Technics SL-1210 Mk2 - Techie SR v.1.0

[samurasa]

Technics SL-1210 Mk2 SR v.1.0 – my first one so v1.0

My target is to have a neat and moody looking techie to play my records with grace and listening pleasure along with some cool tweaks to fiddle in the with when building be proud of it. The techie to be sacrified for hifi use is an old Technics SL-1210 Mk2 work horse from my previous life as a dj. Now it will be rid off of its “DJ” controls and additions, rubber plinth, the original tonearm and the in-plinth PSU. The platter will be modified and I´m considering making a few different kind of mods to the four platters (4 techie and one Project RPM 5.1 sandwich platter) I have and to be able to compare different platter mods. The bearing will have some moderate attention but Mike New bearing in the future will be my target as it is a component that has great significance to my knowledge. Though expensive… I made the plinth out of merbau-wood and will fill it with concrete. Thank you for the idea and inspiration Qwin. Also great examples and intructions from the AoS so thanks to you all!

Here´s my techie nude.

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At first I wanted to cover the top plate with carbon fiber cloth but it proved to be too challenging due to the sharp corners and round shapes in techies top plate platter and the tonearm hole. It would have been cool looking though! So i decided to find a nice good paint and go with it. Stripping, filling the un-needed holes and sanding the top plate was easier than I thought. I filled the platter basin bottom with damping mass that’s usually used in car audio and some basic silicone to fill the gaps. Did that after the pic. Also sprayed car bottom protection (Tectyl bodysafe) mass on top and under the top plate to act as a base coat for finish paint.

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The plinth will be made of grooved merbau plank that’s original use is for veranda floor. I want to have the corners made with fingerlocking connection and this a job work to a carpenter to get them neatly done. Inside of the plinth will be a mix of concrete and Atacama Atabites a layer of silicone gel under the top plate and one separate layer a silicone in the middle of concrete cast as well. Hopefully these will absorb and dissipate resonances.

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I stripped the platter of its underside rubber mat and filled it with the same car-audio damping mass (STP) instead on Dynamat to maintain the balance of the platter. The damping mass was so fluid it leveled itself as long as leveled the platter during curing.

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Top of the platter I sanded to the aluminium and sprayed the same bodysafe spray on the top side. The platter really seems dead and also looks nice.I will paint the dots to match with the top plate.

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[samurasa]

Part 2.

Merbau is really nice looking wood. I sanded and grinded the old top oil off, deepened the grooves and put two layers of Osmo TopOil on top and a layer on antique wood wax that gave a really nice silky shine and a satin like feel to the wood. The wood grain came visible when brushing with steels brush before the oiling.

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The feet are a construction of two rubber grommets inside each other, filled with silicone and in the innermost grommt there is a bolt adapter into one can attach any M8 bolt foot. I´m going to use Soundcare Superspikes that I have to spare and are also very good. Idea is to sink the grommet-feet into the concrete, under an underplate so that the top of the adapter is on top on the under plate. Hopefully the rubber grommets and the silicone will separate the feet of the plinth and the structural vibrations. The height is easy to adjust with the Superspikes threads and hopefully the weight is supported well inside the grommet and the silicone.

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[samurasa]

Part 3.

The tonearm will be Michell Technoarm A, with a Sound supports armplate for Rega arm. I will use Michells tone arm de-coupling kit to separate the armplate from the top plate with some modification to the original de-coupling kit´s design to fit techie and get the tonearm to a reasonable height.

Here is the platter and armplate unpainted and the tonearm in fitting. The platter is not in place and the tonearm rests on the armplate and decoulling kit but some vision how it will look if everything goes as planned.

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A pic without the platter.

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I also painted the armplate to the same colour the top plate and thehe colour is BMW car paint no. 475 (Sapphire Black). Nice black metallic with some colour changing components and pearl white particles. I´ll put 2K car laquer on top and will wax it with Dodo Juice Purple Haze and Autoglym Golden hardwax to make it really shine and last.

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The cartridge will be Empire Scientific MC1000 van den Hul M+ updated in 2010 and it has not been used since the update that included replacement of the stylus cantilever and the suspension. I´m excited to hear how it´ll sound. The PSU and regulator are to go outside the plinth. I got the pcb´s from Qwin and will proceed with them according to the great examples from this forum. Also the main pcb´s capacitors and resistors will be renewd.

Now waiting to get to cast the plinth and build the PSU.

-samurasa

[AlexM]

Hi Samuli,

I think the plinth will look very good when finished - I'm interested to see how this project turns out!.

I must say that I love the number of alternative plinths and completely new ways of re-using the motor, drive assemblies and logic that people are experimenting with at the moment - good work chaps...

Alex

[Andrei]

Samuli
Thank you very much for the pictures, I find this sort of thing to be inspirational. Or as they would say in Australia: 'Yera ninspiration tousall!'
I am sure many people will follow this with interest.

