The Miller Carbon Story

Around this time I was working with DJ Casser and his Black Diamond Racing Shelf. His Shelf material was so much more effective than acrylic, it had to make a better plinth too.

more about Black Diamond Racing founded by DJ Casser

DJ was a commodities trader on the Chicago exchange. He moved into fabricating high performance carbon fiber parts, specializing in custom work on America’s Cup racing boats. Carbon fiber is inherently vibration damping owing to its composite structure. DJ was an avid audiophile and started experimenting, eventually developing the Black Diamond Racing Cones, Shelf, etc.

So now you know where the Racing in BDR comes from.

Suddenly, in the prime of life, lung cancer got him in 2012. https://www.schmidtandbartelt.com/obituaries/detail.aspx?id=5017

As good as it was, the approach DJ was taking to vibration control turned out to be just one small part of the problem. Ultimately it seems the materials he was using were great at certain aspects, but wind up channeling vibration into another area of the spectrum. This was hard to hear at the time, because it was compared to other things back then much more successful overall. When compared to springs however it quickly becomes apparent his approach imparts an unnatural hardness or glare. A much more sophisticated approach is called for.

The part above is only the birth of the Miller Carbon. It was initially driven by the Teres motor pod. This pod was upgraded to battery power. It was at this time a belt drive table.

Upgrading to battery power was my second experience with improved sound quality coming from nothing more than improving the power to the motor.

Have you experimented with platter dampening at all? If so, what have you found to be effective? 

Not damping the platter, no. However a lot of different clamps and clamping methods were tried. Also three different platters. Chris Brady made 4 different platters- solid acrylic, lead-filled acrylic, a black resin type material, and various lead-filled versions made of stabilized hardwoods such as cocobolo. The difference between platters is clear and easy to hear. 

My favorite of and the one I have been using for years now is my clamp made from BDR Shelf material. Combined with a carbon fiber washer it forces the record down onto the platter from the outside edge. About a year ago I added fO.q tape to the washer, and around the perimeter of the clamp. This is the best I have been able to come up with.  

More recent experience with springs and isolation has me re-thinking a lot of this however. 

The reason I ask... I've been kicking around modifying my platter (Currently 4" Solid Aluminum) with a combination of lead shot (or something similar) inside brass sleeves, & noticed your platter.  

Thank you for the response

Feel free to PM me for a referral of a machinist who happens to be an audiophile. He recently machined me a platter for my Teres bearing (milled from a solid aluminum billet with drilled chambers for lead-loading and a Delrin top fastened by brass screws). It weighs in at 35 lbs., up from my original 13 lb. solid acrylic platter sourced from Chris at Teres. Dropped my measured wow and flutter by 50%. He mods platters such as yours. 
If you are doing the mill work yourself, please post pix of your project somewhere. I’d love to check it out. 

Very beautiful piece of gear. Did you experiment with different loading of the platter? Were you also working on AC boats?

Thanks nrenter.
At some point... I'll be doing the machining myself. Since both you & millercarbon heard an improvement when adding lead, it's officially on my "to-do list".  

Very beautiful piece of gear. Did you experiment with different loading of the platter?

Thanks. Matter of fact both the black and cocobolo platters were clearly superior. But the black was solid black like a hockey puck and cocobolo while beautiful hides the carbon fiber, they just do not look good together and so we had to pass. Lead shot spinning really looks the treat.

Also we are leery of messing up the fine balance Chris achieved. He measured equal amounts of lead shot. Balance is crucial. Bigger and less risky fish to fry.

One of our first mods was the bearing. Chris used an inverted bearing design. Ours was an early version, with a stainless steel ball bearing riding on a teflon coated brass thrust plate.

Every tiny little thing matters. This thread is about learning, so hopefully others can avoid a few mistakes. What I didn’t know then but do know now, just being immersed in oil alone does not guarantee lubrication. It does not by itself guarantee there will be no metal on metal contact. If the weight of the platter and bearing on the tiny little thrust plate contact patch is too great then the psi will itself prevent lubrication. Platter mass for speed stability turns out to be at odds with bearing lubrication for smoothness!

Just one of the little tidbits picked up from Mark Baker today. Kind of thing makes you go, "D’oh!"

But Baker was today. This was 17 years ago. Now it all makes sense. Thrust plate wear stops when the area of wear is enough the psi drops to allow the lube to work.

