Brian's Lenco headshell.

[CornishPasty]

I just thought I'd post a couple of pics of Brian's heavy headshell in the making.

IMG_1992.JPG

IMG_1966.JPG

[CornishPasty]

That went well! I shall have to do some more reading as I'm not finding it too easy to include images.

[walpurgis]

email them to me via the forum and I'll bung 'em on Ralph.

[CornishPasty]

Sorry Geoff, tried that but I've no idea how to attach them.

[walpurgis]

Oh dear. You'd best have a tinker with one of the image hosting sites. You'll get the hang of it.

[CornishPasty]

Ok, a couple of pics straight off my picture hosting site. One is rotated as always. The first pic shows the aluminium platform glued into the headshell. The second shows the headshell in the milling machine. Unfortunately Mick is a clumsy oaf and he marked the headshell so I've had to refinish it. I'll post another pic when I dare to look at it.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_1910.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1574)

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_1911.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1575)

[CornishPasty]

Oh dear. You'd best have a tinker with one of the image hosting sites. You'll get the hang of it.

I'm not much good with computers I'm afraid Geoff but I can put a record on no problem.

[brian2957]

Thanks Ralph , looking good mate . Once I have this headshell back I'll be looking for some advice on which cartridges to use with it .

[CornishPasty]

Hi Brian, I thought a few pics of the job being done would be interesting. I did my own headshell for the DL103 but I've recently bought a DL110 and I think this very light cartridge will work well in this headshell.

[brian2957]

Thanks Ralph , I'll have a look .

[Jimbo]

Looking good and will give you a much better option for cartridge choice Brian.

Nice bit of machinery there Ralph for the job - now I wonder where I could get mine done?:)

[walpurgis]

Nobody has said. But to me it looks like a standard headshell that has had a stiffening plate bonded inside. Am I correct?

[CornishPasty]

Nobody has said. But to me it looks like a standard headshell that has had a stiffening plate bonded inside. Am I correct?

That's correct Geoff. I used a piece of 3mm thick aluminium for my own and this one and that keeps the cartridge mounting height the same. I've also done one using Dibond which is an aluminium/plastic composite and weighs a bit less. The main reason I did mine was because I wanted slots to ease cartridge adjustment. The standard Lenco arrangement is piss poor tbh.
My mate Mick is off to Cuba today for some sun and cigars but he's back in a fortnight and we've already discussed doings few more when I've worked out a better way of holding them in the vice.
I realise that companies like Tonar are making alternative head shells but they're quite expensive and they don't look quite right on a Lenco to me.

[walpurgis]

Have you considered using Tufnol/Paxolin sheet instead of the aluminium? It has better resistance to vibration and is very stiff.

[CornishPasty]

I hadn't considered paxolin but I'm happy to give it a try. In all honesty I don't think there's much mileage in these modified headshells. I'm only doing these for a bit of fun really. What the deck really needs is a better tonearm and I'm partway to a new arm that uses the original pillar, headshell and connector, and counterweight.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Brian, you should now be able to play around with a few other carts, what you using at the mo, is it Shure M55E + JICO stylus?

[brian2957]

Thanks guys , yes I'm using the M55e / Jico stylus Andy . When I get the headshell back from Ralph i'll post something on the forum .

All advice on suitable cartridges gratefully accepted . The first on the list being a Jico SAS ( thanks James ) .

[Wakefield Turntables]

Thanks guys , yes I'm using the M55e / Jico stylus Andy . When I get the headshell back from Ralph i'll post something on the forum .

All advice on suitable cartridges gratefully accepted . The first on the list being a Jico SAS ( thanks James ) .

Extra mass might work well with the Shure. I've just been speaking to a chap over on LH who's measured resonance into the Lenco tonearm and it dosent make for comfortable reading. The Lenco's tonearm is coupled to a very noisey top plate and the cart is going to get a lot of resonance so the extra mass might help things. I think you might want to start looking at ways to dampen resonance getting into the tonearm and the cart. This could be worth exploring before you go any further. Are you thinking of getting the Super Dooper JICO stylus?? Xmas pressie ????? :eyebrows:

[brian2957]

Aye , I'll try what I have , and maybe follow your suggestions for dampening the vibrations first Andy . Xmas pressie , not this year mate :( Maybe next :)

[Jimbo]

The SAS Jico will bring you close to what the 2M Black does but will work much better on the Lenco with the M55e cartridge.
Now do you go for a sapphire or ruby cantilever?

[brian2957]

The SAS Jico will bring you close to what the 2M Black does but will work much better on the Lenco with the M55e cartridge.
Now do you go for a sapphire or ruby cantilever?

Eh ! You mean there's a choice now James . I'll have to have another look :)

[Jimbo]

Eh ! You mean there's a choice now James . I'll have to have another look :)

Hi Brian, yes Jico are doing a ruby and sapphire cantilever, the ruby is twice the price!:eek:

I am not sure if they do both options for the M55e?

