1210 mods - a sort of review of sorts

[jamington2004]

Just listening to my
new 1210 with mike new bearing, ti mestep he psu, isonoe feet sat on soundsdeadsteel squares, rewired tonearm, ortofon black..... And my favourite of all - an.inspire modified platter with a 5mm slab of aluminiuim fitted to the UNDERSIDE and the platter edges re-machined to perfection.

Just switched from an inspire eclipse se with external PSU and rb10010 (a good 3k new)

I was worried i might have been making a change for the sake of changing - having suddenly got the itch after a couple of years in audio heaven!

But it sounds f'in awesome! A wee brighter than the eclipse i thiink -but already after a day i am getting used the new sound and love it love it love it!

I dread to think how good it would sound with an arm of rb1000 standard!!

And im just using a meridian phono card at the moment too!

Oh the possibilities!! :)

[UV101]

What Meridian card is it? I'm also using a Meridian card with a few changes and its own power supply. Its surprisingly good especially with a good PSU and a few tweeks!!

[RobbieGong]

I love the 2M Black. I also found it to be great in the stock arm (maybe it shouldn't) but it does, hence I cant wait to hear it when my Micro Seiki arm is mounted - soon :D

[jamington2004]

What Meridian card is it? I'm also using a Meridian card with a few changes and its own power supply. Its surprisingly good especially with a good PSU and a few tweeks!!

Hmmmm not sure - its the standard one for the 562v amp :)

Sounds complicated - how would one go about tweaking it and giving its own power supply?

Imagine you are explaining it to a small child and i may understand! :)

[UV101]

Hmmmm not sure - its the standard one for the 562v amp :)

Sounds complicated - how would one go about tweaking it and giving its own power supply?

Imagine you are explaining it to a small child and i may understand! :)

LOL!!

So my board is not mounted in a Merdian Preamp!

If the board is a retro fit like in the older 200 series, you can potentially make it a stand alone phono stage. The board itself will have several external connections.

Power supply will have 3. Positive supply, ground and Negative supply in the 200 its +/-15v
Then there is the input which will be L, Lgnd, R, Rgnd and the earth wire.
Finally, there is the output onwards to the preamp.

Connect all these as required and you have a functional external stage.

All you are doing is adding the bits the stage needs to connect to the TT and preamp and a power supply. The beauty is, you can make a much better dedicated PSU than the stage would have had sharing the preamp PSU.

Hope this makes sense.....:cool:

[Tarzan]

Enjoy Jamie, can you tellus moreregarding the Inspire modded platter or even post some piccies, sounds interesting:).

[jamington2004]

Pics :)

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/jamington2004/technics/da96654a57d8a134934bf9056c4670c8.jpg

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/jamington2004/technics/214dbde94212faaddb132a8fc9a2f08b.jpg

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/jamington2004/technics/a9a12308d64e3c59d3f73cfb4f1aa8f8.jpg

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/jamington2004/technics/dbb2d764e83b4f8a186ea0569ecdef4c.jpg

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/jamington2004/technics/63f752be1ae44c53b8f78c86ef24f298.jpg

[Dingdong]

That tt looks a little close to the speaker to me. Does it not fee back a bit?

[jamington2004]

Nope.... can't tell the difference myself :) Mind you saying that you'll have me moving again now to check! ;)

Isn't it that the turntable too close to the amp that would cause feedback? Mind you the amps are in the bottom of the speakers!

Feet seem to be doing the job of stopping vibrations..... maybe it would sound better somewhere far away but I aint got the space!

Ideally the speaker should have a lot more space too.... so I know they've got more potential when I get a bigger place! :)

[Tarzan]

Wow! Thanks Jamie, what did the ally plate bring to the party?That looks the biz, those SDS feet work, l use them in the same way under my Techie, is that heatshrink on the armtube by any chance?:)

[UV101]

I like the look of that platter! Is it a complete platter from inspire or can the plate be retro fitted at home??

[jamington2004]

Wow! Thanks Jamie, what did the ally plate bring to the party?That looks the biz, those SDS feet work, l use them in the same way under my Techie, is that heatshrink on the armtube by any chance?:)

Yep - heatshrink on the arm.... I wanted to stay with a 1200 arm in the hope of someday getting the funk fxr modifications to it..... And saw this with heatshrink and audio origami rewire on ebay.... Got it for £65 which seemed like a no brainer for me!!