Lesson learned: turntables are nowhere near as simple as they look. If something like adding platter mass appears simple, rest assured there are unintended consequences galore.

The thing I enjoy most about your quest MC is the path. You weren't jumping around throwing lot's of spaghetti at all the walls. One pot of spaghetti at one wall. It seems methodical, calmly, observing and assessing each step. So many variables for us to experience and experiment with. Thanks for sharing.

Love the porcelain cable lifts.  Bought the same ones from a wholesale electrical supplier.  $12 each.  Sometimes less is more.   

Thanks, edgyhassle. It was very methodical. First a PC. Then a belt. Both of which cost nothing but time. Then the motor. Another small step. Also each step was one change only. Same table, same everything else, so it is clear what does what.

It goes on like this. Battery power supply. Same motor, only the power supply changes. Ability to run battery connected or disconnected from AC charger. So effect of RFI in AC is demonstrated and learned.

Graham arm is upgraded to Origin Live Conqueror. Same table. Same Benz Glider. Only the arm changed- and it was YUGE! 👍 Upgraded the VTA. Upgraded the upgrade to the VTA. Built our own calibration, added that, enables precisely repeatable VTA. On and on. One methodical step at a time.

No one single thing was a game changer. Each one simply moved the dial one tiny little bit more the way we want it to go. Another thing Mark Baker told me, all the little things, they really add up.

Its all about you and your journey of trying to convince people that the cheaper stuff you have is the best out there. Origin makes OK turntables with their rebuilt Rega arms. Again, just like your speakers, just because you talked to somebody doesn't make the equipment the best on the planet or make you seem more of an audiophile. A lot of us have talked to a number of reviewers in the past, I have talked to many at the different CES/RMAF/and other audio shows, not a big deal.
If you want to look at some of the best TT's on the planet, check out TechDas, Clearaudio, Brinkman and if you want to go cheaper, check out Kronos and VPI.  If you want the best tonearms, check out Graham, VPI, Brinkman, Clearaudio TT series. 
You really have to stop saying what you have or what you think is the best, it isn't.

Don’t think MC said it was the best or better than all others. Actually he said it’s all about being intentionally curious and learning through trying various upgrades and tweaks. That is the point of this thread really!  Being intentional about getting better sound out of our systems through open minded and relentless improvements. 

Dear p05129, Some would add and/or subtract from your lists of bests, too.  It's inevitable.  I don't agree with MC on his approach, but he is just talking about his approach and what made it better, step by step.  I don't see a problem. I can't believe I just defended MC.

All the same, thanks.

Hi Chuck:

I live in Port Townsend, just retired and am starting my custom furniture boutique company with a focus on living room appropriate furniture built for audiophiles. It'll be a few months before I get my prototypes together, but I'd really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you concerning the same over the fall. 

Let me know if you are interested.

Thanks.

Northbeach

Matter of fact both the black and cocobolo platters were clearly superior. ... Lead shot spinning really looks the treat.

Every tiny little thing matters.

?

Very interesting to read others’ attempts at perfecting this hobby. I wonder how many of us are actually “content” with the system we have? I’m very happy with mine, I’m just not sure what would constitute an upgrade.

I would think the biggest improvement would be to upgrade the cartridge.  Still don't know why people use vinyl.  I always thought it to be noisier than a CD player and now streaming is convenient along huge libraries to choose from.  The next time I go to the RMAF I will check out vinyl to see if I can hear the difference.  There must be a reason why people play vinyl.  I am a novice compared to others and it is always interesting to hear what the experts say.

it’s all about being intentionally curious and learning through trying various upgrades and tweaks

Curious. That is often the lacking commodity. I'm often astounded at those who are so sure of themselves that they have no curiosity. And, in turn, they become know it alls who really know very little...all because they limit themselves by their lack curiosity.

I would think the biggest improvement would be to upgrade the cartridge. Still don't know why people use vinyl. I always thought it to be noisier than a CD player and now streaming is convenient along huge libraries to choose from. The next time I go to the RMAF I will check out vinyl to see if I can hear the difference. There must be a reason why people play vinyl. I am a novice compared to others and it is always interesting to hear what the experts say.

Yes, do yourself a favor and listen to a serious turntable rig. Streaming can sound very good these days, but vinyl is still king.