[samurasa]

Thank you for your support! Its really nice to get feedback and I´m glad if this inspires someone else too :)


Got the top plate from painter and I´m really satisfied with the result. The casting may commence!

Sealed and attached the topplate to the wooden frame with some car claylike sealing tape and used extra silicone to prevent the wood getting wet and isolating the concrete off of the wood frame and top plate.

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The tonearm hole is a plastic funnel used in kitchen. Covered that with silicone too and put a grommet on top to get tonearm cabling out.
I used non-shrink grout concrete and regular concrete in the cast. The non-shrink (5 kg) was mixed with 9 kgAtacama Atabites for the mass.

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I cast it and let it dry. Then the regular concrete (25 kg) in two sessions with enough time for it to dry properly. The mass now is about 40 kg but must confirm it when all the parts are in place so it will get somewhere around 45 kg :eek:
After the cast was dry I used silicone to seal the concrete and prevent it from crumbling.

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There was a need to modify the feet but with a rubber tube and a metal plate in the threads of Superspikes the three legs support the weight easily.

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The result is a massively heavy plinth and easy to my eyes:)

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Next I´ll finish the Qwinn´s PSU to its casing and get the electronics in to the deck.

[costerdock]

That is looking really nice - perhaps instead of painting the dots - simply have them machined off - and have a nice polished lip if at all possible.

[Audio Al]

Interesting project , good to see the progress :)

[Tarzan]

Interesting project , good to see the progress :)

x12:popcorn:

[samurasa]

"That is looking really nice - perhaps instead of painting the dots - simply have them machined off - and have a nice polished lip if at all possible."

I already painted the dots with the same paint as the top plate so think I´ll go with that. Maybe in some other platter ill make the lip clean and what would prevent switching the platters.
Actually I´m really tempted to get upgrade bearing and platter at some point as this is a battle worn veteran.

Here is a pic of the bearing. There is a proper wear in the thrust pad. Also the spindle hole in the platter isn´t perfect anymore though it spinns really nicely without too much wobble.

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Here a pic with the platter. The top plate has had four layers of Dodo Juice Purple Haze and one coating of Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection. Maybe too glossy as the imperfections are easy to see.

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[keiths]

Looks terrific :thumbsup:

[samurasa]

Finally got the techie to spin. The regulator´s zener diodes had fried due to contact with the thermal plate and this caused a slight delay to the planned schedule.

Here´s a pic now of the spinning platter but I´ll update the build story with more pics later when I get the cartridge setup properly and some sound actually out of techie.

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Also a painted armplate will replace the "nude" armplate in the picture. I painted it again due a certain damned primer:steam:


I´m happy now:)

[6L6]

Looks fantastic! Bravo!

[samurasa]

At last it plays music and very nicely indeed. The cartridge is Empire Scientific MC1000 with M+ update by Van Den Hull made in 2010 and it has not been played since so the sound propably will change during the first 100 hours.

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The platter mat will be changed to 5mm Achromat as soon as it arrives and the amrplate is a surrogate to a painted version that should be ready in the next week.

It is very quiet. I don´t have a test record that has a silent groove yet but the Hifi News Test LP - Directors Cut is on it´s way and it has it. Hopefully it will reveal if there is possible rumble from the bearing. The Mike New´s is tempting but I´m still contemplating if it´s worth the investment.

[RobbieGong]

At last it plays music and very nicely indeed. The cartridge is Empire Scientific MC1000 with M+ update by Van Den Hull made in 2010 and it has not been played since so the sound propably will change during the first 100 hours.

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The platter mat will be changed to Achromat as soon as it arrives and the amrplate is a surrogate to a painted version that should be ready in the next week.

It is very quiet. I don´t have a test record that has a silent groove yet but the Hifi News Test LP - Directors Cut is on it´s way and it has it. Hopefully it will reveal if there is possible rumble from the bearing. The Mike New´s is tempting but I´m still contemplating if it´s worth the investment.

In music, audio, sonic terms, most defo !!! ;)

[samurasa]

In music, audio, sonic terms, most defo !!! ;)

Yes I know I know... just some inner fight before I make the purchace and suffer the concequences to my wallet :)

Thanks for encouraging me:D

[samurasa]

We´ll... decided to get the Mike´s bearing :)

Is it best to get from MCRU with AoS discount code as ordering directly from Mike from Australia would cause 24% finnish VAT tax:(

And what about the bearing plate. I think it is possible to fit into my techie though its cast full of concrete. There is silicone under the top plate so if I´d make the holes for the baseplate with threads so would it be ok..:scratch:

[samurasa]

My ...or actually Mike New´s bearing is on its way from MCRU :eek:

[samurasa]

A pic of the home of my techie

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[snapper]

Just seen this thread, Samuli, the turntable looks fantastic.

