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Thread: Another 1200 being modded

  1. #1
    Join Date: Jul 2014

    Location: Rutland

    Posts: 29
    I'm Andy.

    Default Another 1200 being modded

    Another 1200 being modded

    So, I have had my 1200 mk2 for a few years now, it has had little use due to 2 children getting in the way.
    But the time has come to tinker, so here we go.

    I knew my deck had had a quiet life as i purchased it from an old guy on ebay who had the full technics set up
    but had recently lost most of his hearing. He had managed to sell everything else but the other bidder didn’t want the deck!!

    After cleaning everything with alcohol to get rid of the furniture polish it was covered with I realised this had had very little use.

    I took the deck to my local hi-fi dealer who put a new cartridge on and set it up for me (still not figured out setting up a cartridge).
    We plugged it into his system at the time (£10k speakers, Naim everything else) and it sounded sweet, was very happy!

    A few years on and two children later I have managed to listen to it about 50 times and have loved every revolution, but I had some spare cash and a little time
    so decided to have a play!



    So far I have:

    Removed and cleaned the bearing, just waiting for some oil to be delivered. the bearing appears to be in great condition, very little wear, it any, to the plate in the base.

    Shorted out the pitch control, never used it.

    Removed the transformer and am making an external PSU as per the thread on here, just waiting for a case to arrive!
    I am going to leave the stock regulator for a while, it should be up to the task for a few more months. And I can’t find a thread on here showing in enough detail for me what to do! Maybe someone could PM me???
    Purchased an Achromat, had a sorbothane thing on there before but never liked the sound, it was very dead in the mid.
    Re-used the power switch to switch the strobe light.
    And after a few emails to j7 have had my arm re-wired and foam packed.


    I know people say you should go one step at a time and listen to your deck after each tweak, but to be honest I haven’t the time at the moment. So I am taking this tweaked deck
    as a starting point and going from there.
    What will happen next I’m not sure, maybe a new cartridge, maybe a new phono stage, probably more vinyl.

    I hope there will be photos to come once I have figured out how to upload them, though I tend to forget to take any whilst I’m working!

    It has been great reading the other threads on this site, and good to know that this is a loved deck.

    A

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: Napier, New Zealand

    Posts: 1,519
    I'm Andrei.

    Default

    Nice one Andy.
    In the Techipedia you surely have come to the right place:
    Photos: I take heaps every step of the way because I know I have to put the contraption back together after I have taken it apart.
    I would say the next step should be isolation - Isonoe feet are popular, but one or or another isolation from vibration is one of the cheapest and most efficacious mods.
    The platter can be modded - you could buy an aftermarket platter but have a look at my thread here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...62-DIY-Platter or possibly even better look at the first post here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...echie-SR-v-1-0 there is a pic of some STP used for damping. The nice thing about these tweaks is they they do not cost much, though mine is rather labour intensive.
    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Sources:[/B] [B]1[/B][/COLOR] PC & Wyred4Sound DAC-2 DSDse   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]2[/B][/COLOR] Oppo BDP105   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]3[/B][/COLOR] Technics SL·1210 MK5 (Jelco 750D · Benz Wood).    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speaker Cable[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=black]Nordost Frey.[/COLOR]    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Interconnects [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Oyaide[/COLOR][COLOR=black] & [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Geisha [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Silver.
    [/COLOR][B][COLOR=#a52a2a]Phono Stage [/COLOR][/B][COLOR=black]Fosgate Signature V2. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Preamp [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Ayon Eris[/COLOR][COLOR=black]. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Power Amp[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=Black]ATC P1. [/COLOR]  ​ [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speakers[/B][/COLOR] Triangle Magellan Cello.     [COLOR=#A9A9A9]Oh Sting, where is thy death?[/COLOR]

  3. #3
    Join Date: Nov 2013

    Location: Fredrikstad, Norway

    Posts: 236
    I'm Chris.

    Default

    Hi Andy.

    Sounds to me you are on the right track Good move to put on an Achromat. Much better sound than rubber mats. I had one, but sold it last month and bought an Oyaide platter/ Oyaide thin rubber mat (goes under the Oyaide). The Oyaide is even better than the Achromat, but much more expensive too.

    Also a good choise to remove the PSU out of the TT. I use the PSU from Mains Cables R Us and the upgrade was pretty huge.

    Since you have re-wired the arm, I can suggest the KAB Fluid Damper. With the rewired arm and the Fluid Damper, you must pay much more to get a better arm, IMHO.

    What Riaa do you use. The Riaa does so much to the sound. I have tried several and found it to be wiser to upgrade Riaa before cartrigde.

    Looking forward to following your next move and take some pics

    Turntable 1: Technics SL1210M5G/ KAB PSU/ KAB Fluid Damper
    Turntable 2: Rega P3 (new) Tangospinner & dual belt/ Rega Neo
    Amplifier: Rega Elex-R
    RIAA: Rega Fono mk3 & Schiit Mani
    Speaker: Klipsch RP280f
    Cartridge: Rega Exact & Nagaoka MP-110

  4. #4
    Join Date: Dec 2011

    Location: Athens

    Posts: 268
    I'm Dimitris.

    Default

    Andrei I love your Dynamat idea... I will certainly try it...

    BTW, have you tried dynamat on the rest of the chassis? For example on the cavity below the platter or even on the backside of the pcb?

  5. #5
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: Napier, New Zealand

    Posts: 1,519
    I'm Andrei.