Oz

northbeach- Terrific idea. If you can make it August 14-15 Rick and Krissy will be here, the whole weekend nothing but listening as we have a bunch of stuff to compare. Vibration control is huge and this will be a beautiful opportunity to get some experienced input, and actually be able to hear for yourself the difference things make. But if not then, any time, for sure.

njkrebs- We are over the moon happy with ours. Have been for some time now. Might be hard to believe but far from the "diminishing returns" CW BS the more we do the more excited we get because the improvements just keep coming and are at least as impressive from this level as they were years ago. 

larry5729-

 I would think the biggest improvement would be to upgrade the cartridge.

The CW again. Patience. We will get there.

There must be a reason why people play vinyl.

There is. It's called music.

artemus_5 - 

I'm often astounded at those who are so sure of themselves that they have no curiosity. And, in turn, they become know it alls who really know very little...all because they limit themselves by their lack curiosity.

Those who have been here enough will know the most common question is "why?" and the most common answer is, "We really don't know." Followed by some say this some say that. All we really know is how it sounds. Sometimes followed by a demonstration of how it sounds. 

That's another thing Mark Baker told me. He is an engineer by training and perfectly capable of designing whatever he needs to do whatever he wants. He told us he has a great new improvement intended for his motor. Then immediately says, "If it works. We have to test it. Lots of times the designs don't work." There's times he has tried a hundred ideas before finding the one that works. Now that's curiosity! 

All the best ones are like that, far as I can tell anyway. 

For me, even an entry level TT rig surpasses digital.
Sure the relative SQ is low but the physicality of the vibration of the stylus is an organic sound.

Dear @njkreb :  "  I’m just not sure what would constitute an upgrade. "

Weird because in other thread you gave this advise talking of audio room/system:

"" tweak it over time ""

Normally we make a time to time tweak to our audio room/systems and that " tweak " is to find out some kind of improvement that can gives us a better quality listening enjoyment music sessions.
Of course that some times that " tweak " just does not works.

Any MUSIC lover as many of us can enjoy MUSIC listening through a FM station in a tunner " every where " we are.
MUSIC per sé is an art and as an art  wake up human been feelings/emotions and some of us through those tweaks try to achieve a greater enjoyment times.


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

Dear @millercarbon :  "" 

There must be a reason why people play vinyl.

There is. It's called music.   ""

Wit all respect not a wise answer even a wrong one reason because MUSIC is the name of the game it does not matters the medium: analog, digital, in a walkman or in your home system.

R.

mglik-

 For me, even an entry level TT rig surpasses digital.
Sure the relative SQ is low but the physicality of the vibration of the stylus is an organic sound.

Same here. The story has been told before so was skipped above but the Tehnics SL1700 was in a box in storage for several years- which just happened to be the critical years when CD first came out and replaced LP. So by the time the listening room was being built the assumption was there would be no LP. When Robert Harley said the turntable is the foundation of a high end system it was hard to believe.

But this being RH we had to be sure so the Technics was dug out and hooked up and we were blown away to hear it blow away a much more expensive and modern CDP from California Audio Labs. We in this case being literal not royal, the wife was with blown away as well.

But this was well before the birth of the Miller Carbon. Before even it was conceived. Call it a first date. Just enough to get me hot to go all the way.

Some years after battery power Chris came out with his Verus motor and controller upgrade. The Verus also involved a change from belt to rim drive. This is the motor that can be seen on my system page. It uses a wheel with a notch machined into it, into which an O-ring fits. The motor and feet are designed so the weight of the motor leans the rim drive against the platter.

This works, and is an improvement, but also has all kinds of drawbacks. The main one being O-rings all have a little seam or edge that sticks out right where it touches the platter. The trick is to set the motor up away from the turntable but as if it were being used, only with a piece of fine grit sand paper in place of a platter. Run the motor against the sandpaper like this and after a while it winds up nice and smooth.

Not perfect but a big improvement over the original motor pod setup. Also another opportunity to tweak and compare and learn the impact and influence of every little thing.

Dearb @mglik  : ""  For me, even an entry level TT rig surpasses digital : ""

I respect your subjective opinion where no one can argue against it.

Can I ask your non-subjective facts/true foundation for that personal opinion ?


R.

The first arm used on the Miller Carbon was the Graham 2.0, with a Benz Micro Glider. Then the Graham was upgraded to 2.2 with the new more massive knob that holds the point the arm pivots on. There was also a different weight silicone fluid as I recall.   

