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Questions Regarding Installing a Wheaton Triplanar On A SOTA Cosmos

As luck would have it I recently acquired a Wheaton Triplanar VII U2, and am waiting on it being shipped. So at this point I am trying to decide what the most favorable table to mount it on, and what arm gets replaced. I have a SOTA Cosmos Eclipse with a SME V on it, and that would be my preferred place to install it. The only thing is this Triplanar has the arm cable extending out the back of the arm pillar instead of routed out the bottom of it. I have to assume the cable is going to have to be routed on top of the arm board and then over the edge into the body of the Cosmos. Not wild about that but do not see any other options other than drilling a 1/4 hole and routing the cable through it. Anyone have any experiences to share if they have installed it on a SOTA table?

My second alternative is to put the arm on my Scheu in place of a Dynavector DV505 I have. That is certainly a straightforward option, with no issues to be solved. However, I have never been fond of the SME V on the SOTA, so this would be my first choice. 

neonknight
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,606 posts
 

Ralph, if memory serves my TP would not fit properly, which is to say so that the arm wand would not overhang the platter when at rest using a plinth where the Technics chassis sits above the plinth surface.

Just looked at my Tri-Planar. If you had enough slack in the tone arm wires where it comes out of the arm tube, you could use a spacer to elevate the tone arm wire retention screw so the wires clear the well the tonearm sits in.

@lewm @elrod @neonknight I think you can get 1/4" spacers from Triplanar. I've used them and didn't get them made (so I think I got them from Triplanar). If the arm board is sunk below the plinth the spacer can solve that problem along with tonearm cable issue.

lewm
12,510 posts
 

If I am remembering the spatial relationships correctly, you would need a spacer wide enough to bring the base of the TP up to the level of the top of the square escutcheon that surrounds the platter (on Technics SP10 mk2, mk3, and R).  The problem otherwise is that the escutcheon and the location of the VTA tower on the TP together prevent one from twisting the TP so as the arm wand will clear the platter when the arm wand is sitting in its rest position.  If the arm wand rests so that it sits partially over the platter, then playing LPs would be awkward and endanger the stylus, if one is not very careful.  And who can be very careful after a couple of glasses of wine?  This is also assuming one can obtain the proper P2S distance with the TP in that situation, which I don't remember.

armstrod
602 posts
 

I can confirm that Triplanar sells spacers that are 1/4". I use two of them under mine to bring the arm up to the proper level for my JVC TT-81 on the CL-P2 plinth. Put it at just the right height for the VTA adjustment to be useful in both directions. Definitely worth the money for parts that fit perfectly.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,831 posts
 

OP - agree… i wouldn’t and didn’t butcher my SOTA to make that work. IF you dont have the needed TP tool to locate the arm, let me know and i can get that to you. 

What cartridge? i’ve run a few on the TP but always interested in others impressions 

Best

Jim

neonknight OP
341 posts
 

That is a very good question Jim. I have just a handful of cartridges I can work with. The second arm on the Scheu is a Schroder CB-1L in ebony and I will use either a Transfiguration Audio Proteus or an Ortofon Verismo. Both cartridges sound nice on that arm. I will probably leave the Proteus on it. My third cartridge is an Audio Tekne MC-6310, which might go on the SME V which is on the SOTA. So the Verismo goes on the Wheaton. I have a Kiseki Blackheart Gen 1 that I currently have on the SME V and it sounds quite nice there. It will go to the sidelines, as well as a restored Ortofon MC2000 I have. 

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