DL103R in SME 3012 mkII

[jusbe]

The upgrade is taking a bit of time as we are getting a new bronze base custom made for the SME.

I feel like sprucing up the whole tt
Currently it sits in a plinth i made up using 3 slabs of Ikea timber kitchen table top made of beech i think.
Its not the prettiest thing.

What is the general opinion re the use of the synthetic nterial Corian to make plinths for idlers or indeed any tt ?
Lovely colours and designs available.

PTP use Corian very successfully with their repurposed idler drives.

http://www.ptpaudio.com/products.html

[drSM]

PTP use Corian very successfully with their repurposed idler drives.

http://www.ptpaudio.com/products.html

modern "Lenco" in Corian plinth, hmmm nice. thanks for the info

[drSM]

OK time to report back on my efforts trying to get the best out of the DL103R on my rig.

I had to do quite a bit of work on the 124, building on some major works abt 3 years ago.
This is the noisier of my 124s. i have succeeded in massively reducing rumble. Its pretty darn quiet now.
It was not the idler that was making 99% of the noise, as I had always assumed - it was a worn out ball bearing at the tip of the shaft spindle.
That was the culprit.
The idler ( on this one is from audiosilente ) is absolutely fine and i sorted out the essential washer/s below the idler.
Oh ya new cone springs from Hanse to replace the motor grommets.
I did away with the mushroom grommets as the plinth is pretty solid (made of 3 slabs of beach Ikea tabletop)
So i put in long tapped screw watcha call em and bolted the chassis to the plinth - its abt 12 cm thick.

I solidified my rack to minimise resonances

The 3012 was rewired ( old crumbly 50 yr old wires were in a shocking state) with wire from Mogami.
The wand was made a little heavier, massier, by addition of a couple of copper rods ( done by a friend), and apprpriately damped.
I followed Marco's advice and sourced the AT Mg10 headshell, and what the hell, went for the mpingo spacer too from Korea.
and i got new Litz headshell wires
I got these new heavier brass main counterweight, the back piece that carries the L bit and the rider weight from an eBayer chap in Australia - more mass good, right ?
The bush at the back of the arm wand was replaced by something firm and RCA connectors at base of arm - made by him too
I replaced the cool looking L shaped but crappy skinny armboard with the big thick oversized Swiss one that i got refurbished.
The SME base plate and new CNC thick bronze plate were then bolted to the armboard ( no little woodscrews, no little grommets).
Arm now looks superb.

So in went the headshell for the fine adjustments etc and initial listening pitted it against a modded VPI classic with a Denon 301mk2
Sounded much much better than before.
After weeks of use and extended listening sessions I was not too happy with an irritating 'tizziness' of the highs .
I still preferred the 124/graham1.5/V15 III SAS
Damn !!
Rather despondent i replaced the 103R with a humble Nagaoka MP11 - now that sounded very nice - no more irritating tizziness.
I am pleased that all that effort wasnt all to waste (altho arm in that guise is prob too massy for anything but an SPU !)

For the record my 103R was bought new. I have never been happy with it and its never going on the arm again. good riddance.

I have learnt of the virtues of 2 old Ortofon cartridges that I had stashed away.
One is the SL15 that lurked inside dad's old S15T that lost its cantilever long ago. It has been sent to the monsieurs at Ana Mighty for a total rebuild.
The other is a SL15Q which had probably not seen much playing time.
It may have the best magnet, the best coils and what was the best diamond at the time.
I carefully put it in a lightweight SME headshell, transplanted the new Litz wires and mounted the Q.
All the heavy brassware had to go - we are back to standard SME weights
Tracking at 1.5g
Not used for best part of 40 yrs i was careful, starting with old LPs
Soon i was playing good vinyl. Quite simply it sounds wonderful.
Wide sounstage, nice tone and seems to be tracking ok on the big 3012
Quite a journey its been.
No more 103R for me and I am happily charmed by the SL15Q