This was a fairly minor upgrade, not really worth the money frankly, although maybe so because back then it was still pretty exciting to hear such simple things make any difference at all. So, more learning: Even something as seemingly minor as the viscosity of a few drops of silicone does make a difference you can hear.  

This also was a change to the arm itself. Lots of people ask what does what, how much does it matter, and so on. Well, we learn by doing.  

Eventually the Glider was replaced with Benz Ruby. A clear case of the same only better. Which was exactly what was wanted. Wasn't looking to change. Just looking for more of the same, only better. 

The same Graham arm had now been used on two different turntables, Basis and Teres, or more if counting by the mods made to the tables while the arm remained the same. But those two tables anyway.  

The Graham requires an interconnect. Experience with this led to questioning the wisdom of all those extra connections. The Graham had cartridge pins, wand contacts, DIN connector, RCA to phono stage. Each one of those connections is also a solder joint. So add them all up: 11 connections! Compared to only 4 or 5 if the arm is hard wired.  

Cartridge output is exceedingly faint and fragile. All these connections cannot possibly be good. Yeah sure Ted Denney had made me some custom phono interconnects and they were mighty fine. But, still....  

So we wound up with the next big upgrade, the arm that is on there now, the Origin Live Conqueror.  

This was easily the biggest single upgrade yet! The cost increase, once factoring in the interconnect which we have to do to be fair, was not that much. But the performance improvement sure was! This was not just an upgrade. From Glider to Ruby was an upgrade. The motor stuff was upgrades. This was something entirely different. This was another realm.  

larry5729, you were asking about the cartridge? Now you have your answer: nope! A good arm is a greater upgrade than any cartridge. Dollar for dollar, put your money into a good arm. 

This was proven yet again later on when the Ruby was replaced with Koetsu Black Goldline. Yes indeed the Koetsu is a fine cartridge. Wonderful! Fricken love that thing! Totally. But really, it was just another upgrade. A nice one to be sure. Have we mentioned how much we love our Koetsu??! But where the arm was transformative, the cartridge was merely evolutionary.   

Always hard to objectively compare these things. Put it this way. The Graham 2.2 with Ted Denney custom IC and Koetsu, against the Conqueror with Benz Ruby, are pretty darn close in total cost. Just don't see anyone listening to them side by side picking the Koetsu. Not on that arm. Seriously doubt it would even be necessary to mount the Ruby. Probably everyone would pick the Glider on the Conqueror.  

The arm makes that much difference. When it is a good arm.  

@rauliruegas,
My question in this thread was more rhetorical in nature. I was simply stating I'm very happy with where I currently am with my system. I've make some minor tweaks along the way, but as I said, not sure what I'd change at the moment. Adding 1-2% improvement doesn't matter to me, diminishing returns for $1000's I'd rather invest elsewhere. I enjoyed what the OP (millercarbon) had to contribute, he obviously looks at every angle, which for him works and he enjoys taking his path. For me, that approach wouldn't work, but nonetheless I like reading about other people's perspectives and approaches. 

The rest of what you said in response to me was rambling, not sure what your point was. Also, if you need to read through previous posts of what people wrote to make a counterpoint, I'd suggest getting yourself another hobby in addition to music. Enjoy your tunes! 

Diminishing returns is more a phantom than a thing. More often than not all it means is doing the wrong thing. Because over the years it always has turned out doing the right thing is never a lot for a little, in fact it is usually quite the opposite.

So for example the motor was upgraded from the original pod to battery power and then a big $2500 jump to the Verus motor and controller. This was a diminishing return in the sense it was about what the platter, bearing and plinth cost, so nearly double the cost, but not double the performance. But on the other hand looking around, what other turntable was there that could be bought that would be better? 

So a good worthwhile improvement, but yes a diminishing return. However this was not the case when going from the Graham 2.2 to the Origin Live Conqueror Mk3. That improvement was huge! So there was no diminishing return. 

We could even go off-topic onto speakers, where Tekton Moab are far better speakers than the Talon Khorus they replaced, yet the incremental cost after selling the Khorus was so small no way it could be called diminishing. 

Same sort of thing again with the Raven Blackhawk (review to come) that cost more than the Melody integrated but is so much better no way it could be called diminishing return.