    Default

    Damping the platter really does work. To be honest Dimmy, I suspect Samuli's method would be as good and a lot less work. I have a couple of spare platters and if I can get my hands on some STP I will try out his method. Yes I have put dynamat all throughout the inside of the turntable and a little underneath also where you can see the bearing well. In theory that should be an improvement in sound but as I had done another upgrade at the same time I cannot be sure, let alone try to quantify anything. I am a big fan of Dynamat and used heaps of it on my car: footwell, doors, boot - makes the ride quieter.

    If anyone wants a prototype of my platter I have a spare to give away - PM me - but I guess the shipping cost from NZ would be substantial.
    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Sources:[/B] [B]1[/B][/COLOR] PC & Wyred4Sound DAC-2 DSDse   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]2[/B][/COLOR] Oppo BDP105   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]3[/B][/COLOR] Technics SL·1210 MK5 (Jelco 750D · Benz Wood).    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speaker Cable[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=black]Nordost Frey.[/COLOR]    [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Interconnects [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Oyaide[/COLOR][COLOR=black] & [/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Geisha [/COLOR][COLOR=black]Silver.
    [/COLOR][B][COLOR=#a52a2a]Phono Stage [/COLOR][/B][COLOR=black]Fosgate Signature V2. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Preamp [/B][/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]Ayon Eris[/COLOR][COLOR=black]. [/COLOR]   [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Power Amp[/B][/COLOR] [COLOR=Black]ATC P1. [/COLOR]  ​ [COLOR=#a52a2a][B]Speakers[/B][/COLOR] Triangle Magellan Cello.     [COLOR=#A9A9A9]Oh Sting, where is thy death?[/COLOR]

  6. #6
    Join Date: Dec 2011

    Location: Athens

    Posts: 268
    I'm Dimitris.

    Default

    A curing liquid should be really suspicious of self balancing... especially if bubbles form...

    In any case, the platter has no significant height, so static balancing should be more than enough if we take its rigidity in consideration. And it should be pretty easy to balance at home by just tilting the turntable around 30 degs allowing the heavier side of the platter to rotate down. Then you either glue a counter weight on the light side, or you drill some small holes on the heavy side removing material (that is what technics was doing on MK1 if I remember correctly)
    Last edited by dimkasta; 01-08-2014 at 13:05.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jul 2014

    Location: Rutland

    Posts: 29
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Thank you all for a great response to my first post on here, nice to feel so welcome!!

    i has wondered about deadening the platter and having used dynamat on the under side of my hifi rack shelves I did think about using it on the platter, was more concerned with cocking it up though.......
    How about using a latex based levelling compound? If mixed correctly would level perfectly before setting, may help with platter balance??

    Riaa is currently the built in stage of my pre amp, not great I know, but sounds better then the project one I was using before.

    Has anyone made a cup for the bearing to submerse the thrust plate in oil? I may replace it at some point, but for the moment thinking what I can do.

    oh and I have just ordered the parts for the regulator, though having issues trying to find a non-conductive thermal paste to use, I have a mica plate to go under the LM317 but still need paste.....

    Too much going through my head now!

    A

  8. #8
    Join Date: Dec 2011

    Location: Athens

    Posts: 268
    I'm Dimitris.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Another Andy View Post
    Too much going through my head now!

    A
    Welcome to the madness of awesome

  9. #9
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: Denver, Colorado

    Posts: 458
    I'm Jim.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Another Andy View Post
    has wondered about deadening the platter and having used dynamat on the under side of my hifi rack shelves I did think about using it on the platter, was more concerned with cocking it up though.......
    How about using a latex based levelling compound? If mixed correctly would level perfectly before setting, may help with platter balance??
    Sounds good. Go for it!

    Riaa is currently the built in stage of my pre amp, not great I know, but sounds better then the project one I was using before.
    Use it until you feel a new project coming on...

    Has anyone made a cup for the bearing to submerse the thrust plate in oil? I may replace it at some point, but for the moment thinking what I can do.
    Yes, and it works great. Ken made one for me.

    oh and I have just ordered the parts for the regulator, though having issues trying to find a non-conductive thermal paste to use, I have a mica plate to go under the LM317 but still need paste.....
    Check your PM, I sent you a link.
    SP-10Mk2a, Graham 2.2 tonearm. SL-1200, Graham 2.2 tonearm, AT-150mlx, Benz-Scheu Glider. Jim & Ken Super DC PSU, Oil well bearing, Acromat, Isonoes, strobe lamp switched. Pass Labs Pearl 2. Aleph J amplifier. F6 Amplifier. Nelson Pass Burning Amplifier BA-3. Pass BA-PP linestage, miniDSP 4x10, Linkwitz Labs LXmini speakers, Sony SS-M7 speakers.

    DIY In progress - Syclotron Red Light district valve amp, ZenMod "Iron pre" autoformer jfet preamp, SYclotron 'His Master's Noise' valve phonostage. And about 2-3 other projects in various states at any time.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jul 2014

    Location: Rutland

    Posts: 29
    I'm Andy.

    Default

    Well the children are back from there week in London today so everything has gone back into a safe place, in parts, ready for more time to be spent on it.

    Still looking at what upgrades to do, and what to do when.

    I have decided to stick with mods that don't cost so much, and mainly mods I can do myself. (see how long that lasts!)
    I really can't justify spending more that at the moment as im sure the rest of my system will need an update soon as well.

    Anyone tell me how to get photos into these posts? be good to know.

    A

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