[bbophead]

This reminds me to post a system I made for a friend, a young girl who wanted to be able to play records but didn't have any money. She bought a Crossley that was a total disaster (she was able to sell it fortunately).

So this is what I made. The outside pair is my own. The inside pair is made of ripped woofers from a Philips centre speaker with new berillium/copper/neodymium tweeters and just one high quality mkp cap.
The platform contains a 100W class-D amp with BT5 and aux, a cheap but just ok Douk opamp based phono-amp, and room to put the cover of the album you're playing. The volume knob is vintage. The turntable is a chuo denki OEM which is really bottom end but it will do. It needs a new cartridge some time soon. And a tighter belt. But hey, I bought it for €5.

Total price in materials was €100. Thats all she could afford. I made it for free. The bamboo is from scraps but really solid. Finished with Rubio monocoat wallnut. The speakers sound incredible with BT. On par with a pair of LS3/5a's. I know because I owned them. These are better.

The photo hardly does them justice. I was really pleased with the tolerances. No gaps at all. The flow of the joints look really as it it were from a solid block.
Only that dustcover was really ruined.





You can check the tolerance on the backside. How cool is that, your own speakers, custom made with your name on it? (yes, lasering turned out slightly crooked on this side, laserpecker is very basic).
And you can drive them well with a 3W tube amp. I tested it.

Incredibly beautiful work! She's a very lucky girl.

 

[L0rdGwyn]

Polished up the platter on my TD125. Upgraded to a metal motor pulley, improved belt as well. Going to be building a tube LCR phono to pair with it very soon.

 

[George Hincapie]

Polished up the platter on my TD125. Upgraded to a metal motor pulley, improved belt as well. Going to be building a tube LCR phono to pair with it very soon.

You look like just the man to restore my Thorens 135. Fancy another project?

 

[L0rdGwyn]

You look like just the man to restore my Thorens 135. Fancy another project?

Sorry, too many projects in the queue already!

 

[Spork67]

My first decent TT. Bought it when I was 19, sold it (through the classifieds on here IIRC) 7-8 years ago.

 

[Spork67]

My first "modern" TT.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon with OM20 cart.
Sounded fine, but had no soul...

 

[Spork67]

My current TT.
Trio KP-F515
Happy with this one. She's a lovely old thing.

 

[]eep]

My first "modern" TT.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon with OM20 cart.
Sounded fine, but had no soul...

I'm not surprised. I had the same cartridge on my first Dual and I hate it. My first upgrade was a Yamaha ho mc cartridge and it sounded so much better, open, airy , spacious, and with bass. The ortofon sounded dull and lifeless.

Ever since I have been a proponent of getting the best cartridge the turntable can take advantage of. The OM is a true killer cartridge. It kills all joy for sound. Doesn't matter what stylus.

I have nothing against cheap cartridges because I love the AT 91, that cheap $20 cart with the carbon cantilever. That sounds full and earthy. It is great even on an expensive table.

 

[mulveling]

Let me speak up for the OM20 - it's a nice cart with a nude stylus (good quality) and in the right system I think it can be very enjoyable. Sadly, I have a broken one in a drawer so I can't give it a fair shake today. It's analogous to the 2M Blue, which I really like for the money. The 2M Red is the one I hate - that one is joyless for sure lol. In general, Ortofons are not going to seduce you with a romantic midrange like some other brands. I myself have a love / hate relationship with the higher-end Ortofon MCs in my systems (A90, Windfeld Ti). I usually end up listening to a Koetsu, or Benz, or Shelter, or Air Tight...

 

[]eep]

Well my opinions are my own. And I wish I could share experiences on the better Ortofons. But the bad experience with the OM took away the gusto. I do want to try the spu without the fake headshell though. And I still need to get my Koetsu Urushi fixed.

One thing I know, it's a lot more expensive hobby to try out flavors of cartridges than it is to try Whisky single malts.

 

[mulveling]

One thing I know, it's a lot more expensive hobby to try out flavors of cartridges than it is to try Whisky single malts.

That's only true if you remain "well behaved" while intoxicated. Not me, I had to give it up
Just aaaalllll audio now...

 

[penmarker]

I've always wondered how would you align the cartridge if you get the SPU integrated in the headshell. Or are we restricted to arms with distance adjustments like SME?

 

[]eep]

I've always wondered how would you align the cartridge if you get the SPU integrated in the headshell. Or are we restricted to arms with distance adjustments like SME?

There's an adaptor for it. The SPU with 'integrated' headshell is just a vintage looking plastic headshell with a cartridge mount inside. I really don't see any benefit in it other than that warm fuzzy nostalgic feeling. It certainly does look vintage, as in cobbled together.

Then I really prefer this and mount it on a one piece arm

 

[mulveling]

I've always wondered how would you align the cartridge if you get the SPU integrated in the headshell. Or are we restricted to arms with distance adjustments like SME?

The idea is that the SPU's stylus tip is mounted at a "standard" distance relative to the bayonet mount - 52mm. Under these conditions, "most" curved arms should find alignment according to their designer's intended alignment curve & parameters (minimum inner radius or IEC vs. DIN) - and this is fixed by the arm's wand length and offset angle (the amount of curve in the arm). The prerequisite to this is you must have accurately mounted to the manufacturer's recommended Pivot-to-Spindle distance. In practice, this can easily be off by a mm or 2 depending on who did it - and opinions will differ on how meaningful this discrepancy can be. So the SPU is "plug and play" with some caveats.

By contrast, headshells with "mounting slots" allow you to accommodate more cartridges with weird mounting hole to stylus tip distances (SPU takes that out of the equation), to absorb discrepancies in your actual P2S mounting distance, and even to twist the cartridge body in the headshell (i.e. change offset angle) to match different alignment curves than the one prescribed by arm manufacturer. You can even use this flexibility to slightly increase (or decrease) the effective length of your arm, at least until you run out of slot length. I have an FR64S arm which is "baked" for a Stevenson type curve, but I prefer Baerwald, so I ended up with a slight twist in the mounting for my alignment. I also ended up RIGHT at the end of the headshell slots (Koetsu cartridge), even with PS2 adjusted a mm below the prescribed 230mm (it just barely fits the Baerwald alignment).

The short/stubby SPUs have a distance of 30mm and I don't know how that's supposed to work lol.

There is also a "nude" version (not to be confused with "nude" styli) of SPU, the Royal N (see @]eep 's post above), which comes with an adapter to mount into standard slotted shells. You will have to do your own alignment there, as usual! This allows folks with fixed headshell arms to enjoy the SPU sound.

 

[]eep]

There is also a "nude" version (not to be confused with "nude" styli) of SPU, the Royal N (see @]eep 's post above), which comes with an adapter to mount into standard slotted shells. You will have to do your own alignment there, as usual! This allows folks with fixed headshell arms to enjoy the SPU sound.

Did you say nude?

I just found this new to the market. It's so nude you could call it skinned.
It comes in a beautiful hardwood box.
Rosewood or ebony.
0.35mV
1.8g (1.7-2.3g)
Compliance 16 um/mN
20 ohms internal impedance
Super elliptical stylus
Boron cantilever
Copper wire 6N
Separation 32dB balance 0.5dB (that seems very tight)


Price? You will not believe it. Really.
Brand? Some oem manufacturer from China. I have an idea (Jasmine) but I haven't found any info yet. There two other models MC that look very nice to, specs and materials.

Do get rid of all cleaning cloths and magic dusters before installing.