More Heybrook TT2 questions - sweating the small stuff

[Svend N]

Further to my Heybrook cartridge thread, I have some questions about getting the little (but important) things right....

+ What cartridge alignment tool should be used for the Rega RB300? Vinyl Engine has posted both a Rega template and a Heybrook protractor. Which is the correct one for the TT2?

+ What platter mat works best? It presently has the felt one. Is a cork or leather one an improvement?

+ Should I use a record weight? I have read that these may cause premature bearing wear on some tables. Is this true on the TT2? If not a weight, is there a clamp which tightens onto the spindle which you would recommend?

+ What bearing oil should I use? LP12 and Thorens owners seem to be using a light grade of full synthetic motor oil or spindle oil for air tools (Mobil brand, if I recall correctly).

+ Should I use different feet from the stock hard rubber ones? Vibrapods perhaps? Metal or wood spikes? Some type of levelling feet would be beneficial, at very least.

+ What support works best? I plan to place the deck inside a large wooden armoire which holds the rest of the system, and it will be sitting on a rigid shelf of 3/8" veneered particle board. Will I need additional isolation, such as a maple butcher block, marble/acrylic sheet, sandbox, or other type?


That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has other suggestions on getting the most from the TT2, I would be grateful to hear them.

I should be able to pick up the deck this weekend once I'm back home from my travels. Hopefully the shop will have a suitable cartridge on hand so I can start playing tunes straight away. Can't wait to hear it!

Thanks, and regards,
Svend

[shane]

Ok, but remember this is just my personal take. YM, as ever, MV.

1) All alignment protractors are a compromise, and depend on whose theories the designer follows. The Heybrook one was drawn up by PJC, and I don’t remember whose particular doctrine he was following but I’d be very surprised if there was a significant difference between the two. There’s reams of info on the net about different tracking curves and so on. You could keep yourself amused for hours, but in the end, it’s whatever sounds best when you’ve done it.

2) The original felt mat was bought in from Linn and is the same one that was supplied with contemporary LP12s. It’s not a bad compromise and I’m still happily using mine but it’s very much personal taste. People have had good results with hard rubber, acrylic and cork, and I seem to remember someone having one turned up from gunmetal which must have looked amazing.

3) I’ve never felt the need to use a weight but some people swear by them. I don’t think the bearing would be bothered much, it’s very lightly stressed. If you did end up with a dimple in the end of the spindle any competent machine shop could grind it flat and re-harden it for you. All the machining for the TT2 was done by a little two-man engineering shop near us with nothing unusual in the way of equipment.

4) Any decent quality light machine oil will do. Car engine and gearbox oils generally have a lot of additives in them to allow them to survive their intended environments. These do not improve their performance as turntable spindle lubricants.

4) Support is a tricky one, and a lot depends on your floor. The ideal is a rigid lightweight table or stand on a solid floor. If you don’t want it to wobble like a jelly and you have a suspended wooden floor, then a rigid shelf fixed to a good solid wall is best. I wouldn’t recommend standing it on or in a large piece of furniture as it will pick up all the vibrations of the panels that the armoir is made of. If you want to do that, then a substantial bit of something heavy will be needed. What I have seen done is a wall-mounted shelf through a hole in the back of the piece of furniture, but you may not want to take a saw to the back of the Chippendale.

[Svend N]

Thank you Shane! Very helpful.

Re. the protractor -- I will try the Heybrook one first and see how it looks compared to the Rega one. Easily done - just plop the other one on the platter after the first alignment and have a look-see. There's only so much patience I have for fiddling with this kind of thing, so if it sounds good I'll be happy.

Re. mats -- I have a cork mat sitting on my Technics deck, so I can try it on the TT2 I suppose. But it will be thicker than the felt one, so if the stylus is sensitive to VTA changes then it may sound worse and will be a pain to adjust the non-adjustable Rega arm with spacers. Nothing is simple, eh?

Re. weights -- good to know! I made up a very Canadian record weight for the Technics, just to try it, which consisted of two 10 oz. ice hockey practice pucks glued together, with a hole for the spindle drilled into the bottom. Works great! Indoor use only... I can try it on the TT2 to see how it works. If you think 20 oz. is too much, I can split them again and just use one 10 oz. puck.

Re. support/isolation -- oh boy, that's a delicate matter because of the W.A.F. (wife acceptance factor). For the time being it will have to be a heavy platform on the shelf, like a thick maple cutting board. This is in our living room, and my wife works in the interior design trade...so you see my problem, eh?...she will instantly torpedo any suggestion of a wall shelf -- components must be heard but not seen! That said, of late she's been squinting with critical eye at the old armoire and making discontented remarks about it's lack of style and panache. I can see an chink in the armour (not the armoire), so a suggestion for a new cabinet may be well received.

Best,
Svend

[Matz]

3) I’ve never felt the need to use a weight but some people swear by them. I don’t think the bearing would be bothered much, it’s very lightly stressed. If you did end up with a dimple in the end of the spindle any competent machine shop could grind it flat and re-harden it for you. All the machining for the TT2 was done by a little two-man engineering shop near us with nothing unusual in the way of equipment.

Shane,

Re; clamps, the sub platter of the Heybrook is not flush with outer platter, is there a reason for that?

I tried using the Michell clamp and fits perfectly inside the slight indentation of the sub platter relative to the outer platter and actually warps the records.

Is there a solution to this?

Cheers!
Matz

[Svend N]

Matz, you could try making up a disc shim of suitable thickness to fill that space and make it level with the main platter. I wonder if a CD/DVD would do it?

[Matz]

not that crucial Svend, just wondering what's the reason behind this particular design.

Cheers!

Matz

[shane]

Shane,

Re; clamps, the sub platter of the Heybrook is not flush with outer platter, is there a reason for that?

Yes, there is. Look carefully at an LP and you’ll see that the label area and the rim are thicker than the playing area. The TT2 platter (like many others) is designed so that the playing area is supported by the mat. This helps to kill any vibration in the record itself caused by the stylus tracking the groove.

[Matz]

Thanks for the information Shane, always appreciated

[shane]

My pleasure!

[Rothchild]

Didn't you just get the bounce set right on this? Won't adding a load more weight to the platter affect that setting?