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scoobs
01-06-2009, 19:38
Well I finally have my slate plinth for the Denon, and whilst not breaking the bank, it very nearly broke my back heaving it all up on the rack when one of the sorb rubber feet fell off just before I planted it down...I turned the air blue, and of course the girlfriend was nowhere to be seen in my moment of need. :)

The plinth is 100mm deep. It still needs a little remedial work by my local stonemason on the underside to deepen the rebate of the tonearm hole, so I can get my sticky mits in there to adjust stuff, also some holes for the RDC footers, it's currently resting on chunky sorbothane superpods. Addtionally I will give it a clean with some WD40 to remove the greasy finger smudges from the front face. It is a hefty tombstone size slab that feels lovely but looks a tad brutal. :smoking:

Whilst the motor unit and Denon 309 tonearm aren't properly secured in the slate yet, the tunes are sounding bloody great, this type of arm is something different for me, with the dynamic balancing giving a suprising amount of play. I hadn't expected it to sound so good to be honest, but then again this arm was designed especially for the 103 cartridge so I am looking forward to getting things optimised and together with an oil change for the DP80 this should be singing by the weekend.

For anyone who is interested, the plinth was supplied by a North Wales company... grey slate and stone and it came in at £370 inc shipping (on it's own pallet!)

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/indypepa/007.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/indypepa/1.jpg
http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee15/indypepa/0e339d3f.jpg

More soon.

hifi_dave
01-06-2009, 19:43
That is very, very nice.

Shame about the rack though.:doh:

i_should_coco
01-06-2009, 19:45
Oh my! I like that! :-)

Marco
01-06-2009, 19:47
Bloody hell, that gives 'high-mass' a whole new meaning, muchacho! :lolsign:

Nice one. I can imagine that it sounds fantastic...

How would you compare the way the Denon arm/DL-103 handles music comapred to the Jelco/DL-103 combo?

Enjoy, and we want a full write-up in Strokes of Genius when your thoughts are fully crystallised :)

Marco.

John
01-06-2009, 20:05
It looks great and must sound amazing Great deal on the plinth

MartinT
01-06-2009, 20:29
Gosh, I can just feel that poor rack sinking slowly under the strain. Very nice!

StanleyB
01-06-2009, 20:40
Shame about the rack though.
The same thing crossed my mind.

This is a case of The Beauty is The Beast:). Cartridge selection is going to be fun.

Beechwoods
01-06-2009, 20:45
Flippin' 'eck that's a plinth and a half! You won't need to worry about insuring it now... no-one's going to be making a sharp exit with that under their coat!

Ali Tait
01-06-2009, 21:01
Was that from Berwyn Slate?

scoobs
01-06-2009, 21:06
Thanks all!
Yeah the rack isn't great really.

Marco, the 309 brings more body to the upper bass region than the Jelco and there is great deal of intimacy in the soundstage.

I'm not sure where this slab is from, the company website does not mention Berwyn, I would like to think it's welsh though, and not imported form China or somesuch.

Spectral Morn
01-06-2009, 21:17
Hi Scoobs

Wow......

Can I make a suggestion.....

When you are taking the unit back for further work....I would have the a slight cut put into the four faces, say from the top of the plinth down this spacing would about the height of the platter and the Denon TT unit...what ever that is.

This would break up the slab look and I think make the overall unit look better .....just an opinion.

I was faced with a similar design choice with large slabs of granite I use under speaker stands I use upstairs.

I will take some photos to illustrate what I mean....back in a mo. The granite looks to be about the same thickness as your slate.

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii364/davros124/LeakTroughlineTuners053.jpg

http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/ii364/davros124/LeakTroughlineTuners054.jpg



Regards D S D L

Magna Audio
01-06-2009, 21:32
Very nice. Having mucked about with Snooker table renovation in the past slate is a nice material for this sort of thing.

What does it actually weigh in at all up?

DSJR
01-06-2009, 22:23
Lovely!!!

I'll see if I have a scan of the Denon 309 arm's review, although I do have an inkling that the tube's decoupling before the bearing did odd things to the bass quality (it could have been the 307 though).

For the slate cleaning, I remember from my Horology interest that Linseed Oil is what you use to clean and blacken up slate clock cases from the Victorian era. I'm sure I used some on our 1850's slate cased French clock in the kitchen... Worth Googling or look on the BHI website if you can get in to the hints and tips section (I've let my associate membership lapse as they want nearly £100 per year membership).

