And the rack in the middle (for amps and preamps) is what i designed myself about 19 years ago.  

@best-groove

Haven’t you repaired your TT-101 yet?

Not yet, i want to make sure it will be fixed by professional ones and forever. They are both have minor problems, nothing serious i believe. Local dude can’t work on them. Andrew Wilkinson in UK actually can try and full of enthusiasm. His perair shop has long history. Some other people can repair them, so i’m saving on it.

@lewm

At the very least, get the TT101’s out of the garage. The moisture and changes in temperature and humidity that might occur in the garage would be bad news for the circuit boards in the TT101. Put them in a dry location with a stable room temperature suitable for humans. Not in Siberia.

You’re right, but i don’t have a garage, they are here at home in the storage. I will plug them in and check again, it’s been a while since i tried them.

Thanks Mr. Postman, i've been waiting for you. 
Hello DP-80 

@bima my platter is just like yours, the inner part is not the label size, it’s the record size (on my DP-80)

Mine says "Denon" on the back, molded in the rubber. Yours is markedly different. I have one that closely resembles yours; more concentric rings, and lighter in weight — but of course that doesn’t mean it is like yours. "SFTG170M01" appears on the back of it; does yours have any signifier on the back?

@bima well, i have stamped RGS0008 on the rubber mat, but honestly i don’t care about it, can’t remember when i’ve been using a rubber mat last time, normally i replace them with my favorite SAEC SS-300 (lightweight) or heavy Micro Seiki CU-180 (or superheavy CU-500) depends on the turntable torque and platter.

 I suggest the SS-300 is better suited: it has a cut-out on the underside at the edge, so it doesn't contact the outer platter at all.

You're right, just tried it. It is true that the bottom side of the SS-300 is slightly smaller in diameter than my Denon rubber mat. So this must be the right mat for DP-80 

I've seen people using it with CU-180 too, but i thought about weight on that spring denon platter. Maybe this is a wrong mat for DP-80. 

Has anyone tried this ?   

@pbnaudio thanks Peter, i'm gonna try The Mat from Sakura Systems, it's in my wantlist. 

BTW: how do you lubricate DP-80 motor ?  

Cool, thanks ! 

@bima you did everything with the platter yourself ? 

Thanks @bima I hope it will help our readers and users of DP-80

My unit was NOS, probably unused, i only did the correction of the spindle position by unscrewing 4 bolts from the bottom and tightening them again after checking the position of the platter by verifying the gap around the platter from the top side. My motor block with the spindle was a bit off-centered (probably in the shipping process), but it was very easy to fix.

The tape read-head is spot on and everything is just fine and rotation is nice and smooth (noise free).

I only think about the lubrication, i have the oil supplied for my ex Technis SP-10 mkII by KAB. I can definitely do that if it’s necessary. But how many drops of oil i have to add ? I remember for SP-10mkII the recommendation was just to use a few drops (maybe 6) ? @bpnaudio I wish to prevent leakage of the spindle oil all over the drive inside :))

Still not sure about the damping material inside the platter, they do not recommend (in the manual) to unscrew the platter. But if you did that yourself maybe i can do that too.

Direct link to the material we can buy for the platter would be nice.

Another useful trick was with 2 red screws (under the platter) to let the DP’s own transformer move down for an inch or so.

Of course, all my turntables (except 2) are 100 volt and i have 1000 watt step down transformer for japanese electronics, another 110 watt transformer for US made electronics. And the power socket produce 220/240 volt here :)

I am very well prepared for all voltage standards in the world. My step down transformers are heavy as two bricks each. They are, however, so called "auto transformers" and i’m thinking to upgrade one of them which connected to my First Watt 110v amp.

Local company just relesed the upgraded version of step down trans for audio, which is different from my classic auto-transtormer from that comany.

"Unlike the auto-transformer, the transformer provides galvanic isolation of the load circuit from the mains. The transformer acts as a filter for impulsive noise arising in the primary network."

Many local folks using Japanese Toyozumi transformers, but most of them are also auto-transformers.

My powerful stepdown transformers produce 50Hz, i’ve noticed the trick with DP-80 switch earlier when i received it and checked online, mine was set to 60Hz before.

