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View Full Version : Nottingham Analogue Interspace Turntable & Arm - Review & blog



jandl100
02-05-2009, 08:27
Picked this up in a swap deal for a DAC a few days ago.

Here it is in its 'natural' colouring, dark & handsome ...

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacett1.jpg


With a flash you can see it better, but the blue marble effect gets accentuated. It's not really that bling. ;)

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacettflash.jpg


Here's a close up of the tonearm.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacearm.jpg

My previous tt (a Denon DP-62L direct drive) had stylus pressure calibration on the counterweight, the NA doesn't and Jerry doesn't have a stylus gauge balance. Doh!! :doh:

A frantic posting on a forum and a very kind gent is sending me his Shure balance to borrow. :) It arrives the following day, and the fun can begin ....

Initial setup - the very first thing I did was put 3 RDC1 cones underneath with blu-tac - this worked superbly with the Denon tt. Mounted my Denon DL-301 low output MC cartridge - damn, the cart is too light,it won't balance! A small black metal washer and some blu-tac on the headshell does the trick.. Then placed it on top of the TT-Tower and plugged it into the mains and my WhestTWO phono stage.

First listen - The motor is not powerful enough to spin up the platter on NA tts, you have to give it a shove to get it going. Weird, but it seems to work. Music comes out. Always a good sign. Sounds nice. Jerry tidies up a bit (only a bit) & scuttles off to get an apple to munch on.

Second listen - Hmmmm. :scratch: Actually the sound is kinda flat and boring, with reduced scale and dynamics, and a noticeable lack of 'musical flow'. Oops. Not good. :(

Tweak time!! - What to do? re-checked the setup and geometries and stuff. All OK.
Hmmm, maybe it's just a naff tt and my old Denon is rather a good one? That doesn't sit well with NA's excellent reputation, though. Must be my setup.

Maybe the RDC1 cones aren't a good idea with this tt? Damn right - whisked them away and stood the NA directly on its hard rubber feet, and a major improvement in musical flow and enjoyment. Actually fairly interesting to listen to now. But only fairly. Not up to the sq of my old Denon yet, let alone an upgrade.

Perhaps more of the same? .... found some tatty old sorbothane pads and acrylic footer things and placed these under the tt, whilst ensuring it stays level. Oh wow, yeah. We're getting there. Really quite listenable now. :)Probably on an overall par with my Denon. But it should really be doing better than that. A quick flit onto eBay and some proper, large hemispherical sorbothane footers should be winging there way to me next week.

The sound quality is certainly good enough now for some nice listening sessions until then, but I feel there is a lot more to get out of this tt yet.

The saga will continue .... :)

__

Any suggestions for getting the best out of Nottingham Analogue TTs?

DSJR
02-05-2009, 21:56
I never heard the Interspace, but the arm looks a bit like the Mentor I once owned.

The motor is deliberately weak in the same vein as the Linn Lingo, just giving enough torque to keep the flywheel platter spinning. The heavier NAS decks don't give a toss what they're put on either, but as the Interspace isn't as heavy and has a solid plinth it may be different in this respect.

Is the platter made of the same material as the plinth? Also, it may be worth seeing if a Spacedeck platter (with heavy kit?) can be fitted as an upgrade..

Certainly a Spacedeck has music and rhythm aplenty and I doubt the Interspace is lacking here.

Couple of suggestions. Try not using a mat. The Spacemat is all very well, but some prefer not to use it. Also, do you really need a clamp?

stonetostone
03-05-2009, 17:39
I have got the same arm but mine is on a space deck looking at the last picture something looks a bit out, the balance weight is up against the arm pillar,I have looked
at your cartridge weight and it is 6.0 gramms without the washer on top,mine is a shure m95ed,with a ej2 stylus weight is 6.3 and my balance weight is not where yours is.
Did you balance the arm before setting the tracking weight?
steve

DSJR
03-05-2009, 19:08
I wasn't going to mention that, as counterweights may vary, but mine wasn't as close to the pivot either..

I have two stylus balances, a Michel precision balance and the little Ortofon plastic one, which is also accurate but has a tiny scale.. The Shure I also have isn't as good but is well thought of though.

jandl100
03-05-2009, 19:34
Did you balance the arm before setting the tracking weight?
steve

Yes, of course I did. Do you think I am a complete numpty? :lolsign:

But I'll re-check just to make sure! :)

stonetostone
04-05-2009, 04:06
Hi jerry,
If thats the case I would be inclined to add another two washers,one each side of the balance weight with a bit of blu tack.By the way my balance weight is the same colour as the arm.
I have been thinking about it i bit more,i would take the washer off the headshell and put two washers each side of the balance weight to move it back a little bit then you will be able to use the sliding weight to set the tracking.

jandl100
04-05-2009, 07:49
Ah.

