OK i know this is fashion of a day but here are some lout thoughts
apologies for cross posting - i left this elsewhere in different posts so i kinda recouped it here....
i have 1210 which perform really decent after a few basic mods (placing a half-inflated tyre under it instead of feet, changing mat, putting extra weight on stock headshell and decoupling a cartridge from headshell with a thin enameled transformer wire).
like many others, i have a feeling this is not the end.
i was keen on buying scoobs KAB modded 1210, however as i'm not in the UK, it could have involved expensive shipping, a risk of damage and finaly - duties here. anyway, now it's too late as the item is sold so i'm left to my own devices which in a way i like.
i've had a look into the KAB mods and after a short analysis i came to believe most of them could be very easily done at home even by an unexperienced DIY-er, except for a PSU which needs a bit of knowledge i don't have and this will be done by someone else who will not only built an external PSU (with all the critical parts - transformer, pre-regulation etc moved out from bellow the platter), but also improve on-board regulation and reorganize an internal layout for less interference and more isolation.
next step would be to deal with a platter. how come that no one has damped a platter first before going into experimenting with the mats? the stock one rings like bell despite stock rubber dampening from bellow. IMHO it has to be treated further more before going into mats - for starters it's surely cheaper and it may furtherly improve things even with known winning mat combinations.
it really doesn't have to be thick sheets of car damping stuff, these days you can find dampening spray that would make a thin foil that wouldn't interfere with fine tolerances under the platter. a friend used it on an old thorens deck whose platter used to ring like a church bell with a great success... here i'm in a doubt what to do with a stock rubber dampening, to dismantle it and put something more efficient or to treat the existing situation.
i believe that a DIY-ed fluid damper can be made for peanuts, it just won't look as elegant and integrated as the stock one but it will do the same job. the most significant task will be to find an optimum viscosity of oil, imho, the rest doesn't look complicated at all. if anyone has any ideas about silicone oil used there - it would be great to hear.
next, it just struck me this afternoon that further damping of 1210 arm can be done also very cheaply. i remember that a local manufacturer of bearing-less arm a la WTA had a problem with ringing tube and we solved it quite easily applying an extremely tight termo skin on it. we settled on one that shrinks just to one third of its original diameter. i think i will try what this brings before i go towards silicone damping. in case it doesn't sound good, a sharp cutter will bring us back.
next, a termo skin gives a very good opportunity for very easy and simple toneram leads change. once you have a good cable, you can just leave the stock cable in the arm intact and place a new within a termoskin, from a lower side of the arm, completely bypassing an existing headshell connectors - straight into the cartridge. one connection less in a critical signal path. as you will going to treat a termo skin with heat, it's important that it doesn't have a plastic insulation - a favourite arm cable of mine (0.05mm OFC litz) anyway has a silk/copper skin. furthermore, i don't think it will be necesasary to go all the way with a new cable into the armbase and fiddle with that - i would just lead it through a gap between the plinth and the cover (some blutac here and there will fix it). i would certainly rather try to lead the same cable all the way up to the MC trannies (maybe i shouldn't write here that i would solder it directly to the primary leads but i will do it), putting it into a termoskin to avoid accidental damage.
so this is my small plan for long winter nights (today is btw the longest night in 2009! so maybe i should start now). nuding denon 103 comes last!
apologies for cross posting - i left this elsewhere in different posts so i kinda recouped it here....
i have 1210 which perform really decent after a few basic mods (placing a half-inflated tyre under it instead of feet, changing mat, putting extra weight on stock headshell and decoupling a cartridge from headshell with a thin enameled transformer wire).
like many others, i have a feeling this is not the end.
i was keen on buying scoobs KAB modded 1210, however as i'm not in the UK, it could have involved expensive shipping, a risk of damage and finaly - duties here. anyway, now it's too late as the item is sold so i'm left to my own devices which in a way i like.
i've had a look into the KAB mods and after a short analysis i came to believe most of them could be very easily done at home even by an unexperienced DIY-er, except for a PSU which needs a bit of knowledge i don't have and this will be done by someone else who will not only built an external PSU (with all the critical parts - transformer, pre-regulation etc moved out from bellow the platter), but also improve on-board regulation and reorganize an internal layout for less interference and more isolation.
next step would be to deal with a platter. how come that no one has damped a platter first before going into experimenting with the mats? the stock one rings like bell despite stock rubber dampening from bellow. IMHO it has to be treated further more before going into mats - for starters it's surely cheaper and it may furtherly improve things even with known winning mat combinations.
it really doesn't have to be thick sheets of car damping stuff, these days you can find dampening spray that would make a thin foil that wouldn't interfere with fine tolerances under the platter. a friend used it on an old thorens deck whose platter used to ring like a church bell with a great success... here i'm in a doubt what to do with a stock rubber dampening, to dismantle it and put something more efficient or to treat the existing situation.
i believe that a DIY-ed fluid damper can be made for peanuts, it just won't look as elegant and integrated as the stock one but it will do the same job. the most significant task will be to find an optimum viscosity of oil, imho, the rest doesn't look complicated at all. if anyone has any ideas about silicone oil used there - it would be great to hear.
next, it just struck me this afternoon that further damping of 1210 arm can be done also very cheaply. i remember that a local manufacturer of bearing-less arm a la WTA had a problem with ringing tube and we solved it quite easily applying an extremely tight termo skin on it. we settled on one that shrinks just to one third of its original diameter. i think i will try what this brings before i go towards silicone damping. in case it doesn't sound good, a sharp cutter will bring us back.
next, a termo skin gives a very good opportunity for very easy and simple toneram leads change. once you have a good cable, you can just leave the stock cable in the arm intact and place a new within a termoskin, from a lower side of the arm, completely bypassing an existing headshell connectors - straight into the cartridge. one connection less in a critical signal path. as you will going to treat a termo skin with heat, it's important that it doesn't have a plastic insulation - a favourite arm cable of mine (0.05mm OFC litz) anyway has a silk/copper skin. furthermore, i don't think it will be necesasary to go all the way with a new cable into the armbase and fiddle with that - i would just lead it through a gap between the plinth and the cover (some blutac here and there will fix it). i would certainly rather try to lead the same cable all the way up to the MC trannies (maybe i shouldn't write here that i would solder it directly to the primary leads but i will do it), putting it into a termoskin to avoid accidental damage.
so this is my small plan for long winter nights (today is btw the longest night in 2009! so maybe i should start now). nuding denon 103 comes last!
