New Townshend Rock 7 owner


The Townshend is in transit to it's new home. I purchased this one-owner table as a package, complete w/ Funk Firm FXR ll arm, dc motor upgrade, Discovery Balanced phono cable and Brinkman PI cartridge. It come with all original boxes, manuals.

If all goes well, I should be able to get it up and running with one exception, my phono stage is not balanced. Since the original owner bought this from a respected dealer as a package, I think my best route would be to get a pair of RCA to XLR adapters in order to hear the package as close as possible as was intended.

Any thoughts on that aspect? What brand adapters would be recommended? Also, any thing I might need to know from experienced users to help with set-up? Thanks.
128x128slaw
@slaw 

Thanks!

I was worried since the spindle would not go all the way thru, with the FF Matt and record, if it would be possible and safe?

since my spindle is threaded, was thinking about getting a small stud to use in it's place (without Clamp)?

What differences did you notice with the Funk Firm platter Matt?
@sprocket75,  

The other issue you’ll encounter is the height of the damping trough. It will need to be raised some. My FFM is 5mm. I found a suitable spacer to go at the troughs’ pivot point. I found it easier to take the locking mechanism out of play as well. If you use a clamp you’ll just be re-connecting the lp to the bearing. YMMV.

Safe? Well as long as you don’t hit the record, all will be well.

With the mat in play, no part of the music suffered. I noticed the most how much cleaner/clearer/more musical the bass was. The bass is already a strong suit. A while back I tried my Stillpoints LP1 on top of the mat and that gave the music a greater foundation, increased solidity.
@slaw 

Thanks for all the feedback!

I was thinking about starting with the FF 3M Matt ? 

I assume with the 5M FF would require adjustment to the VTA height? 
@sprocket75,

Both the 3mm & 5mm mats will require VTA adjustment and attention to the arm trough height like I mentioned above.
slaw I own the latest model Townsend Rock 7w/the Merlin power supply. I have been periodically following this forum.My question for you is:  the belt on my unit does scrape the bottom of the platter somewhat. I shimmed under the 3 feet of the base with thin pieces of cardboard and this helped although did not completely resolve problem. 
Is there a better solution /have you worked with this problem?My dealer who set it up said changing the motor angle will solve the problem . But doesn't changing that angle also affect the speed of the turntable which is currently not a problem on my unit ? Would appreciate any feedback you can provide.
If you have addressed this in a previous section of this forum let me know where to find it.Nick