@best-groove Those russian toroidal step-down transformers are cheap:

Here you can find 1600w version, i use the same, but 1000w.
They are all available for japanese (100v) or for american (110v).
Stepdown auto-transformers from 220/140 to 100 (or to 110v) depends on the version. 

New models designed for audio:
"Unlike the auto-transformer, the transformer provides galvanic isolation of the load circuit from the mains. The transformer acts as a filter for impulsive noise arising in the primary network."

you can read here about 100w version and here about 400w version.

I wish someone can spread the light on step down transformers subject. 
I've been using cheap and small (made in china) before, but upgraded to the big and heavy local monsters long time ago. I use powerful stepdown transformers, because i connect at least 2 turntables to each stepdown device and i want to be abble to connect even 4 turntables to ONE stepdown trans if needed. 

The majorty of step-down transformers on the market are "auto-transformers" according to their internal construction, i don't know if the term "auto-transformers" is what you use in english. 

But i'm curious why another principle is better (especially for the amplifiers)? As the oppisite to auto-transformers there are different ones with "galvanic isolation". 

"Unlike the auto-transformer, the transformer provides galvanic isolation of the load circuit from the mains. The transformer acts as a filter for impulsive noise arising in the primary network."  

Personally i'd like my stepdown auto-transformers to be a bit quieter, but i think for a turntable stable vontage is much more important. I don't use any power conditioners in my system. 

@lewm don’t forget that you stepdown from 110/117 to 100v, but i must stepdown from 220/240 to 100v like everyone in Europe.

From what i’ve read the stepdown device must be at least 3 times higher in wattage compared to the actual source (turntable). For the amps the power of stepdown trans definitely must be much higher as far as i know.

I have no problem with mine, each one is 1000w, but as i said i use just one trans for everything japanese and another trans for everything american. I can connect 2-5 devices to each stepdown trans.

I’ve been using a cheap 30w max "super" stepdown autoformer before (it looks like power adapter), but the price for those chinese stepdown devices was nearly the same compared to 10-20 times more powerful local made autoformers people using here for japanese and american audio electronics. So i went for the powerful, the equal autoformers made in USA cost $500 (local made cost under $100).

Japanese stepdown devices like Toyozumi CD240 (or KD1000) are also autoformers and cost 3 times higher. They are very popular here.

But seems like real transformer with galvanic isolation is always better for critical audio devices, especially for amps. And safer for the user.

P.S. I know nothing about technical aspect of the step down transformers and about impact on the audio, i believe it is far more important for the amps than for the turntables. I'd like to have one stepdown for everything (universal), not many different stepdown devices. 

I have one from KAB recommended for Technics, he's got another one at the moment  on his site for $5.95 (scroll down for SFWO 010 oil). 

"This is the official original SFWO 010 oil. Anderol 465 aircraft quality synthetic acknowledged by Panasonic to be the original factory reccomended oil for all Technics turntables. It is great for all steel/brass/bronze bearing spindles as well. Now being supplied in a long narrow stem pipette to easily reach into tight spots."

  

I am getting the TT101 serviced but thankfully have a QL10 base - I'm wondering if that plinth is actually any good.

@lohanimal Interesting, who's responsible for servicing ?
I have two TT101 

Searched for TT101 plinth ideas i've come across interesting project of our audiogon fella, this is how it looks like in his blog: 

1) TT-101 with one tonearm 
2) TT-101 in ring plinth with two tonearms, here is a different view
3) TT-101 in ring plinth on isolation platform with two tonearm pods. 
I think the ring is slate ? 

Recently discovered two granith cylinders at home that can be used for toneam pods. And my pneumatic AT616 feet to support up to 60kg already here. 

@lohanimal  Hey, regarding my Denon DP-80 i am happy and surprised by the quality and weight of the original Denon DK-300 plinth (about 15kg) with dust cover. This design is great. I will stick to this plinth for some time for sure. 

As for the Victor TT-101 project i'm thinking about custom made solution in the future. It would be nice to read your comments after you will get you TT-101 from UK, i hope Andy at Wilkinson can train on various TT-101 

back to denon:

First picture of my Denon DP-80 system.
The drive is not screwed in DK-300 yet, the DA-401 arm is not mounted on the armboard yet, but everything looks nice together. 

The armboard on dk-300 plinth is exact same color as the plinth itself, so any other armboard (different material and different color) is probably not a good idea in terms of design. I was thinking about spare metal armboard for the future.