LENCO - GL75 Project

[Wakefield Turntables]

Tonights Update - The Reference Lenco Pt XXXXXX

I've been comparing my Alphason tonearm / Shure M55E (Jico neoSAS) stylus against my SME V / Ortofon Cadenza black. MC v MM, Direct
Drive 1210 v Lenco L75 idler technology. I also decided to slip my "GIMP" platter mat under the Cork/Garrard mat combo just to see
what would happen. Well I'm pleased to say that I have had yet another small leap in sonic improvement with the little Lenco. The
tripple platter mat configuration seems to working very well and I don't feel inclined to change it any time soon and I also can't
be bothered to trial any more platter mat configurations (I'm all platter'd out)! The new platter mat configuration is giving me
oodles more detail, the timbral quality is now the best I've ever heard from this deck and this is across all genre's of music. There
seems to be poise and stability to the sound stage everything is very well placed, plenty of seperation bewteen the instruments.

The Lenco to some extents is now giving very little away in some areas when making vinyl comparisons against my other decks. It looses
out against the SME V in total low end bass grunt. It's not quite as incisive or forensic as the 1210 deck by it can sure boogey. I
listened to Deep Purple "Made in Japan" on both decks and in some instances could not tell the difference between the decks. I'd be
hard pressed to explain why the deck is now performing at it's current level. I can only think one of two things, firstly the extra
height of the "GIMP" mat has further optimised the VTA of the cartridge and tonearm, secondly, the extra "GIMP" mat may have added
additional dampening and this has been beneficial for the cartridge/platter interface or thirdly it could be both things that have helpd. I'm not really that bothered TBH. The Lenco gives me immense satisfaction.

The Alphason tonearm should be getting it's very own bespoke custom anti-skate weight. It's taken quite some time to find the correct
specifications but that's all now been sorted. I placed my order and hopefully a package from Germany should be arriving in the next
few weeks. This should give the Alphason / Shure M55E combo better tracking than the current setup and hopefully another lift up the
sonic ladder. The tonearm pillar should also be getting some additional dampening in the form of an EVA pillar cover, I still have to
buy a drill bit and a little modding but should hopefully have something prepared in the next few days.

Finally I ordered another new Idler wheel today, so I have an orginal heavy 5 wheeler, Norbert's new heavy 5 wheeler and another carbon fibre jobbie. All good fun and should be an improvement over the 40 year old original!! I must admit that my original wheel had a slight wobble and still does but it is extremely small and can only be seen on film and in slow motion (yes I did this). The idler wheels should be straight and eliminate this problem. You can't really notice any effects with the soundstage but I'm hoping to have a small positive effect with the new idler. The rubber compound on each wheel will different which may mean a new soundstage presentation.


As ever, stay tuned.

[brian2957]

Sounds like the culmination of all the mods Andy . You've trialled every one of your mods to make sure it was an improvement and not just a sideways step . I have to admire your indefatigability in your search for the perfect GL75 .

If I give you my address would you mind sending it to me Or if you insist I can come to yours and pick it up

Wonderful thread BTW

[smithie]

dont know if this is amy good...but sure looks pretty...shame it would be hidden
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-IDLER-...3D262107354365

loving your trials/mods/experiments and write ups andrew,along with this massive thread and all the points of views and findings...great work

regards
smithie

[Wakefield Turntables]

Sounds like the culmination of all the mods Andy . You've trialled every one of your mods to make sure it was an improvement and not just a sideways step . I have to admire your indefatigability in your search for the perfect GL75 .

If I give you my address would you mind sending it to me Or if you insist I can come to yours and pick it up

Wonderful thread BTW

Thansk as ever Brian. ITs just a matter of now trying new stuff and seeing what happens with respects to how the deck sounds. The next big thing is probably going to be a new plinth of my own design so it looks like going through every thread on LH Dedicated to the subject and then cobbling something together.

dont know if this is amy good...but sure looks pretty...shame it would be hidden
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-IDLER-...3D262107354365

loving your trials/mods/experiments and write ups andrew,along with this massive thread and all the points of views and findings...great work

regards
smithie

Paul, again many thanks. I hope the thread helps you on your journey.