[CornishPasty]

This evening I decided to try Brian's heavy headshell. I was going to fit it with my Denon DL110 but decided to give my Benz Ace a whirl instead. I wasn't sure that the Benz would be up for a fight with a 22 gram headshell but it sounded great. I can honestly say I just quite surprised at just how well it did sound. Here's a few pics;

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_1915.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1579)

Aligning the cartridge was a breeze.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2010.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1582)

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_1917.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1581)

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2011.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1583)

And this is the Vacuum State protractor I use.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2012.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1584)

I had to use a heavier counterweight with this headshell, 128 grams as opposed to the 106 grams of the stock item. The heavy CW is pretty far back from the pivot point so tomorrow I'll turn a 40g and a 20g brass add on that can be glued to the back of the original CW. Fingers crossed, the 40g weight will do the job.

[Jimbo]

Very good indeed Ralph. Nice job.

[CornishPasty]

Cheers Jim. I'm going to try and get a lighter one done before Christmas so I can make a comparison. Tbh I would rather increase the weight along the whole arm to minimise the dumbell effect but there's only so much you can do I suppose. The main objective was to make cartridge set up easier and I'm happy that I've achieved that. I've also replaced my V blocks with ball races and got rid of the rider weight which I think has made a fair improvement. Who says you can't polish a turd :)

[brian2957]

Looks fantastic Ralph . Any idea if I will be able to use an Ortofon 2m Black with this headshell and arm ?

[CornishPasty]

The 2M Black is quite a sturdy cartridge and I see no reason why it won't work well in this headshell. I've had a Red in my own heavy headshell and it performed well.
I've made the extra weights and I'll post some pics tonight.

[CornishPasty]

I think we're there Brian. I had reservations about glueing an extra weight to the original counterweight so I've done the job properly this time.

In this pic you'll see three additional weights which can be bolted singly or in multiples to the Lenco counterweight.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2018.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1590)

Here you can see two additional weights bolted to the Lenco CW and aligned so the stub will pass through all three.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2019.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1591)

And fitted to my Lenco.

https://i37.servimg.com/u/f37/11/73/38/69/img_2021.jpg (https://servimg.com/view/11733869/1593)

I'll try and get this lot off to you tomorrow but it might get to Saturday as I have a couple of appointments tomorrow.

[brian2957]

Wow ! This is above and beyond Ralph . This is top notch engineering and will open up all sorts of possibilities for cartridges for the GL75 . Thank you very much for this it's very much appreciated :D

[CornishPasty]

You're welcome Brian. It'll give you quite a bit of flexibility and I can honestly say my mildly modded Lenco sounded superb with the heavy headshell and counterweight addition. I haven't gone mad with the machining, there are a few odd marks here and there but it was just a quick job to see what could be achieved. I was going to do extra weights for my own Lenco instead of the blutak and washers and I usually do a proto before making the thing proper so you've ended up with the proto. All I ask is that if your happy with it can you send me another Lenco counterweight as I've used one of my spares to do this. Oh, I've included some cartridge fixing screws, nuts and washers. You'll see the combination of a steel washer on top of a nylon washer so the headshell doesn't get scraped.

[brian2957]

Not a problem Ralph , I'll send you the counterweight when I receive the new one which you have very kindly modified for me . I'm pretty sure it will be put into use very quickly :)

You have PM .

[brian2957]

Well today I received the headshell from Ralph and this is a beautiful bit of kit . With it came different length screws for any cartridge I may choose to use :)
Ralph has also provided 3 brass counterweights which are fixed by a screw. This also opens up the possibility of using different cartridges . All beautifully packaged in bombproof packaging . This kit is way above and beyond what I expected at first :D

I will be fitting the new headshell as soon as I have the time .

Pictures and write up to follow .

Thanks Ralph :)

[struth]

:popcorn::popcorn:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Brian, looking forward to hearing your words and hope you have fun experimenting with some new carts.

[brian2957]

Cheers guys . I have a few in mind Andy :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

Maybe - http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=23461.0 about £35-40 if you fancy.

[Barry]

Maybe - http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=23461.0 about £35-40 if you fancy.

VTF of 4.5g for an elliptical tipped stylus? No thank you!

[brian2957]

Maybe - http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=23461.0 about £35-40 if you fancy.

Nah mate , probably saving my pennies for a Jico SAS in 2017 .

[Wakefield Turntables]

VTF of 4.5g for an elliptical tipped stylus? No thank you!

:lol: Very honest response Barry, I like that.


Nah mate , probably saving my pennies for a Jico SAS in 2017 .

Good call. I just thought I'd draw your attention to the thread, a load of them at LH seem to think its a decent cart.

