Michell TT Upgrade!

madmax

I had become tired of looking at my modded GyroDec turntable and decided to transform it into something else and do a bunch of maintainence. A month later it now looks quite different. Before it had a large black base with an attached dust cover which is said to cause loss of sound quality. I'm sure I have a pic already floating around here so I won't post it again.

These first two show the base parts and clear base put together.

madmax

Here is the main structure with added weight in the bottom and then with the arm attached.

madmax

This is the motor after doing some maintainence. The next pic shows where I wrapped cotton around the spring assembly. I've seen cotton wrapped around the spring wire itself before to quiet vibration of the spring but this way also dampens movement of the spring as well. It is working out quite well!

madmax

So here is the finished product!

madmax

Playing her first record And thanks to mhmacw, here is a karma record to play on it!

It sounds better than it did, more forceful and dynamic. It was worthwhile but took a lot longer than I thought it would.

madmax

Toolfan66

Madmax,

Looks fantastic, and I'm sure it was well worth the work. I am hoping in the next year to upgrade my TT I want to spend around $1000 to $1500

Nice bro,
Congrats.

BlueMDPicker

Beautiful piece! I just love anything well engineered. Enjoy Chuck!

hearingimpared

Beautiful work Chuck! That is one sexy turntable. I noticed you are using the old fashioned "Tip-Toes." I have a whole bag of them.

AudioGenics

Absolutely Superb !

janmike

Very nice indeed.

mhmacw

well above average chuck! simple upgrade...? i do have one question though; does your wife know you were working on her giant table doily? haha

madmax

mhmacw wrote: »

does your wife know you were working on her giant table doily? haha

Not married. That happens to be MY giant table doily!

The table has almost settled out. Whenever you play with the suspension the springs take a few days to stop bobbling around. By bobbling I mean that vibration causes the table to try to twist clockwise and counter clockwise rather than up and down because of the circular construction of the springs. I have re-leveled it four times now and noticed it didn't change overnight so I'm almost there! Initially it sounded about the same as the old setup but I can hear it coming into its own now. Kinda like hearing cables burn in but more dramatic. I think the cotton idea around the springs really did more than the different base, and it only cost an additional $1.25 :rolleyes:
Another thing I did with the cotton was to wrap it around the output cable where it touches the cabinent it sits on, that seemed to help the sonics as well. It never ends...

Thanks for the great comments.
madmax

hearingimpared

madmax wrote: »

Not married. That happens to be MY giant table doily!

The table has almost settled out. Whenever you play with the suspension the springs take a few days to stop bobbling around. By bobbling I mean that vibration causes the table to try to twist clockwise and counter clockwise rather than up and down because of the circular construction of the springs. I have re-leveled it four times now and noticed it didn't change overnight so I'm almost there! Initially it sounded about the same as the old setup but I can hear it coming into its own now. Kinda like hearing cables burn in but more dramatic. I think the cotton idea around the springs really did more than the different base, and it only cost an additional $1.25 :rolleyes:
Another thing I did with the cotton was to wrap it around the output cable where it touches the cabinent it sits on, that seemed to help the sonics as well. It never ends...

Thanks for the great comments.
madmax

Chuck, just an FYI, everytime I would get a suspension spring upgrade from VPI, there would be a rectagular shaped sponge like material inside the springs. I am wondering if that would have more of a beneficial effect on your springs in lieu of cotton? I may have a few buried somewhere. I could take a look to see if I can dig them up for you if you are interested.

jm1

Looks good! I've also been tinkering with my TT lately.

Please clean your cartridge before you do anything else.

hearingimpared

jm1 wrote: »

Looks good! I've also been tinkering with my TT lately.

Please clean your cartridge before you do anything else.

Hahah, I noticed that too but didn't have the heart to say anything!:o

[Deleted User]

Beautiful job! Nice photos.
Ken

madmax

hearingimpared wrote: »

Chuck, just an FYI, everytime I would get a suspension spring upgrade from VPI, there would be a rectagular shaped sponge like material inside the springs. I am wondering if that would have more of a beneficial effect on your springs in lieu of cotton? I may have a few buried somewhere. I could take a look to see if I can dig them up for you if you are interested.

If you have any maybe you could take a pic?

madmax

jm1 wrote: »

Looks good! I've also been tinkering with my TT lately.

Please clean your cartridge before you do anything else.

I really don't like messing around down there, it has never been cleaned other than a puff of air and a drop on the gonza sticky (is that what its called?).

hearingimpared

madmax wrote: »

If you have any maybe you could take a pic?

Chuck, I go through the stash and see if I can find them and post a picture.

madmax wrote: »

I really don't like messing around down there, it has never been cleaned other than a puff of air and a drop on the gonza sticky (is that what its called?).

Are you talking about the Onzow?

jm1

There's nothing to fear on the underside of the cartridge. Just make sure your are relaxed when you do anything there.

At least remove the stuff hanging from the cartridge. Maybe the dust around the edges and at the tonearm leads as well.

