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Nice turntables. Attached picture is an absolute requirement.

Latest addition. Amazing how the camera highlights every dust speck.
 

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Finishing a table for a client, rare arm that was a bit of a headache. The Micro Seiki MA 707 is rather rare in the US, and I haven't seen one on an AR. Rather nice.

View attachment 525868

I would never know that wasn’t how that table came, that arm is very nice looking (I’d almost say sexy but sounds weird for a record player). I have a n00b question, the central part of the arm is a matte grey color and towards the pivot there is a black barrel shaped thing with a shiny cap (sitting right on top of the lead in), what is that?
 
Feel free to tell us about your youth's vinyl player. Take a trip down memory lane.

Very nice thread.
These were the four turntables I owned, in chronological order, and I loved them all very much:


Lenco L78

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Telefunken S600

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Dual 721

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Micro Seiki with SME tonearm

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I bought the Micro Seiki as a display model from the store where I worked for a long time. It was one of those audiophile shops that aren’t very popular here on ASR—the kind that mainly sold expensive high-end gear.
Carver, Mark Levinson, Krell, Luxman, etc.
I really enjoyed it back then.

I guess the real progression was simple—I just had more money over time.
But looking back, I also noticed I became more interested in how things actually work (in fact, I thought money would buy better Sound, but the Steps were not so wide as I thought)

Today, I only have hard drives and streamers that I actually use. In storage, I still have the Kenwood KX1100hx and the 9050s as cassette decks, but no more turntables.
It became nothing more than a display piece relatively soon after I bought the Philips CD 104, and eventually, a few years later, I sold it.

PS
My first self bought LP was Santana Abraxas
Still listening to it from time to time

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I would never know that wasn’t how that table came, that arm is very nice looking (I’d almost say sexy but sounds weird for a record player). I have a n00b question, the central part of the arm is a matte grey color and towards the pivot there is a black barrel shaped thing with a shiny cap (sitting right on top of the lead in), what is that?

Found it, adjustable effective mass. I was thinking a weight, the grading on this photo made it click.

IMG_6944.jpeg
 
Very nice thread.
These were the four turntables I owned, in chronological order, and I loved them all very much:


Lenco L78

View attachment 526175

Telefunken S600

View attachment 526177


Dual 721

View attachment 526176


Micro Seiki with SME tonearm

View attachment 526178

I bought the Micro Seiki as a display model from the store where I worked for a long time. It was one of those audiophile shops that aren’t very popular here on ASR—the kind that mainly sold expensive high-end gear.
Carver, Mark Levinson, Krell, Luxman, etc.
I really enjoyed it back then.

I guess the real progression was simple—I just had more money over time.
But looking back, I also noticed I became more interested in how things actually work (in fact, I thought money would buy better Sound, but the Steps were not so wide as I thought)

Today, I only have hard drives and streamers that I actually use. In storage, I still have the Kenwood KX1100hx and the 9050s as cassette decks, but no more turntables.
It became nothing more than a display piece relatively soon after I bought the Philips CD 104, and eventually, a few years later, I sold it.

All that brass made me think about tungsten which seems pretty cheap for the density. Machining must be an endeavor though, Google took me here


$50,000 extra just for the very top piece being tungsten. Even if I could I doubt I would, but that was eye opening as far as pricing to me.
 
All that brass
... looks very stylish and makes quite an impression.
In reality, though, with the same cartridges, there was hardly any difference in sound quality compared to the Dual 721.
But back then, as the proud owner, I wouldn’t have admitted that even to myself.
 
Found it, adjustable effective mass. I was thinking a weight, the grading on this photo made it click.

View attachment 526183
Yup, my client is fortunate - as his doesn't have the markings, which is nicer. Headshells are a little hard to come by, so that's a minus if one wants to change cartridge often. Plus, the little guy can come off and with a light cart that's even better. Hard to find Tonearm for a reasonable price. Even for an unreasonable price...
 
All that brass made me think about tungsten which seems pretty cheap for the density. Machining must be an endeavor though, Google took me here


$50,000 extra just for the very top piece being tungsten. Even if I could I doubt I would, but that was eye opening as far as pricing to me.
I sorta don’t understand the appeal of using such hard metals, other than just making it expensive and unique.

If I want a heavy platter that also was reasonably well damped (but still metal), I would machine an aluminum shell, maybe 12” by 1 or 2” deep but perhaps 1/4” thick, and fill it with lead. It would weigh more than brass, ring far less than tungsten, and be a tiny fraction of the cost. But it might be easier to grind a granite disk.

The problem with these massive disks is the motor power and transmission required to spin them, the bearing required to support them, and the noise all that entails.

Rick “can’t even find brass in 12” unfinished disks to price” Denney
 
The problem with these massive disks is the motor power and transmission required to spin them, the bearing required to support them, and the noise all that entails.

What about a solution like this though?


Rubber coat the platter like Denon did on my DP 3000 to handle ringing and “zero” friction.
 
Not sure I’d want the field produced by mag-lev that close to a cartridge, especially given that it is rotating the field to drive the platter.

But it’s delightful overkill, to be sure :)

Rick “cheaper than one would expect” Denney
 
Not sure I’d want the field produced by mag-lev that close to a cartridge, especially given that it is rotating the field to drive the platter.

But it’s delightful overkill, to be sure :)

Rick “cheaper than one would expect” Denney
They answer that on their web site, saying it's sufficiently well screened for MM cartridges, and they may one day bring out a better screened version suitable for MCs. I think your concerns are probably justified. Sadly, they don't provide any W&F or isolation figures, so those would also be a concern. They do have the decency to admit it won't sound better than a conventional turntable, but that it's a visual effect design. In that, they have succeeded, but I wonder how quickly that wears off.

S
 
If I want a heavy platter that also was reasonably well damped (but still metal), I would machine an aluminum shell, maybe 12” by 1 or 2” deep but perhaps 1/4” thick, and fill it with lead. It would weigh more than brass, ring far less than tungsten, and be a tiny fraction of the cost. But it might be easier to grind a granite disk.

The problem with these massive disks is the motor power and transmission required to spin them, the bearing required to support them, and the noise all that entails.

My Pro-Ject Xtension 10 uses a 5.7Kg aluminium platter machined out and filled with Sorbothane to prevent ringing.

To reduce the transmission of bearing noise it utilises partial magnetic levitation to reduce the load that the bearing sees.

It has electronic speed control to allow for a slow start of the high mass platter.
 
Finishing a table for a client, rare arm that was a bit of a headache. The Micro Seiki MA 707 is rather rare in the US, and I haven't seen one on an AR. Rather nice.

View attachment 525868
Looks like the cousin to the MA-707, the CF-1.
 
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