I am not sure exactly what the platter upgrade brings as i can't take it off to compare..... Same principle as the mike new / oyaide platters adding weight and mass to stop ringing and vibrations and also adding a fly wheel effect to keep it spinning perfectly and stably with less power when up and running..... Im not a techie but thats what ive been told :)

Problem is i got it with all the mods so hard to review each one seperately - i just know its sounds incredible to my ear.

Maybe an arm upgrade and tube phono stage to soften things up a bit in future.....

:)

[jamington2004]

I like the look of that platter! Is it a complete platter from inspire or can the plate be retro fitted at home??

Yeah i love it!!! Its a bit like a high performance car that doesnt look flash.... You know its under the bonnet but no one else does :)

Well until you start showing everyone that is!

I think it would need doing by bob as its machined to fit the individual platter perfectly.... I guess each platter will be unique and a small fraction of a gap here and there might cause issues to the smooth rotations?

Cost me £200 to upgrade the platter i think..... You can also have the strobe dots machined off to a smooth finish if you like

Give him a bell :)

[Tarzan]

Yeah i love it!!! Its a bit like a high performance car that doesnt look flash.... You know its under the bonnet but no one else does :)

Well until you start showing everyone that is!

I think it would need doing by bob as its machined to fit the individual platter perfectly.... I guess each platter will be unique and a small fraction of a gap here and there might cause issues to the smooth rotations?

Cost me £200 to upgrade the platter i think..... You can also have the strobe dots machined off to a smooth finish if you like

Give him a bell :)


Like your style Jamie, l love the look of the original platter:cool:

[jamington2004]

Bit more of a update..... have had the chance to listen a bit more today at some nice loud volumes!!!

Wow! I don't know if it has setlled in a bit or something ....all I can say is that it is stunning..... am listening to some good recordings with vocals.... like In Rainbows.... and the mid range is quite stunning!!

And I listened to LL Cool J last night - and the bass was like nothing I have heard before..... had the bass set to the lowest level and it was still huge and tight!

The vocals are close if not better to the ECLIPSE SE with off board and RB1000 I had (3.5k all in)..... the bass I would say surpasses it!

Seriously reconsidering my options as its currently up for sale (the replacement is a 12" Eclipse SE with x200 tonearm which I just can't stop thinking about too.....)

Ah.... those difficult decisions in life! :)

[jamington2004]

Just reading up on platters again.... Had another look at mine and realised it is not 5mm but a solid 10mm slab of alluminium bonded underneath.

Its a weighty beast - and all with no affect on vta or changing looks of the original platter.

Great design IMHO

[RobbieGong]

Just reading up on platters again.... Had another look at mine and realised it is not 5mm but a solid 10mm slab of alluminium bonded underneath.

Its a weighty beast - and all with no affect on vta or changing looks of the original platter.

Great design IMHO

Yes indeed, if you like the look of the stock platter :eyebrows:

[jamington2004]

Yes indeed, if you like the look of the stock platter :eyebrows:

I always find a nice record placed on top improves the looks dramatically, as well as the sound!

:ner:

[RobbieGong]

I always find a nice record placed on top improves the looks dramatically, as well as the sound!

:ner:

lol :)

[RobbieGong]

Bit more of a update..... have had the chance to listen a bit more today at some nice loud volumes!!!

Wow! I don't know if it has setlled in a bit or something ....all I can say is that it is stunning..... am listening to some good recordings with vocals.... like In Rainbows.... and the mid range is quite stunning!!

And I listened to LL Cool J last night - and the bass was like nothing I have heard before..... had the bass set to the lowest level and it was still huge and tight!

The vocals are close if not better to the ECLIPSE SE with off board and RB1000 I had (3.5k all in)..... the bass I would say surpasses it!

Seriously reconsidering my options as its currently up for sale (the replacement is a 12" Eclipse SE with x200 tonearm which I just can't stop thinking about too.....)

Ah.... those difficult decisions in life! :)

The arm will work better with the improvements you've had done. The platter will also most likely not ring now so not surprised she's sounding good in the mids and bass, especially with my beloved 2M Black at the helm :)