[brian2957]

Yep , thanks Andy . I've had a look mate . I have a gut feeling that Ralphs new headshell and accessories will give me a nice little upgrade for a few months until I have the funds for the SAS .

[CornishPasty]

Nah mate , probably saving my pennies for a Jico SAS in 2017 .

Which cartridge is that for Brian?

[Wakefield Turntables]

Which cartridge is that for Brian?

Shure M55E ;)

[brian2957]

Andy has answered your question Ralph , it's for the Shure M55e which I have fitted at the moment :)

[CornishPasty]

Ah ok, I have one of those. I don't use it myself and it seems a popular cartridge on here so maybe I should move it on? No fancy stylus mind you, just what Mr Shure blessed it with.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Ah ok, I have one of those. I don't use it myself and it seems a popular cartridge on here so maybe I should move it on? No fancy stylus mind you, just what Mr Shure blessed it with.

Ralph, it's sounds very good with the Lenco and I've been told that it's a very good match for the Standard Lenco '75 arm. I have a wooden body coming over from Germany which I'm hoping to arrive before Xmas. I'll probably do some writing up as usual.

[brian2957]

Aye , the wooden body might be on the cards early next year too .

As Andy says the M55e sounds very good on the Lencp GL75 . I will probably take it as far as I can before looking elsewhere .

[Jimbo]

+1 M55e and Lenco GL75:)

[brian2957]

+1 M55e and Lenco GL75:)

+ improvements next year James :D

[CornishPasty]

I've had the M55 with Shure stylus on my Lenco but I thought my 2M Red was easily better which is what you'd expect. I also have a just run in M97xE with both Shure and Jico stylus which I really need to have a play with at some point. First impressions were not that good so I didn't proceed any further. I had other things on my mind at the time and didn't get around to trying out the Jico stylus. I think there will be some hard work needed both with regard to headshell and counterweight and also the capacitive loading. I'm also wondering if the M97 Jico stylus will fit the M55.

[brian2957]

Worth a try Ralph . Please keep us posted on that one :)

[brian2957]

Well , Initially Ralph offered to modify a spare headshell which I had for my GL75 . This duly arrived yesterday .

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010813_zpskt21qcyi.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010813_zpskt21qcyi.jpg.html)

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010814_zpsiltvhbgg.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010814_zpsiltvhbgg.jpg.html)

However , the modified headshell arrived with a few little extras from Ralph . Firstly a modified counterweight which can accept 3 different brass weights which can be fixed to the counterweight with a screw . There was also enclosed two sets of headshell screws of different length . The extra brass weights are beautifully machined and it all fits together like quality engineering should .

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010812_zpsqid5iuds.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010812_zpsqid5iuds.jpg.html)

I was nightshift last night and I'm a bit tired . However , I couldn't wait any longer to get all this fitted to my GL75 , and as expected it all fits like a glove and looks fantastic .

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010817_zpsbpnvjzuh.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010817_zpsbpnvjzuh.jpg.html)

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010819_zpsuyokixma.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010819_zpsuyokixma.jpg.html)

The headshell does seem a bit more substantial and is , of course , heavier than the original so I used the smallest additional brass counterweight .

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w2/brian2957/P1010822_zpse1yf7pus.jpg (http://s172.photobucket.com/user/brian2957/media/P1010822_zpse1yf7pus.jpg.html)

How does it sound ? Initial impressions are very good indeed . Bass seems to be a little tighter and deeper . There seems to be better focus to the sound , and I'm pretty sure I can hear detail in the songs which was previously hidden . There's obviously much more listening to be done , however , on looks and feel alone this has been a very nice upgrade to my GL75 and I'm well pleased . So thanks goes to Ralph for taking the time to do this for me . It's a very nice upgrade kit indeed :D

More to follow .

[Jimbo]

Very nice bit of subtle engineering there Brian, Ralph has done a great job. You can now fit a much wider range of cartridges which opens up all sorts of possibilities!:D

[brian2957]

Yes James . All I need now is the money :lol:

[CornishPasty]

Morning Brian, good to see you've had a chance to try things out. The idea with the extra weights is to get the counterweight as close to the arm as possible without hindering its movement. I can see from the pic that your arm could do with some more . With the rider weight right back see if you can find a combination that will balance the arm but is close to the arms pivot point.
Bear in mind that the heavier headshell won't be suitable for all cartridges. It was done primarily for the Denon DL103 but that doesn't mean to say it can't be used with other cartridges. If you feel the need a lighter headshell I can easily do another.

[brian2957]

Thanks Ralph . I'll have a go at that over the weekend and post back on this thread .

I may take you up on your kind offer of another lighter headshell at a later date Ralph . The only other headshell which I have at the moment is for keeping the GL75 in stock form so I'll have to get hold of another for you to modify .

[CornishPasty]

Ok Brian.