Heybrook tonearm identification

[papilucio]

Hello people,
I tried to identify this Heybrook tonearm, and I read on the Vinylengine forum that someone here used to work at Heybrook. So I take my chance here :)
Here is the beast :
http://imageshack.us/a/img145/5774/heybrook.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img22/203/heybrook2.jpg
The only image I spotted on the web is from this ad : http://www.graff-audio.com/product/transcriptor/

Any help would be welcome, since I am about to buy this arm but it needs some work on it (re-wiring, missing lift...). As I am knew to tonearm repair, I any document would help me to source the parts and to tune it the best I can.

Thanks !
Luc

[vacdac]

Guy Sergeant @ Pure Sound is your man. He can also be found as a regular poster on Hi-Fi wigwam >> there was this thread recently where he offered some advice to Surayne who had just bought a Heybrook TT2 turntable. http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?73866-Heybrook-TT2&highlight= .

Hope this helps.

B.R.

Chris.

[shane]

Now that's something I've not seen before! When I was at Heybrook, we had Helius make an arm for us, but it was nothing like the one in the link above, and was a truly horrible thing that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy! I mentioned this before on a previous thread and was reminded that Heybrook later had an arm made by Alphason, so I guess that's what this is. If so, then it will be a) extremely rare (probably less than 100 made), and b) probably very good. Alphason arms such as the HR100s and Xenon were beautifully made devices and are now very sought after. This is quite different in that they had S-shaped titanium arm tubes, while this looks more like aluminium, but it may well share the ceramic bearings.

Since Alphason haven't made arms for years and Heybrook is now defunct, the only person I can think of who might be able to give you any information about it is Peter Comeau. He still visits the WD forum occasionally ( http://www.world-designs.co.uk/forum/ ), so it may be worth joining and dropping him a PM, but don't expect a quick answer. His position in China seems to preclude much in the way of internet browsing!

For what it's worth, it looks like a really nice peice of work and would be well worth restoring. Getting parts will be a nightmare though.

[papilucio]

Wow, thanks a lot for you answers !
I noticed the ressemblance with Alphason arm while randomly look at pictures on Vinylengine.com, but I understand now why I did not found the model in their database :D
I just warned the seller that this was a rare piece. If he still want to sell it to me, I will investigate further to get the maximum of information about it (I am getting curious now !) and I will try to make it work.

Thanks again,
Luc

[shane]

Keep us updated on your progress, Luc. If you get it, some pictures would go down well.

[hal55]

Yes, it was made by Alphason, and yes, it was very, very good. I used to own one. Wish I'd never sold my TT2/Heybrook arm/Tim De Paravicini designed power supply. Lovely combination., made stunning music.

Hal55

[Beobloke]

I can confirm it was indeed made by Alphason. Enjoy it and keep it quiet - we don't want the secret getting out...

;)

[papilucio]

Hello all,
and thanks !
I received the arm and it was in a kind of bad shape, but nothing that could not been fix.
I am almost finish with it, pictures coming soon :)
I am waiting for a new armboard to test it, and I still have to find a solution to lock the tonearm in rest position.

Luc

[papilucio]

Hello there,
well, it's done. The only missing thing would be a some kind of rest.
It seems to sound great, but I can't tell more because I adjust my amp bias and so in the meantime. As a result, my sound is much better, but I can not tell the share of the tonearm in that.
The full story is here (http://www.ls3-5a-forum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9879) (in french, sorry : feel free to ask questions ;)) with some pics.

Thanks again for help !

Luc

[shane]

Brilliant job! I haven't tried to translate yet, but that looks like a pretty thorough rebuild. All you need now is a nice TT2 to mount it on instead of that Swiss thing you're using! :lol:

[papilucio]

Brilliant job! I haven't tried to translate yet, but that looks like a pretty thorough rebuild.
Thanks !



All you need now is a nice TT2 to mount it on instead of that Swiss thing you're using!
:lol:
It would be nice, yes, but it's not in my plans for now.
I love this good old Swiss thing and next thing to do will be building a big fat plinth :D