Right. As Spock might say, "A dazzling display of illogic."
Where was I? Oh yes, the turntable.
At some point last year someone around here- if anyone knows who it was please chime in so they can get due credit - was talking about how great TA-102 fO.q tape works. So we got some and tried it. Sure enough, even a small piece makes a noticeable improvement.
This special tape is designed to eliminate micro-vibrations by turning them into heat through using the piezo-electric effect. This is different than most other materials that work on a more mechanical level. This tape is pliable but not soft, so it preserves dynamics. It does however remove a layer of grunge, leaving midrange and treble quite a bit clearer.
It was first used on the tone arm base, then arm tube and counterweight, and motor pod. Finally it was used on the bearing.
The Miller Carbon was originally designed around the idea of the best approach being to hold the bearing as rigidly as possible. So it was fastened directly to the BDR Shelf on both sides. After learning more about isolation it was thought maybe this tape would be an improvement.
A couple pieces were cut. One was cut to fit like a gasket where the bearing mounts to the plinth from above. More were used on the nut that fastens from below. Together this has the bearing held to the plinth with this tape in between. This was a very noticeable improvement for such a small amount of tape.
Another small piece went over the washer that fits around the spindle, with some more around the perimeter of the record clamp. Altogether these cleaned up a fair amount of grunge revealing greater detail.
These were the last few things to be done to the table itself. When first springs and then Townshend Pods were used under the table, and to excellent effect, that was pretty much the end of my old philosophy of how to approach the whole thing.
Not that it didn't get quite good results. The table as it is now really does sound quite good. It is more a situation of feeling like this is about as far as we can take it. Instead of trying to hold everything as rigidly firm as possible the experience with Podiums under speakers and Pods under components is saying it is better to isolate each thing in such a way that it can dissipate energy without inducing ringing in everything nearby. Another way of putting it is to let the vibrational energy dissipate more rapidly.
So, a lot of learning. A lot of changes, spread out over 17 years.
Where was I? Oh yes, the turntable.
At some point last year someone around here- if anyone knows who it was please chime in so they can get due credit - was talking about how great TA-102 fO.q tape works. So we got some and tried it. Sure enough, even a small piece makes a noticeable improvement.
This special tape is designed to eliminate micro-vibrations by turning them into heat through using the piezo-electric effect. This is different than most other materials that work on a more mechanical level. This tape is pliable but not soft, so it preserves dynamics. It does however remove a layer of grunge, leaving midrange and treble quite a bit clearer.
It was first used on the tone arm base, then arm tube and counterweight, and motor pod. Finally it was used on the bearing.
The Miller Carbon was originally designed around the idea of the best approach being to hold the bearing as rigidly as possible. So it was fastened directly to the BDR Shelf on both sides. After learning more about isolation it was thought maybe this tape would be an improvement.
A couple pieces were cut. One was cut to fit like a gasket where the bearing mounts to the plinth from above. More were used on the nut that fastens from below. Together this has the bearing held to the plinth with this tape in between. This was a very noticeable improvement for such a small amount of tape.
Another small piece went over the washer that fits around the spindle, with some more around the perimeter of the record clamp. Altogether these cleaned up a fair amount of grunge revealing greater detail.
These were the last few things to be done to the table itself. When first springs and then Townshend Pods were used under the table, and to excellent effect, that was pretty much the end of my old philosophy of how to approach the whole thing.
Not that it didn't get quite good results. The table as it is now really does sound quite good. It is more a situation of feeling like this is about as far as we can take it. Instead of trying to hold everything as rigidly firm as possible the experience with Podiums under speakers and Pods under components is saying it is better to isolate each thing in such a way that it can dissipate energy without inducing ringing in everything nearby. Another way of putting it is to let the vibrational energy dissipate more rapidly.
So, a lot of learning. A lot of changes, spread out over 17 years.