Raven turntable owners:oiling & what type?

ianlane,

You don't indicate if you purchased the TW new or used. Either way, if the fit of your platter to bearing is very loose it could be the result of having been played dry with insufficient lube for long periods of time. While the new heavier lube now being used by TW could be of some help because of its heavier viscosity I would advise you to contact Jeff Catalano at High Water Sound and discuss it with him.

The UK distributor, suggests a 6 monthly relube, which seems reasonable. That reminds me to do it again. I have never seen any reason to try another and would'nt on principle. If that is what the manufacturer recommens, that is good enough for me, particular when that person is Thomas, who seems to take scrupulous care over all aspects of his tables.

Thanks Elinor. My post came out poorly worded/edited. Fir some reason my Username and Password were not recognized at the time I tried to post.

My bearing is not defective, but a "loose" fit with the platter, compared to other high quality turntables I have encountered.

I have already asked Jeff about the new oil for my original bearing, thinking my post above had not been accepted. He recommended a retrofit of the new bearing/spindle.

I would like to hear from anyone who has changed to the new bearing.

Ianlane, I'm not certain what you are saying. I never indicated that I thought you had a faulty bearing. I only thought if you had run your TT dry for a long time it could have worn down and hence your loose fit. TW designs and manufactures to a very high standard so a new bearing should work just fine.

Hi Elinor, Sorry for any confusion. I bought my Raven One new, directly from TW. I have cleaned and re-lubed the bearing every six months or so ever since. I have been very happy with the performance of the turntable as a whole.

Compared to something like the original Teres bearing for example the original Raven bearing seems to be a "looser" fit. From the OP comments above it appears that the fit of the new Raven bearing is quite "snug".

I did not think the new bearing/spindle assembly could be easily retrofitted to older Raven Ones - hence my original query just about the new oil. Evidently this is not the case. Jeff Catalano describes the change as "dramatic" - a strong descriptor from Jeff who is honest to a fault and not given to hyperbole. So I am interested to read of any end users' experiences with this change.

Thanks again for your comments. They are much appreciated.