From your post, s2s, I deduce that I don't think I have correctly understood how the tracking weight is set with this arm.
I have just been using the main counterweight, sliding it forward from the balanced position.

Please explain! :)

EDIT: Perhaps I have sussed it myself. Balance the arm with the entire counterweight assembly, then adjust the tracking weight by sliding the inner brass part of the c/w forward? That seems to work and leaves a cm or so clearance from the pivot assembly.

jandl100
04-05-2009, 08:00
I have been thinking about it i bit more,i would take the washer off the headshell and put two washers each side of the balance weight to move it back a little bit then you will be able to use the sliding weight to set the tracking.

Re-reading this, I am completely confused. (Or else it's just too early in the morning!).

The problem, as it seems to me, is that I don't have enough mass at the headshell end to balance the counterweight. So adding more mass to the counterweight will make the problem even worse. No? :scratch:

DSJR
04-05-2009, 10:30
HiFi Dave's away on leave right now, but he's the one to ask on here as he knows these decks forwards, backwards and sideways for at least two decades.... :lol:

If you have the correct downforce and the counterweight is close up to the pillar, then so much the better. Tom may have made special counterweights though, for different cartridges.

Keep persevering, there's a great deck in there, waiting to be unleashed, but don't expect the slickness of a Japanese direct drive.......

jandl100
04-05-2009, 11:48
Yup, I'll certainly stick with it ... although I'll not be selling my Denon DD quite yet, just in case! ;)

... also, I've just succumbed to the lure of an Ortofon cartridge on eBay, so it'll be interesting to see how the NA kit gets along with that. :)

stonetostone
04-05-2009, 18:42
Re-reading this, I am completely confused. (Or else it's just too early in the morning!).

The problem, as it seems to me, is that I don't have enough mass at the headshell end to balance the counterweight. So adding more mass to the counterweight will make the problem even worse. No? :scratch:

Jerry your right,the only excuse i can give is i had been up all night!!
it seems like you have a heavy balance weight.So my suggestion was totally wrong,so more mass at the headshell as you suggest is right,and try dropping the arm down 1cm,on the arm pillar and tell me what you think.
steve

hifi_dave
09-05-2009, 14:40
The counterweight carrier is way too forward, so move it back 0.3 inch or so. The tracking pressure is applied by sliding the brass counterweight forwards or back in it's carrier and the carrier moved for coarse pressure changes.

The c/weight carrier is also rotatable around the shaft to allow lateral balancing of the arm. Ideally, if the turntable is level, the shaft should be vertical but a slight tilt to left or right is OK. This will dramatically affect bias.

Next thing is ditch the mat and use the record on the platter as intended but remember to adjust the arm height accordingly.

Enjoy. :cool:

DSJR
09-05-2009, 14:50
See, I told you guys that HiFi Dave would know what to do............:D :cool:

jandl100
09-05-2009, 17:02
Thanks Dave(s) :)

Yup, the c/w is now significantly back from the pivot and my new(ish) Ortofon Rondo Bronze cart is installed and singing its heart out. Very nice indeed now. Very pleased. No longer obsessing about the NA Sound - just trying to decide which of my LPs to play next! :confused: :)

Re: the mat. It's a Living Voice Mystic Mat (circa £200?) and seems to be glued to the platter. So I guess it stays! Too difficult/messy to prize it off if I wanted to? Anyway, tt as a whole sounds fine.

DSJR
09-05-2009, 18:31
A £200 mat stuck to the platter? The supplying dealer didn't describe the philosophy properly..........

Not that there's anything wrong with a Mystic Mat (apart from the price), but you understand wot I mean guv?

jandl100
09-05-2009, 18:55
A £200 mat stuck to the platter?

Well, it's there - and I'm stuck with it! ;) Sounds fine, but I do hanker a bit for a valve phono stage, the WhestTWO I have is very much a solid state device!

scoobs
09-05-2009, 19:03
I bet you wish you had kept hold of that lovely EAR 802 you had now Jerry?

jandl100
09-05-2009, 19:19
Hmmm ... yeah. I am now quite curious about the MC stage in the EAR 802! - but I didn't have a tt then.

Ah well. So it goes. :)

hifi_dave
09-05-2009, 20:00
Shame about the mat, the turntable would sound better without but you are unlikely to remove it without damage unless it's been spot glued with something not too strong.

The 802 pre's phono stage was pretty good - not as good as an 834p but better than a lot of phono stages on the market. Why not look out for an 834p, preferably one in original condition and not 'improved'. :eyebrows: