Lockdown sent me off on an interesting exercise in testing out mats, weights and clamps on various turntables - idler and belt drive - which led to some fascinating conclusions - I’ll be posting this in the near future.
In the meantime I now have far too many of these things. So having a sell-off. Next on the list are an African blackwood record clamp, and a Sien solid copper weight.
The weight is modelled quite precisely (right down to the jewelled tip on the central spindle) on the Shun Mook Large Clamp - which lists at £6450, a price tag not for the faint hearted. It was made in the US, from African blackwood (mpingo) - not quite the exotic ancient ebony which the back story of the Shun Mook boasts, but nevertheless a material that is well known for audio-friendly properties. It's a clamp, so great for holding records flat without adding masses of weight (it's 200g). I found it worked best with an unsuspended deck. I had been concerned that clamping to the spindle might introduce bearing noise but even at full volume I couldn't detect this.
This is quite a sepcial bit of kit and fairly rare (only 5 were made, I was told) and there's no doubt it brings something special to the party. Looking for£300 £250 for this including postage.
Also selling a Sien solid copper weight, nominally 1kg though on my scale it comes up a few g short. Sien is well know to Lenco Forum members as maker of some quite special bearings for idler TTs (Lenco, Thorens and Garrard) and for one-offs like this pure copper weight. It's a pure lump of metal and not finely polished - it does have a few visual imperfections. I found it worked really well on a metal platter or on graphite, however if used on too soft materials such as soft rubber, it it over-damped the record. Looking for £50 posted for this.
In the meantime I now have far too many of these things. So having a sell-off. Next on the list are an African blackwood record clamp, and a Sien solid copper weight.
The weight is modelled quite precisely (right down to the jewelled tip on the central spindle) on the Shun Mook Large Clamp - which lists at £6450, a price tag not for the faint hearted. It was made in the US, from African blackwood (mpingo) - not quite the exotic ancient ebony which the back story of the Shun Mook boasts, but nevertheless a material that is well known for audio-friendly properties. It's a clamp, so great for holding records flat without adding masses of weight (it's 200g). I found it worked best with an unsuspended deck. I had been concerned that clamping to the spindle might introduce bearing noise but even at full volume I couldn't detect this.
This is quite a sepcial bit of kit and fairly rare (only 5 were made, I was told) and there's no doubt it brings something special to the party. Looking for
Also selling a Sien solid copper weight, nominally 1kg though on my scale it comes up a few g short. Sien is well know to Lenco Forum members as maker of some quite special bearings for idler TTs (Lenco, Thorens and Garrard) and for one-offs like this pure copper weight. It's a pure lump of metal and not finely polished - it does have a few visual imperfections. I found it worked really well on a metal platter or on graphite, however if used on too soft materials such as soft rubber, it it over-damped the record. Looking for £50 posted for this.
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