Spectral Morn
01-06-2009, 22:29
Lovely!!!

I'll see if I have a scan of the Denon 309 arm's review, although I do have an inkling that the tube's decoupling before the bearing did odd things to the bass quality (it could have been the 307 though).

For the slate cleaning, I remember from my Horology interest that Linseed Oil is what you use to clean and blacken up slate clock cases from the Victorian era. I'm sure I used some on our 1850's slate cased French clock in the kitchen... Worth Googling or look on the BHI website if you can get in to the hints and tips section (I've let my associate membership lapse as they want nearly £100 per year membership).

I have just checked one of my reference books on Antique clocks and the authors (Peter Wotton and Brian Oliver) suggest using pure-non tinted beeswax and polish with this... good for slate and marble.

Sounds like a nice clock you have Dave. I have a nice marble drum clock with two winders and a top adjuster for speed of pendulum swing(senior moment I can't remember what this is called)

Regards D S D L

scoobs
02-06-2009, 07:30
Wow, thanks for those tips fellas. I see what you mean DSDL, that scored line makes an interesting feature, but I'm going to leave it for a while as I like the minimalism of it currently.

Marco
02-06-2009, 07:52
Thoughts on the two arms with the 103, dude? :)

I'm curious!

Marco.

DSJR
02-06-2009, 09:38
Yeah, the clock's a good old timer and a very standard model, but not in best condition and so not worth much. It has a French Japy Frere movement with countwheel striking on a small bell and the stampings on the rear movement plate date it at around 1850 from the research I did...

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/b5a4c4ec.jpg

back to DA309. Not that positive I'm afraid, but I reckon that Colloms et al were being very heavily influenced by the "stuck together" arms like the Ittok and Zeta to investigate what was then a dated concept..

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q8/DSJR_photos/DA309Review.jpg

scoobs
02-06-2009, 19:58
Thoughts on the two arms with the 103, dude? :)

OK, I've had an hour or so of piece and quiet and a chance to listen to some familiar material. The 309 is not fixed into the slate properly yet and is wedged into place with a strip of kitchen roll wrapped around the pillar :lol:

...But that aside, the arm is giving the brand new re-tipped 103 a decent foundation to work against on Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree. The character (compared to the Jelco/Koetsu) is a slightly narrower sound stage, darker with more brooding intimacy, bass is fulsome with nice shape and texture, but not quite as taught. The touch of sparkle is missing in the very top, and dynamics are slightly curtailed too. Although given the very compliant nature of the arm and the kitchen roll, there is a good sense of space and air around the upper frequencies.

I'm confident that once I have secured both the motor unit and arm into the slate properly and the RDC cone footers screwed in things will improve, I've not checked the overhang yet either.

:cool:

Chris
02-06-2009, 22:58
Hi,
"Taught" is the past of the verb "teach" and "taut" means under tension.
Sad, I know but I can´t help picking up on spelling - comes from being a translator. Mind you, I am deaf of course.

The Grand Wazoo
02-06-2009, 23:21
"Taught" is the past TENSE of the verb "TO teach" and "taut" means 'under tension'.
Sad, I know but I can't help picking up on grammar.

chris@panteg
03-06-2009, 22:27
My Grammar and spelling are pretty shocking i am sad to say.

The Grand Wazoo
03-06-2009, 23:13
My Grammar and spelling are pretty shocking i am sad to say.

Chris, I don't have a problem with your spelling or grammar, but the other Chris maybe should've at least got his grammar right if he was going to correct your spelling!!

Marco
04-06-2009, 11:42
There's nothing like an impassioned battle amongst pedants to bring a sly grin to one's chops :eyebrows: ;)

Should I act as arbiter?

Scoobs,

Sounds good so far, matey. Keep us posted of further developments! Btw, the more I listen to the HA-500 head amp, and what it does with music, the more I'm beginning to conclude that this is where 'it's at' (genuinely) in terms of optimising the performance of the DL-103... :)

Marco.

kcc123
04-06-2009, 12:02
My Grammar and spelling are pretty shocking i am sad to say.

Hi,

My grammer is very poor too, I have to admit. Hehe! :lol:

Marco
04-06-2009, 12:18
You have an excuse, though - I'm not sure if my Cantonese or Mandarin are quite up to the standard of your English! ;)

Marco.

kcc123
04-06-2009, 13:16
Hi Marco,
Are you Italian or Spanish in origin?

Marco
04-06-2009, 13:24
Italian (Tuscany), with a smidgen of Scottish ;)

Marco.