DSJR
Major Contributor
I've blown hot and icy cold on the bloody fruitbox (LP12 ). There's no denying that a good one carefully set up (believe me please, you can't just chuck one together as not all were made equal and even now, a tricky one comes through), can make listening to records a pleasure. What broke it for me was a direct comparison of disc vs the actual master tape (played on the machine) that made the record in the first place. Only a few years later,l when I heard a 'solid type' turntable costing half as much sounding more like my memories of the master (half inch., 30IPS, no noise reduction and ATR102 tape player) did I come back. I became a devotee of the intense pain and absolute pleasure that is Decca cartridge ownership (a Gold Microscanner which I still have after getting it repaired - they all seem to fail eventually). Linn to be fair, did some major structural upgrades to the plinth as well as bearing and so on in the early 90's and this improved the thing no end and of course the already high prices took off further to the point that the likes of me now look upon the donor-design-principle Thorens 150 with fresh eyes and ears (the two decks are scarily alike in so many ways despite obvious differences below the surface)...
Just a hunch, but I wonder if these close coupled arms put far more demands on their mounting plates or boards. I couldn't get my head around the recommendation to only nip up an original Rega RB300's fixing nut, where I used a proper sized spanner to very firmly tighten it.
Just a hunch, but I wonder if these close coupled arms put far more demands on their mounting plates or boards. I couldn't get my head around the recommendation to only nip up an original Rega RB300's fixing nut, where I used a proper sized spanner to very firmly tighten it.