Sure everyone can find all kinds of overpriced stuff where the return is not only diminishing it is outright negative. All that does is prove my point. If the return is diminishing it is more likely due to some fault in system evaluation or component selection than some iron law of audio.

Have Netflix expressed any interest in running a serial?

How do you keep the dust bunnies off from all this ?

Microfiber dust off the platter beginning every session. Damp cloth tone arm every month or so. Every once in a while wipe off the shelf and granite. 

The next one will probably get a proper acrylic cover. Floating, hinged off the wall, no part of it touching any part of the rack or table open or closed. 

Dear @njkrebs  : ""   if you need to read through previous posts of what people wrote...""

Some times could be good  to know or " figure " out something of what is posted by a gentleman trying to understand his post reason to posted.

I did it with your " rethorical " post. 

Btw, normally always exist " opportunities " to make up-grades in an audio room/system with out spend money but only our time, some examples: changing the cartridge alignment ( overhang/offset angle. ), time to time check/fine tune the VTF/VTA due that cartridge suspension over playing hours has a kind of low degradation that could affects those cartridge set up parameters, small speaker position changes or even our seat position and many other tweaks we have on hand. The ones that could help the more are the system transducers links changes/fine tune.

As you I'm satisfied with my system.

R.

I am still working on what mglik wrote,
"For me, even an entry level TT rig surpasses digital. Sure the relative SQ is low but the physicality of the vibration of the stylus is an organic sound."
What does that mean? Isn’t this all about perceived SQ? Different ones of us are programmed to search for different qualities that go into our own definitions of SQ. This leads some of us to prefer excellent digital reproduction to excellent vinyl reproduction. There is nothing to argue about there, but SQ is the name of the game, the only reason to even play the game. Aren’t we all listening to music, not the vibration of the stylus in isolation?

The story has been told before but bears repeating. One day back around 1992 the Technics SL1700 bought in 1976 and stored for nearly a decade was dug out of the garage and hooked up. The Stanton 681EEE cantilever was bent, but straightened out pretty good with pliers. This was hooked up, using the crap patch cord hard wired into that table, to the phono stage in a vintage 1974 Kenwood KA-8004.

The Technics had a natural warmth and inviting ease the Cal Audio Labs CDP couldn’t touch. When the wife came home she asked what sounds so good. She couldn’t see and had no way of knowing it was a record. Assumed it was CD. When she saw what was going on she was shocked. How can it sound so much better, she wondered?

Year or so later listening to Jennifer Warnes on Basis/Graham/Glider/PH3SE she said in awe, it is so quiet! This was surprising since everyone always assumes digital is the quiet one. Then she explained, the noise with vinyl is ticks and pops, but between the ticks and pops is music. The CD has no ticks and pops, the whole thing is noise. There is no music.

Some audiophiles just need to try and get their minds around this. Yes indeed there are an unbelievably long list of sonic attributes one can listen for and hear. Among those are ones that some of us hear as noise, while others pretend the same noise is music.

Digital is noise. Analog is music. If my wife can understand, why can’t audiophiles?

Dear @millercarbon : ""  Digital is noise. Analog is music. If ..., why can’t audiophiles? ""

Fortunatelly only a subjective opinion with no true and real foundation/facts that can prove in any way that " ridiculous " ( for say the least. ) statement and remember that even that you read in more than one Agon thread posts the explanation that your ears has an ADC for the " brain " can comunicates what we are perceiving through the ears you still do don't understand it.

R.

News flash rauliruegas, it is all subjective opinion with no true real foundation/facts that prove anything. You may think otherwise but guess what? That is just your opinion without any true real foundation/facts that can prove it in any way. You can measure, but your measurements are only valuable to you, and only because you have faith in them. 

There is nothing fortunate, or unfortunate, about any of this. It is what it is. 

So now that we have the Miller Carbon story, how about we get a report on that Blackhawk.

Oz

MC, there’s no question that mediocre vinyl, like what one can get out of an SL1700 with a 681EE, could trounce nearly any of the early one box CDPs, in nearly anyone’s opinion. Modern digital is miles better, whereas an equivalent modern mid price vinyl rig is also way better than an SL1700 + 681EE, but maybe not by as big a factor. I don’t bother to make comparisons these days. I know that my own preference for vinyl is the product of many variables, not all of which are based purely in SQ.

