TD124 arm upgrades

[simon e]

Over the last few months I've been lucky enough to purchase two new arms. First was a Mission 774 purchased from Jamie after he upgraded to an Alphason HR100mcs. Then before I'd even managed to set up the 774 another Alphason HR100mcs came up for sale here and I couldn't resist it.

So I now have my original Rega RB300 which has been on the deck since I acquired it. A Mission 774 which is in great condition, supplied with two arm tubes one very original and the second rewired with silver wire if I remember correctly and finally an Alphason HR100mcs again in great original condition apart from having a Din plug fitted to the bottom of the pillar.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/a4fa3b683cd10368a4d629ca8abea471.jpg

My system consists of: Cartridge Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 High output Mc feeding a croft micro 25 followed by a Leak Stereo 20 (which I have restored) and finally a pair of Impulse H6's.

I decided I would first fit the 774 and listen to it for a few weeks before replacing it with the Alphason. So with a new armboard myself and my father who was visiting for the weekend set about installing the 774.

The 774 uses an sme type mount and the Alphason a Linn, but my Alphason was supplied with an ebony (I think) sme to linn adapter plate. So with lots of careful measurements we marked up the new armboard so we could fit either the 774 or Alphason on the same sme mounting holes. This was greatly helped by the great mounting template produced by Jamie and supplied with the 774. So a couple hours later we had the arm installed and ready to set up.

At this point we ran into a couple problems with the silver wired arm tube, first of all I didn't have any cartridge bolts long enough to mount it as the headshell was drilled through and on close inspection we found one of the very fine silver wires was broken between the arm tube and plug which connects to the base. So out came the spare original arm wand and the cartridge was mounted. We could begin to set up the arm which was fairly straightforward although the VTA and azimuth adjustment took a few attempts to get right.

Now for the moment of truth we popped a record on and sat back and listened. I'll be honest it took a few tracks to start getting an idea of what this arm was doing. The first thing I noticed was the bass, there was a lot more detail and tone going on than before and much better attack and slam, fine the little h6's are never going to pin you to the wall but there was great pace and control. The next big difference was in the upper mids we were hearing much better space and air and the sound stage was opening up.

So far I'm really impressed with this little arm I've been listening to it all week and it sounds great. Next task is to see it I can either repair I broken cable in the other arm wand. Or if there is enough slack to shorten the loom down without effecting the way the arm tracks. To hear the Mission at it's best before moving on to the Alphason. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/d6a1cb882c66ca9da867a4781a014776.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/bc7f34a6555f1f8165887b6179e847fb.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/3412380bfa6e901c0a7a921602fb28da.jpg

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[Bigman80]

Hi Simon,

I know some people would baulk at the idea of removing the VDH cable from the Alphason but you'll thank me for it. I spoke to a guy who helped designed that Alphason arm and he lambasted me for telling him the cable was crap. It's irrelevant, it was dull, lifeless and closed in. The Alpha only started to really show its ability when the Klotz was hooked up to it.

The Mission is an exception in tonearms for me. Nothing else has done what my Mission 774 did in terms of bass tonality and bottom end detail. That's not to say it's the final word, there's just a dryness to the tone which I adored. The Alphason sounded more plush, rich or embellished to my ears.

You've got some really interesting arms and comparisons to do, I look forward to reading it.

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[simon e]

Oliver, did J7 rewire the arm replacing the mcs or just fit the Din plug?

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[stevied]

[QUOTE=simon e;920012]Over the last few months I've been lucky enough to purchase two new arms. First was a Mission 774 purchased from Jamie after he upgraded to an Alphason HR100mcs. Then before I'd even managed to set up the 774 another Alphason HR100mcs came up for sale here and I couldn't resist it.

So I now have my original Rega RB300 which has been on the deck since I acquired it. A Mission 774 which is in great condition, supplied with two arm tubes one very original and the second rewired with silver wire if I remember correctly and finally an Alphason HR100mcs again in great original condition apart from having a Din plug fitted to the bottom of the pillar.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171118/a4fa3b683cd10368a4d629ca8abea471.jpg

My system consists of: Cartridge Sumiko Blue Point No. 2 High output Mc feeding a croft micro 25 followed by a Leak Stereo 20 (which I have restored) and finally a pair of Impulse H6's.

