Magna Audio's custom-made counterweight balance and armboard service!

[MartinT]

When I've fitted the arm board I will let you and all know the outcome, I expected it to be nothing but brilliantly wonderful

Good luck with it, Ron. I'll be interested in how the Ekos gels with the Techie.

[JazzBones]

Good luck with it, Ron. I'll be interested in how the Ekos gels with the Techie.

Martin, I've been using my Ekos all along with my Tek my Ekos is non standard issue. Johnny J7 of Audio Origami worked his magic on it and the arm has the following:

1. Kondo silver arm wiring from the actual cartridge tags through to the SME arm cable socket.

2. The arm has been internally damped, but not to a high degree.

3. I have an Audio Origami gold plated decoupled counter weight with grub screw fitting to arm tube. very light force to hold weight insitu.

3. I also use a very, very, very thin carbon fibre gasket between my cartidge, at the mo an AT09II, and head shell.

4. Arm cabling to pre-amp (an Avondale super modded Naim NAC72) is Van Damme cable.

In total the sound I'm now getting is absolutely great to my ears

My SL1210Mk2 has the following mods that I have carried out over time:

1. Mike New bearing secured by six bolts to..
2. Mike New Bearing base plate bonded to the table pan with gasketing compound
3. The five bolts have been secured by flanged aerospace spec nuts, all dabbed with Hamerite paint.
4. The underneath of the Pan has had 2 to 3mm sound deadening and anti vibrations bitumastic mats bonded on, allowing access to nuts.
5. Mike New platter with Funk Acromats 5mm times two (10mm in total) bonded by Petroleum Jelly (Vaselene) spread.
6. The support: I've done away with Isonoes feet and instead I use Origin Live rubber feet and pads.
7 The whole caboodle is supported on a Max Townshend Seismic platform, the new bellows and spring version. All on a dedicated three legged Mark Baker Ultra TT table with Oak platform....phew...!
8. I've kept the TS HE off board PSU connected to mains by Russ Andrews Kimber reference canble.... believe me this power supply sings when everything else is spot on, but I will of course investigate the 57 Hynes variety ones

If I knew how I would show pictures but my expertise lies else where.

For those who may read this and think this guy is loopy da loop, well I am but I have more years behind me than in front of me so I have been working on my final one and only table and this is it!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for reading all this,

Ron


PS And of course Speedy's ebony arm board will take its place on the TT... can't report on this one till its up and a done thing

[Magna Audio]

Glad it arrived safely and you like it so far...

[vinylspinner]

Hi steve,

Could you make an oblong armboard 200mm x 150mm x 15mm with 6 mounting holes and cut out to suit Jelco spec?


Nigel

[Marco]

See what I've started?



Marco.

[MartinT]

One small unexpected issue as a result of ebony being non-conductive is that I noticed a small amount of hum at high volumes, more than I had previously been used to. Playing with earth routing, it wasn't the arm that was unearthed but the Technics turntable itself (now isolated from the arm's earth since losing the steel armboard). I guess that Paul's SR5 must have a floating negative return?

Taking an earth cable from the main PCB earth (lower-left post) to my Whest's earth post cured it. Other ebony armboard users may wish to check this out.

[Paul Hynes]

Hi Martin,

The SR5 and in fact all my power supplies unless otherwise requested have a floating negative return. This avoids multiple ground loops with multiple power supplies all connected to the same system, thus avoiding ground loop hum. The power supply circuitry takes it’s ground reference from the equipment it powers. The power supply chassis are all earthed to mains earth for safety. The third wire in the Power supply DC lead is connected to the power supply chassis and therefore mains earth but this may not be the optimum path for an earth connection with some equipment, so I leave this wire floating.

You have already found a cure for the ebony board insulation problem by earthing the deck to the Whest preamp earth post. This is probably the optimum earth point, as it will hold the deck chassis at close to the earth potential of the preamp chassis without traversing a polluted system ground.

Regards
Paul

[MartinT]

The SR5 and in fact all my power supplies unless otherwise requested have a floating negative return.

Thanks Paul - good to have it confirmed.

[Magna Audio]

After some PM'ing it looks like we will share a bigger lump of ebony as I am curious to try one out on my slate plinth'd SP-10 now

Hi steve,

Could you make an oblong armboard 200mm x 150mm x 15mm with 6 mounting holes and cut out to suit Jelco spec?


Nigel

[JazzBones]

One small unexpected issue as a result of ebony being non-conductive is that I noticed a small amount of hum at high volumes, more than I had previously been used to. Playing with earth routing, it wasn't the arm that was unearthed but the Technics turntable itself (now isolated from the arm's earth since losing the steel armboard). I guess that Paul's SR5 must have a floating negative return?

Taking an earth cable from the main PCB earth (lower-left post) to my Whest's earth post cured it. Other ebony armboard users may wish to check this out.

Martin, I have installed my ebony arm board on my 1210 and this morning I switched on and whacked up the wick to my normal listening level.... NO hum at all. My PSU is the TS HE so obviously things have been done differently?
My first impression of the ebony board insitu is very favourable and this is after my mono powers (normally left on 24/7) and the aforementioned PSU also normally left on had been fired up from stone cold. I was listening from cold, no cartridge warm up initially. Very briefly, I'm getting a much more organic natural sound from the percussive hammer of felt covered strikers on a grand piano, fingernail or thumb pluck of acoustic and jazz electric guitar, etc... these are but a few things I have noticed after a very brief listen to see if all was working...it was

One problem I did have was fitting the board itself as the screw holes were not absolutely true and the holes drilled not allowing any margin for fitting both in attaching arm collar (Linn) and the three plate screws to the 1210, there was also a hairline crack in the side where I presume Steve's drilling was a bit at fault but it is not noticeable except to a fusy old codger like me who checks everything before use, its so minute that I can liver with it and it has not been detrimental to performance and not worth taking up with Steve who has generally done a good job.

Cheers
Ron