Lewm I thought we where supposed to be going for what real music sounds like.  I have played  the trumpet  in cars,  trucks, in doors/ outdoors , hotel rooms, concert halls, even in the bath tub.  Yes each place it sounds a little different,  but it sounds like a trumpet not a digital trumpet.  Yes and a trumpet can get in your face but also be smooth like Miles.  But it does not sound electronic. 

Subjective  makes plenty  of sense if one does not care about what real acoustical  instruments  sound like and  just wants to dance  or have a good time.  People should enjoy music regardless if sounds real or not.  My subjective choice is real , I like  to hear and feel how the makers of the instruments wanted their goods to sound.

To back up Miller Carbons observation  of inexpensive  turntable getting the job done.  I was at a all tube stereo store in Phoenix  15+ years ago.  The owner had a small room with some Quad 989 in them.  Modest tube amp and Some small turntable with a grado 300.00 wood body cartridge.   Had Ben Webster on tenor playing.  It was as good as it gets.  

Enjoy the ride
Tom

Yes the Blackhawk review is coming ozzy62! I was on the phone yesterday with Dave Thompson gleaning more fascinating tidbits to sprinkle on my already sparkling prose. It’s just with the Raven now the Melody needs to find a new home, and this thread is the last (for me) curtain call for the Miller Carbon, next weekend is the big Audio Extravaganza at Chez Chaz with the new... oops man that was a close one almost let the cat out of the bag! 🤣😂

@millercarbon

Great to have a thread for discussion on TT tweaks. Here are my questions and observations.

Matter of fact both the black and cocobolo platters were clearly superior. But the black was solid black like a hockey puck and cocobolo while beautiful hides the carbon fiber, they just do not look good together and so we had to pass. Lead shot spinning really looks the treat.

I cant understand why you would start with an inferior sounding platter if you are looking to build the best sounding TT you can.
This would suggest that all your subsequent  modifications and your conclusions as to their efficacy and impact on sound have been assessed with a platter that is not optimised, and could have led you to wrong conclusions.

Battery power supply. Same motor, only the power supply changes. Ability to run battery connected or disconnected from AC charger. So effect of RFI in AC is demonstrated and learned. 

Why do you conclude it is about elimination of RFI, you are comparing a mains AC to to battery supply - I would have thought the stability of the mains supply affects the sound as much as any RFI. In fact a power supply does not need to be connected to the mains to be affected by RFI.

Chris used an inverted bearing design. Ours was an early version, with a stainless steel ball bearing riding on a teflon coated brass thrust plate. 

Teflon or self lubricating polymer type materials are a cheaper alternative to a properly desgned bearing. Teflon thrustpads wear out - quite rapidly actually. Have you thought about try lignin vitae for example. I see you replaced it with silicon carbide and tungsten thrustpad. You might be interested to know the Brinkman uses a plastic thrust pad - very disappointing.

If you want to look at some of the best TT's on the planet, check out TechDas, Clearaudio, Brinkman and if you want to go cheaper, check out Kronos and VPI. 

Well the Brinkman uses a plastic bearing, the Clearaudio Statement cant hold speed accurately - some of them are not a great as you might think. There are a lot of shiny balls in audio.

One of the best ways ( and least expensive ) to improve your system as you have done is to read up, question everything and most importantly think !

Okay sure. But what good would reading up do if the reading up misses the point and jumps to a lot of unwarranted conclusions? I didn’t choose the inferior platter. You can’t find anything here to indicate that. Matter of fact the lead shot platter I bought was the best one available at the time. The demo with cocobolo and delrin was years later. Go ahead, search back and see where you can substantiate your pre-determined narrative. Not in anything I wrote. If you are gonna read up, read up.

Bearing, ditto. All of which is beside the point. There never was any indication this thread was about "how to do it" or "this is the best" the thread is simply a discussion of how this table came to be and got to where it is. Along the way people interested in learning can maybe learn things here and there. If they are interested in learning. Not showing off.

This is not a BSD contest. When you make your system better it does not make mine worse, and vice versa. We all can learn. We can even learn by others mistakes. One of the best ways (and least expensive) to improve your writing is to read up, question everything, and most importantly, think!

@millercarbon

 There never was any indication this thread was about "how to do it" or "this is the best" the thread is simply a discussion of how this table came to be and got to where it is. 

Apologies - didn't realise you only wanted to hear from folk who agree with everything you've done. I'll move on.