High Places
Showing 50 responses by boxer12
Porcupine Tree / Hand.Cannot. Erase slaw, 6t5gto, Thank you. To answer your questions: I started my career as a tool & die maker, then went into R&D & eventually management. Never lost my love of working with metal though so have had a small machine shop in my basement for about 20 years. 6t5gto, I do not have a lathe large enough to face off the 12" aluminum so had to outsource that. Everything else was made in the basement except the current bearing, which I bought & highly modified. Slaw, I have many many hours into that bearing. It started out as a commercial jet engine distribution valve which metered the fuel going to the fuel nozzles in that given engine. I picked it because liked the idea of a relatively soft material coated with a thin layer of very hard material. It is about as "decoupled" as possible from the platter while still remaining safe & practical. |
Low / The curtain falls on the cast slaw & 6t5gto, I made the turntable. It's a labor of love.The platter is 4" thick solid aluminum & the plinth is 2". Both are powder coated then dampened on both sides. The platter is topped with a 1/4 delrin "mat" that is solidly bolted to it. Flywheel, motor, & arm peds are not attached to the platter or plinth. They are made out of aluminum, brass, & ceramic. The bearings are modified aerospace parts with the "X" &"Y" portions separated from each other. They are made out of aluminum with a thin layer of hard coat applied to the surfaces that make contact with each other. I've been playing around with it for a few years now, making modifications etc. It sounds wonderful in it's current state. BTW I'm digging the Clearaudio MM cartridge, although it is far from broke in. Sorry for rambling. |
Sonic Youth / The Destroyed Room slaw, LOL... I'm going to follow your advice on the rack & try some sample pieces of carbon fiber (to see what I like best) before going full bore into it. My son took some pictures of it right after it was built & posted them on Turntable Porn website. The pictures are not that good (the TT is red, not pink) & everything in those pictures (stand, record storage, arm, equipment, as well as the TT itself) has been greatly improved since then so don't judge me to harshly. Link is below: https://imgur.com/a/fV2M4#BuZnFnb In regard to the arm... I'm currently using a Polestar & an older (80's) Victor. The Victor is great with MM cartridges. |
Starless & Bible Black Squarepusher / Go Plastic Tom Waits / Alice slaw, Likewise, thanks, & that is a fair question. I actually own a half dozen or more MC's & have spent the majority of my audiophile life listening to them. (I still have a concept MC & Dynavector Karet set-up in headshells that I listen to occasionally) That said, nothing against MC's just lately I've been playing around with MM's & have to tell you, there are some gems out there. A couple older ones are the empire 4000 diii & the Grado signature. The empire rivals any of the MC's I've owned. It's to early to tell with the virtuoso, but if it continues to improve like it has tonight, it will become a mainstay. |
Hey slaw, Your question in regard to the bearing material is absolutely correct. Also, thanks for the info on the balsa/carbon fiber material. Seems like it would be a good choice for an equipment platform, but you never know... Hence, I'm going to take your advice & buy a small amount of it first, to give it a try. I'm also going to try the solid carbon fiber & probably the birch version. It's interesting on their site (dragonplate), they have thin carbon fiber backed with linen they claim is good for reducing vibration. Probably worth trying as well, just at the contact points. |
Big Star / Number 3 (Rough cuts) Slaw, I'll be here til early morning (LOL). I've purchased the majority of my vinyl from a local record store called vertigo in Grand Rapids Michigan. Been doing business with the owner for about 30 years now. Great store. One of the best I've ever been in. Huge selection and he is not afraid of buying/selling obscure and relatively rare vinyl. Of course whenever I travel I'm always checking out those stores. There is a good one in Traverse City Michigan that I used to spend a lot of time in when we had a cabin up there. A great one in Cincinnati and also Indianapolis that I make trips to occasionally as well... Like you (I don't think I'm going out on a limb here) I can spend hours in a record store. The good ones have a great vibe to them. |