Steadman's Law.....

[Gordon Steadman]

... says that the better sounding a bit of equipment is, the bigger pain in the posterior it will be to use!!

OK, I know it's all my fault as my genius brother in law just built what I asked him to but boy is this thing annoying.

As I'm sort of laid up for a couple of days, it's a good opportunity to have a play. I am rebuilding my record player and experimenting with the various arms in stock to see which I prefer given the current state of my ears.

This parallel tracker is the best sounding...well least sounding arm I have ever heard. It has a cheap AT cart in and sounds like music. With a good cart in it's just phenomenal. However, it has wires trailing that have to be dressed just so for the arm to track properly and how the hell I get an arm lift onto it I have no idea. What sort of cover will keep the dust off? Gawd knows.

So it really is a right royal pain the the butt but......it is just so lovely to listen to that the hassle may just be worth it.....may....be.....

[jandl100]

What the hell is that?!

[walpurgis]

how the hell I get an arm lift onto it I have no idea.

Be different Gordon. Have a hydraulic lifter that raises the whole arm at its mount.

[Gordon Steadman]

What the hell is that?!

It's one of these

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarrus_linkage

[Gordon Steadman]

And it works like this...

[Gordon Steadman]

Be different Gordon. Have a hydraulic lifter that raises the whole arm at its mount.

Right, I'll let the B-I-L know your idea and see what he says. He is usually a polite sort of chap

[Barry]

How do you cue the arm/cartridge in the first place Gordon?

[Gordon Steadman]

How do you cue the arm/cartridge in the first place Gordon?

All manual Barry. It's OK now as my hands are pretty steady but I can't see that getting any better. End of side is easy enough but the occasional graunch as I place the stylus is a bit teeth clenching.

Sadly, I reckon that the regular arm will be the OL RB250 or one of my more conventional longer arms fitted with Rega arm lifts. I have three in the spares bin and it's dead easy to fit them.

I'll get this one out for the occasional glimpse of what might have been

[Barry]

I can see that the arm can move freely (and radially) in the horizontal plane, but I can't see how it can move in the vertical plane. Hence my comment about cuing. Obviously it must be able to encompass vertical motion in order for it ride record warp.

[Gordon Steadman]

I can see that the arm can move freely (and radially) in the horizontal plane, but I can't see how it can move in the vertical plane. Hence my comment about cuing. Obviously it must be able to encompass vertical motion in order for it ride record warp.

The short (very) arm is pivoted around the spigot you see at the front - right - in the three pics. I did try and move the pivot point back so the stylus was in line with the centre line but couldn't hear any difference and it's easier to use as it is.

Still not easy enough though so I've retired it pro-tem and am listening to my 10". Compared with the OL Rega, it has exceptional clarity. I wouldn't call the Rega grey as I've seen some describe it but it does seem slightly over smooth. All the info is there but it's just a bit reticent. Looks much better than mine but I never cared much about that.

Here is an early shot during the development stage.