Planning for a turntable with 12" tonearm

[etcarroll]

2 to 3 more weeks?!?

Good Grief!

[jsaliga]

I don't think that's unreasonable.  The wood is cut at a CNC shop and that is where most of the wait is.  I can really afford to be patient on this one....I already have a great turntable to listen to records on so it isn't like I am suffering with a setup that stinks.

--Jerome

[eleazar]

I can see Jerome now in the Lotus position taking deep cleansing breaths as he waits for his plinth

[jsaliga]

Better the Lotus position than this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFLPn30dvQ



--Jerome

[jsaliga]

The plinth for my 401 arrived today.  Here are a few pictures that really doesn't do it justice.



And here it is with a very loose fitting of the table and Jelco SA-750L 12" tonearm.  The SA-750D 9" tonearm will be mounted on the armboard at the left rear of the plinth.



The builder deserves some credit.  James Campbell did this plinth.  It is wrapped in walnut and is truly gorgeous to behold.  It's massive and heavy, weighing in at about 40lbs.  If you like what you see here and are considering building a vintage deck based on a Garrard 301, 401, or Thorens TD-124D you can find James on Audiogon or eBay.  He does fantastic work.

The only thing that I felt was a little lacking was the rubber feet that was supplied with the plinth.  They were very small relative to the size of the load they would have to bear.  But it really doesn't matter to me that much, since I will be buying a set of Symposium Acoustics precision couplers and rollerblocks.

This is still a long way away from being ready for a road test.  I expect to have the table up and running by the end of January.

--Jerome

[rollo]

  Looking good there Jerome. Hope it sounds as good as it looks.



charles

[BobM]

Very Pretty. I'm sure it will sound as nice as it looks. Incredible woodwork.

[eleazar]

One word Sweeeeeeeeeet !!

[topround]

My friend has the same table with an OMA slate plinth and a Schick arm, with the Miyajima Shilabe cart. A very nice sounding combo.

good luck

[jsaliga]

If I am given enough time to think about it chances are good that I will change my mind about something I thought I was previously decided on.

Case in point, I was going to buy a Miyajima Premium Ebony Mono cartridge but then came into an excellent deal for two Ortofon classic SPU cartridges.  One is a SPU mono CG-25 DI MKII and the second is a SPU Gold Reference.  Both are new and unused and I got both cartridges for a little more than I would have paid just for the Miyajima Premium Ebony Mono.  The Ortofon SPU series have received a lot of positive comments from people running them on vintage turntables from the likes of Garrard and Thorens.

I think this sets things up rather well because this Garrard 401 will be used mostly to play vintage mono records pressed in the 1950s and early stereo records pressed in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s.  I will continue to use my SOTA Star Sapphire/SME 309/ Ortofon Jubliee combo to mostly play audiophile reissues.

--Jerome

[tmazz]

If I am given enough time to think about it chances are good that I will change my mind about something I thought I was previously decided on.

Case in point, I was going to buy a Miyajima Premium Ebony Mono cartridge but then came into an excellent deal for two Ortofon classic SPU cartridges.  One is a SPU mono CG-25 DI MKII and the second is a SPU Gold Reference.  Both are new and unused and I got both cartridges for a little more than I would have paid just for the Miyajima Premium Ebony Mono.  The Ortofon SPU series have received a lot of positive comments from people running them on vintage turntables from the likes of Garrard and Thorens.

I think this sets things up rather well because this Garrard 401 will be used mostly to play vintage mono records pressed in the 1950s and early stereo records pressed in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s.  I will continue to use my SOTA Star Sapphire/SME 309/ Ortofon Jubliee combo to mostly play audiophile reissues.

--Jerome

I'm not sure I would call that changing your mind as much as jumping on a great opportunity. Sounds like that deal was custom made for what you are trying to accomplish with your system right now.

[jsaliga]

I thought I had carefully researched my choice of tonearms.  I spent a considerable amount of time looking into it.  I didn't buy the Jelco arms just to save money, though that was obviously a motivating factor.  I would rather spend $1,200 for two tonearms than $4,000.  I also wanted tonearms that were well received and reviewed by owners.  While the Jelco arms may not have all of the bells and whistles of an expensive arm of modern design there are a lot of very positive reviews by people who are matching them up with Ortofon SPUs.  I even found owners who are running cartridges such as the Lyra Helikon, Dynavector Te Kaitora Rua, and the Koetsu Urushi and are very satisfied.