If you have a steady hand, try the 'BETTER METHOD' described in the attached file. Works extremely well. If not, the 'SAFER METHOD' works very good too. Make sure you use a stylus brush after to remove any ME fibers from the stylus as they will scratch the LP grove.

Magic Eraser

My stylus sparkles like a gem after its cleaned with the BETTER METHOD.

madmax

hearingimpared wrote: »

Chuck, I go through the stash and see if I can find them and post a picture.



Are you talking about the Onzow?

Yeah, thats it.

Once I was going to clean underneath but with it open as it is I decided to look at it through a microscope. The coil wires which I couldn't even see are fairly close to the bottom edge so I'm a little afraid to get too close to them.

jm1

I would suggest stopping at a craft supply store one day and purchasing a very fine paint brush and use this to gently clean the body. This is what I use to clean any delicate area.

hearingimpared

jm1 wrote: »

There's nothing to fear on the underside of the cartridge. Just make sure your are relaxed when you do anything there.

At least remove the stuff hanging from the cartridge. Maybe the dust around the edges and at the tonearm leads as well.

If you have a steady hand, try the 'BETTER METHOD' described in the attached file. Works extremely well. If not, the 'SAFER METHOD' works very good too. Make sure you use a stylus brush after to remove any ME fibers from the stylus as they will scratch the LP grove.

Magic Eraser

My stylus sparkles like a gem after its cleaned with the BETTER METHOD.

John, I believe we've had this conversation before about the Onzow Zerodust vs. the ME. I know you are very meticulous with everything audio and I'm sure you've researched and tested several methods of stylus cleaning before settling on the ME. However, although the Onzow is significantly more expensive than the ME, I get great results with it. Most importantly in my mind the Onzow was made for cleaning styli and the underside of the cartridge as well. The ME is made for scubbing kitchens and the such. Most of all I'm afraid to use the ME because it strikes me that there are chemicals in those micro fiber and I'm afraid it may travel up the cantilever and foul up the suspension over time.

I know you pretty well and am sure you wouldn't even think of using anything that could harm your gear. I'm very gun shy of using the ME because of the chemical nature of it.

To clean the stylus with the Onzow, I set it on the platter and dip the stylus into the bubble after raising the stylus I then move the bubble ever so slightly to the side and dip the stylus again. I do this at least three times to ensure the stylus sides, front and rear have made contact with the bubble.

To clean the underside of the cartridge, I just position the bubble so that I can lower the cartridge onto the top of the bubble thus resting the cartridge body on it but not allowing the stylus or cantilever to make contact with the bubble.

After the Onzow becomes fouled with dirt from the stylus I remove it from its box wash it with warm water and pure non-residue dishwashing liquid and let it air dry.

jm1

This was brought up the last time I mentioned ME.

The pure white ME does not have any chemicals within its structure. I have not seen any ME products with added chemicals here, but I know your market is different so there may be some with additives where you live.

Use what you are comfortable with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam

Now back to the original intent of the thread. My apologies for the detour.

DarqueKnight

madmax wrote: »

I had become tired of looking at my modded GyroDec turntable and decided to transform it into something else and do a bunch of maintainence.

You must be an engineer. I heard they love to change things.

Beautiful work and beautiful table. Enjoy!

madmax

DarqueKnight wrote: »

You must be an engineer. I heard they love to change things.

Yep, electrical design engineer. Almost anything can be made better if you don't break it first.
madmax

hearingimpared

DarqueKnight wrote: »

You must be an engineer. I heard they love to change things.

Beautiful work and beautiful table. Enjoy!

madmax wrote: »

Yep, electrical design engineer. Almost anything can be made better if you don't break it first.
madmax

If you two start having conversations here please dumb it down for us common folks!;)

SCompRacer

Nice job Chuck! A couple of tables ago, I had a Linn LP12 with tired suspension. The LP12 uses three coil springs to suspend the platter/armboard. Upon rebuilding with the new springs, the suspension seemed to be stiff and would bind while in motion. An obscure post in the Vinyl Asylum mentioned changing the clock positions of the coil springs until you got a smooth suspension action, and it worked. It was easy with the Linn on a stand as you could reach under and turn the springs a little until you got the desired smooth action.

madmax

I never thought about trying that. Do remember if they worked best in a certain orientation?
madmax

SCompRacer

I never recorded the position of the starting and ending coils on the springs in relation to one another. I would just turn a spring and check the suspension action. On the LP12, you could acually see the arm board get out of square in relation to the plinth just by turning the springs. With the LP12, the object was to square the arm board in the opening and get the suspension to jounce freely.

hearingimpared

SCompRacer wrote: »

I never recorded the position of the starting and ending coils on the springs in relation to one another. I would just turn a spring and check the suspension action. On the LP12, you could acually see the arm board get out of square in relation to the plinth just by turning the springs. With the LP12, the object was to square the arm board in the opening and get the suspension to jounce freely.

I've had to do the same with the springs in my VPI Rich. I wish I would have taken notes or where I began and finally finished up.