RTEVIEW - APTITLIG Board - A quick way to improve your deck for £15.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I bought one of these http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/c...la%7C%7C%7C%7C and tried it under both my Lenco '75 and my Technics 1210 to great effect. It seems to have been especially designed for 1210 users as it's a perfect fit for the decks footprint. I have included a few notes with regards a couple of albums that I use for review when assessing new upgrades to my kit. I hope this proves useful to someone out there. I used my 1210 reference deck to evaluate the board. My deck has the following modifications and is by no means "stock"

DECK
----
Technics 1210 mk 2

Isolation Board
--------------

Aptitlig butchers block

Mat /Puck
----------
- Analouge studio crysal mat
- Pure Cu 1.2kg record weight

Platter
-------
- Mike New Copper/Aluminium

Bearing
-------
- Mike New

Chasis
------
- Silicone dampened
- Mike New Baseplate
- Filled and stiffened

Tonearm board
-------------
- Magna Audio ebony armboard

Feet
----
- Isonoe

PSU
---
- Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/Jaeger(low-impedance) connector
- Custom built power lead

PCB mods
--------
- Paul Hynes 3 Stage Regs
- Recapped and optimised PCB
- Pitch slider removed
- Cue light removed
- Strobe removed
- PSU removed
- Internal silver (2mm solid core) rewire + teflon dialectic

ARM
---
- SME V
- Kondo Ag Rewire
- Kondo Ag cartridge tags

Cartridge
---------
- Ortofon Cadenza Black

Cables
------
- Yannis SPD-4 IC Tonearm + Eichmann Ag bullets
- Shielded earth + gold plated earthing



Records Used
-------------

IRON MAIDEN

POWER SLAVE The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner - 2015 repress from analog tapes.

This is a track that I know backwards, forwards, and any angle you choose to mention. I instantly noticed more authority to Nicko McBrain's drumming
especially with the bass drum, further into the track I noticed area of delicate triangle work that had previously been lost. Steve Harris's bass gained
a little more authority and I could hear further into complexities of the track than before as I realised I was picking up clues to some of Steve's more
delicate work on the frett. I'd thought I'd heard glimmers of this delicate frett work before but now it came to realisation and was not my imagination.
Overall the improvement were subtle but enough to put a smile on this old mosher's face.


MARILLION

SCRIPT FOR A JESTERS TEAR - The whole of side A!!!! - 2014 repress

I immediately got the impression that the speed of this album seemed to have increased and then I
realised the impact and speed of delivery of the actual tracks had tightened up quite considerably.
This came across as a great precision to the delivery of the drum and a greater snap to drum
strikes. Fish's vocals seemed to have cleaned up a little whilst singing Chelsea Monday. The upper
treble ranges of Steve Rothery's guitar work seemed to have better definition and appeared to reach
new highs. I've always used this particular record as a tester for sibilance and true to form it was
still apparent using the Ikea chopping board but quite nicely improved.

The deck as it looks now

DSCN2926.jpg


Conclusion

I always classify a new modification a sucsess if I can hear new information on my old reference pressings. The boards can be picked up fairly easily so I'd suggest buying one and seeing if it can help you vinyl replay source.

[brian2957]

This is good work as ever Andy and I'm sure it will benefit all the turntable users on the forum , not just the Technics guys . At the end of the day , though , it's for your own benefit and I'm sure you're sitting there with a nice dram and a smile on your face
I haven't got around to getting the chopping board yet as I've been playing around with my digital system which is sounding very good at the moment due to some changes which I have made . I did buy a Shure M75ED fitted with a Jico SAS stylus from another forum member , but I haven't really had the time to listen to it properly yet . The chopping board upgrade is still on my radar and I have it saved in Ebay .

[Shadow Moses]

Damn!! I've been down Ikea this evening, could have picked one of these up, just measured my Lenco and it would be a perfect fit.
Do you have anything under the board?

[Wakefield Turntables]

This is good work as ever Andy and I'm sure it will benefit all the turntable users on the forum , not just the Technics guys . At the end of the day , though , it's for your own benefit and I'm sure you're sitting there with a nice dram and a smile on your face
I haven't got around to getting the chopping board yet as I've been playing around with my digital system which is sounding very good at the moment due to some changes which I have made . I did buy a Shure M75ED fitted with a Jico SAS stylus from another forum member , but I haven't really had the time to listen to it properly yet . The chopping board upgrade is still on my radar and I have it saved in Ebay .

Ah! So you've gone up another level with the Shure! I originally tried the chopping board under the Lenco and noticed an improvement. I have two thinner boards which now live under my phonostage and preamp. I'm not sure if they help improve things but they are now taking up less space on my floor and do offer another level of isolation from vibrations from themselves upto the deck through the hifi rack.

Damn!! I've been down Ikea this evening, could have picked one of these up, just measured my Lenco and it would be a perfect fit.
Do you have anything under the board?

Here is the original article which might help. http://www.theaudiobeat.com/blog/ikea_aptitlig.htm