I am now waiting on a pair of Ortofon SPU cartridges to arrive and have spent some time setting up and mounting the Garrard 401.  I became a little concerned when I took a look at the mounting collars on the Jelco arms.  The tonearms seem to be very well made, but the mounting collar has a very small VTA set screw at the top of the collar.  I was worried about how stable it would be in operation.  I did a Google search and found the following thread on a UK audio forum:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7359

The bad news is that some people have reported issues.  I am a little disappointed that my earlier research did not uncover this information.  I also found a few threads on Vinyl Engine where some owners acknowledge the fiddly nature of the mounting collar but indicate they were able to get accurate alignment with the stock collar.  However, I think these folks will run into an issue if they change cartridges and need to adjust VTA.

The good news is that an aftermarket mounting collar is available and I am in line to get a pair of them that will resolve the issue.  The cost is about $60 per collar and completely worth it in my opinion.  However, I will have to wait until February to receive them.  While I feel the delay will be worth it I am starting to get a little anxious to get this turntable up and running.  It is taking a lot longer than I expected.

--Jerome

[tmazz]

The good news is that an aftermarket mounting collar is available and I am in line to get a pair of them that will resolve the issue.  The cost is about $60 per collar and completely worth it in my opinion.  However, I will have to wait until February to receive them.  While I feel the delay will be worth it I am starting to get a little anxious to get this turntable up and running.  It is taking a lot longer than I expected.

Anything that helps you dial in and lock in the VTA is well worth the wait and the relatively small amount of money that you are spending to do it.


Good choice. 

[jsaliga]

My Ortofon SPU CG25 DI Mk II came today.  So I set the turntable up.  I did a little checking myself on the Jelco tonearm collars that I was concerned about and did a few trials with the set screw and was satisfied that it wasn't as big a problem as I originally thought.  I will replace them, however, with the aftermarket collars when they arrive.






The Ortofon SPU Gold Reference cartridge hasn't come yet.  So I set up my backup stereo cartridge on the 9" arm, a Dynavector 20X2L low output moving coil cartridge.

While both cartridges will need some break-in time (they are both new) I have to say that this is the best upgrade to my audio system that I have done in years.  Let me clarify that.  I have hundreds, if not a 1,000 or more mono LPs that were pressed in the 1950s.  Until now I have been playing and enjoying those records on a modern stereo moving coil cartridge.  The Ortofon SPU CG25DI mono is the first true mono cartridge I have ever used, and the difference is like night and day, especially with records that have minor scratches.  Most scratches on mono records will make loud, recurring pops when played with a stereo cartridge.  This really drives me nuts.  When the same record is played on a mono cartridge most of the time there is no noise at all.  This is because scratches cause vertical movement of the stylus.  The stylus of a mono cartridge does not have any vertical compliance.  The stylus will only move laterally.  This also means a lot of surface noise that is picked up by a stereo cartridge is inaudible on a mono cartridge.

I have been going through some of my mono LPs that were problematic on my Ortofon Jubilee stereo cart and have taken them for another spin on the Garrard.  What a difference!  It's almost as though I have been given a bunch of new minty records.

If you have a sizable collection of mono records that were pressed between 1948 and 1960 (these records would have U shaped grooves rather than the V shaped grooves found on stereo records), there is no better upgrade than a mono cartridge that you could buy for your system.

Here is how the costs lined up for this project:

Garrard 401 -- $800
Custom Made Plinth. -- $650
12" Tonearm -- $650
9" Tonearm -- $450
Tonearm cables -- $225
Ortofon SPU mono cartrdige -- $580
Ortofon SPU Gold Reference stereo cartridge -- $1600

Total cost of project -- $4,955

Some will look at the cost and wonder if it was really worth it.  I have thought about that too.  I sort of lost sight of the escalating costs in this project as it progressed.  It turned out to be more expensive then I originally expected.  But if you knock down the $1,600 for the SPU Gold Reference cartridge the cost comes down to a somewhat more reasonable $3,355.  Still a lot of dough to be sure.  But I have much more than that invested in vintage mono records, and now I feel as though I have a vinyl front end that can do those records real justice.

I'll have more to say about this table over the weekend.  I listened to two LPs on the Dynavector DV-20X2L and was very impressed by what I heard.

--Jerome

[etcarroll]

"Some will look at the cost and wonder if it was really worth it."

Not in this group, you must think you're on a different forum.