[samurasa]

Thanks! Sounds nice too:)

There are still some things on their way to complete the project. I´m waiting for Mike New´s bearing and a Cartridge Man Isolator and I also found a nice 1,4kg solid copper clamp to nail the record down. I´m a bit of a believer in the benefits of mass when it comes to turntables ;) Also the armboard will change to a painted and damped one.

[samurasa]

Mike New bearing installed and run-in on going. Also changed the armplate to a painted one and made some dampings here and there.

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When the run-in period is over there is some very tempting Led Zeppelin remasters waiting below the player on a new rack I made to fit a suitable amount of records and to support the player.

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[Tarzan]

:clapclapclap: That looks amazing well done Sir!

[samurasa]

Thanks Tarzan!:)

Its been really fun and I´ll update more of process here soon.

[Tarzan]

Thanks Tarzan!:)

Its been really fun and I´ll update more of process here soon.

Yes please.:eek::popcorn:

[Qwin]

:stalks:
Nice work Samuli.

Good to see it all comming together and looking top draw - well done.

[samurasa]

Thanks Ken and all others, it is a pleasure to be here and give and get.

Btw the update to the building project is postponed due to that the laptop that holds the pictures has been under maintenance for to a failed processor for almost two months now. Service has been on vacations and so on...


But my vacation is beginning and I´ve been shopping. Got a new cartridge, tonearm and a riaa :eek:
A major investment but sure got a good deal.
The new cartridge is Clearaudio Concerto V2, tonearm is Clearaudio Unify 9" and the riaa is ASR Mini Basis Exclusive.

I installed Concerto today and I´m really satisfied though it must be a bit stiff for not been broken in yet. The ASR riaa has good setup possibilities and requires some testing with different impedance, capasitance and gain settings to get the best out of the combo all the way to Linn analog input Vrms settings.

The tonearm was was something I was not planning on getting but the price was right and I believe getting it to fit on Techie is surely worth it.
Actually if someone would have any advice to give about where to get best armplate to fit it I´d appreciate! As I understand its the same mounting as Linn but pivot to spindle lenght is the same as Rega 222mm. Is there a ready solution or does it have to be, for example a rega gerometry with a larger mounting hole. Or maybe Speedy Steve could fabricate a suitable one...

A pic of the new cartridge.

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[samurasa]

Got the new armplates from a laser cutting firm and my initial intention was to get the measurement for the Clearaudio Unify tonearm to fit techie by scanning a template i made in to a pdf. format.
Eventually I ordered one 10 mm stainless steel, two 3mm stainles steel plus a one 5mm copper armplates with the file. The Unify mount fitted like a too small glove ie. really tight and just as I wanted it to be. Also the stainless steel is totally non magnetic type of acip proof.

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Decided to first try with a 3mm stainless and 5mm copper plus I added a corc-rubber between the techies mounting surface and the armplate to get the fitting really tight, The height got right on spot as I used the top of the plinth as reference.

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The Unify is a beauty and it was really easy to installeventually.

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Also a new clamp from TTWeights Canada arrived today so the copper is a new colour in my techie. The clam is btw really really nice work and weighs 1,57 kg.

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The ASR riaa is still waiting for to find its final placing. I dont like it being on top of Akurate. The settings are really easy to do now as the top is removable but once I have tested enough with the cartridge impedance and gain it can go below:)

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Btw I gave last week a 340mm diameter and 30mm height aluminium plate to a machinist with a spare techie platter and we discussed and planned a long time of what I wanted and what is the goal. If this turns out right the next one will be alike but of solid copper. The copper is six times the price of aluminium so mayby this way it will be safer if the lathing goes wrong.

[ragwo]

That is just beautiful! How does it sound?

[samurasa]

Thanks Ragnar!

It sounds really great to be honest IMHO. The Unify arm brought some air and dimensions in the stereo image and the timbre is really nice. Easy to listen on high and low volumes and the foot starts to tap what is important for me. A friend with a SYD10 and much experience of vinyl music said some really nice comments about the sound and I hold his opinion in great respect:)

Technics direct drive really is a worth while engine for a turtabble to modify on!

[Tarzan]

Thanks Ragnar!

It sounds really great to be honest IMHO. The Unify arm brought some air and dimensions in the stereo image and the timbre is really nice. Easy to listen on high and low volumes and the foot starts to tap what is important for me. A friend with a SYD10 and much experience of vinyl music said some really nice comments about the sound and I hold his opinion in great respect:)

Technics direct drive really is a worth while engine for a turtabble to modify on!


Totally agree with your last sentence Samuli, great work again.:cool:

[samurasa]

Some years after a couple of pics


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[Barry]

https://theartofsound.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28920

Cool looking set up you have Samu. :)

[WOStantonCS100]

Impressed and inspired. Nice.

[SiT4]

Thats a fantastic job you made there and in beautiful surroundings !

You must be proud of yourself Samu.

Would love to know how that sounds against an SP10 /1200G with the same spec/cart.