[helma]

Kai, thanks once again for a very informative post. It's nice to hear that my findings are similar to yours, in fact an awful lot of what you've posted mirrors my own current findings. I now have another idler wheel ordered, so that is three to try!!! You make some very interesting and logical comments about idler wheels approaching 40 years of age. I would love to hear how you managed to measure a spectrum decay through the deck, perhaps you could teach me? I have heard many times that using old LP's can be very effective in making a platter mat. I haven't tried any lubricants just the one supplied with the Jolyon bearing that I'm using. That's a whole new area of experimentation

Sorry for the late reply, forgot to check this thread. I put a block of something against the deck and then rest the stylus on that, record to computer and then analyze the file. If you plan on comparing two different recordings make sure to record them using same settings and not touching the volume in between. I use Audacity, so it has a "plot spectrum" tool readily available under the "Analyze" menu on top. It's a free program available for most operating systems. Another way is to record a period of silence from an actual record, but then of course you also get groove noise. I don't consider either method highly scientific necessarily, I suppose what material, hollow/not hollow etc. you use to rest the stylus against will affect things but I didn't worry about that. No lives at stake after all Same with using an actual record, if you use same part of the album every time then the only thing that changes is whatever gets through from the deck and while there are 'variables' I think should be good enough for satisfying some DIY curiosity. Usually your ears tell you this stuff anyway, but when comparing idler wheels for example, even if you do no plotting of spectrums it's very handy to have recorded sound files so you can listen back to back without having to take the time to change the wheel.

[Wakefield Turntables]

The deck is now completely dismantled again and being fitted with some new bits.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Tonights Update - The Reference Lenco Pt LXI - We have the technology to rebuild her!

I'm writing this up as I wait for the primer to dry!! I decided to spray both my heavy platters the same colour as the '75s top plate
a colout known as Fiat Black which is available from Halfords. This little job has cost me £26 and I've bought paint, primer and
laquer, a similar job at a paintshop would be a couple of hundred quid, more money saved on new mods!! OK, so the spraying of the
top plates takes a few days but that's ok as I'm following the ethos of the build which is to save money and do things as cheaply as
possible and then buy killer upgrades with the money saved. The respray job isn't going to improve the decks performance and is more
to fit with my cosmetic tastes but this does beg the question, does the paint dampen the platter? I'm 99.99% certain that some of the
big audio companies bull$#!t us into believing that paint can dampen a chasis or a speaker cabinet, me, well this is supposed to be
a reference Lenco so I'm just following the example set up by these big companies 8-)) (yes I'm pulling your legs). I'm all for
the idea of every little bit helps but dampening a platter with primer and paint and trying to notice a sonic difference is beyond
these middle aged ears. I think the psychological effect of knowing that you've got a nice looking deck goes a long way when your
spinning your favourite vinyl and adds to the pleasure of the experience.


So, for you lot that like pictures, some more to update you on the decks progress.



I got the lads round last night

DSCN3059.jpg

They did this to my platters

DSCN3058.jpgDSCN3065.jpg


The paint job is not quite as good as would like but it's ok for now. Painting the platters and the deck has been a very boring and
time consuming process. Sometimes having to wait 24hours for the paint to dry or the laquer to harden. Each platter took about 2 days
to prepare so you can imagine that I'm very loathed to keeping moving them around, I don't want to chip the paint work!
The '75 does look rather moody now and TBH I think aesthetically I've found my favourite colour.

Now, for something completely different!

DSCN3073.jpg

The one and only new Carbon fibre idler wheel. This has been fitted with the Wer idler wheel locking nut and I can honestly say that the idler wheel has NO wobble whatsoever. This idler wheel as completely screwed up the decks RPM and we are now running fast by about 2% so the idler wheel arm will need realigning for stable speed. This has fetched up something which should have been fixed LONG ago but being a little idle (like the pun?) I couldn't be arsed to fix it first time so this little idler wheel give me the kick up the arse to repair the top plate.

DSCN3061.jpg

I've now completely stripped the top plate and resprayed it again and this time the finish is much better. I also filled in a large gaping hole under the top plate which I left behind when I used to have the speed selector fitted and fixed to 33rpm. This is now gone, so whilst the top plate is off it got filled and I also decided to do some more little mods which I shall detail in the next upgrade.


As always, stay tuned.....

[smithie]

looking good there andy
love your dedication and determination,along with the insight,mods and pictures....makes me want to rip mine apart and follow your lead
carry on the good work and well done once again...certainly a credit to you and your efforts.

regards
smithie

[brian2957]

Mmm... yes I like to see piccies Andy Black platter not for me but looking good nonetheless . I would be surprised if the paint didn't dampen the platter ever so slightly .

That idler wheel looks awesome mate , it's a shame that it won't be on show

Yes the little idler wheel conversion is tiny but effective . Just shows how it can affect the speed .

I look forward to the pictures of the fully assembled unit again

[Jimbo]

That's a funky idler wheel!