I decided I would first fit the 774 and listen to it for a few weeks before replacing it with the Alphason. So with a new armboard myself and my father who was visiting for the weekend set about installing the 774.

The 774 uses an sme type mount and the Alphason a Linn, but my Alphason was supplied with an ebony (I think) sme to linn adapter plate. So with lots of careful measurements we marked up the new armboard so we could fit either the 774 or Alphason on the same sme mounting holes. This was greatly helped by the great mounting template produced by Jamie and supplied with the 774. So a couple hours later we had the arm installed and ready to set up.

At this point we ran into a couple problems with the silver wired arm tube, first of all I didn't have any cartridge bolts long enough to mount it as the headshell was drilled through and on close inspection we found one of the very fine silver wires was broken between the arm tube and plug which connects to the base. So out came the spare original arm wand and the cartridge was mounted. We could begin to set up the arm which was fairly straightforward although the VTA and azimuth adjustment took a few attempts to get right.

Now for the moment of truth we popped a record on and sat back and listened. I'll be honest it took a few tracks to start getting an idea of what this arm was doing. The first thing I noticed was the bass, there was a lot more detail and tone going on than before and much better attack and slam, fine the little h6's are never going to pin you to the wall but there was great pace and control. The next big difference was in the upper mids we were hearing much better space and air and the sound stage was opening up.

So far I'm really impressed with this little arm I've been listening to it all week and it sounds great. Next task is to see it I can either repair I broken cable in the other arm wand. Or if there is enough slack to shorten the loom down without effecting the way the arm tracks. To hear the Mission at it's best before moving on to the Alphason.

[stevied]

Nice set of arms

I use the Alphason on my 124 and I love it The mission arm is also a decent tonearm and you will probably find both will have there plus points
Your cartridge will probably decide the outcome to which arm it a better match.

I had to use a little extra weight to the headshell to get my Zyx to sing but when you get it right you will know.

[Bigman80]

Oliver, did J7 rewire the arm replacing the mcs or just fit the Din plug?

Sent from my SM-G930F using TapatalkJ7 didn't do that arm mate, his turn around time was three to four weeks. The original arm wire remains. It's the MCS silver in the arm.

Phonomac fitted the Din Plug.

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[simon e]

Nice set of arms

I use the Alphason on my 124 and I love it The mission arm is also a decent tonearm and you will probably find both will have there plus points
Your cartridge will probably decide the outcome to which arm it a better match.

I had to use a little extra weight to the headshell to get my Zyx to sing but when you get it right you will know.Yeah the resonance frequency is just a tiny bit low with the blue point on the mission according to the Vinyl engine calculator so I will have to try adding a little mass to head shell.

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[simon e]

Phonomac fitted the Din Plug.



Phonomac did a great job the plug looks original.

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[Bigman80]

Phonomac did a great job the plug looks original.

Sent from my SM-G930F using TapatalkHe is very very good. That goes for his Tonearm mods and SP10 MK2 builds too.

I was very impressed when the Alphason came back. I plugged it in and the Din gave it a new lease of life as far as I was concerned. The cable was made by Phonomac too, I still have the same van damme cable on my arm.

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[walpurgis]

Yeah the resonance frequency is just a tiny bit low with the blue point on the mission according to the Vinyl engine calculator so I will have to try adding a little mass to head shell.

You can add mass to the Mission arm, but if you are using fluid damping and suspect the resonance frequency to be too low, you can raise it by using thinner fluid or thinning the fluid you have with fine silicone oil. Like most things, it a trial and error procedure.

Do you actually like the Blue Point though? I didn't like mine much.

[simon e]

I'm not using any damping yet, I was looking into damping fluid options to try. The arm was supplied with one paddle.

I do like the blue point but I've not compared it to much it replaced a very old Technics epc cartridge which probably had a very worn stylus.

So at some point I'll try a different cartridge but who knows what. I'm limited with the croft to either mm or high output mc's without using a sut or head amp.

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[walpurgis]

To be honest, I'd expect the arm/cartridge resonance to be on the high side with the Blue Point, not low.

As an economical option, you can fluid damp using STP petrol treatment. It's thick silicone oil. Like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STP-60300En12-Petrol-Oil-Treatment-300ml/291845045464?epid=1217620400&hash=item43f351fcd8:g:z-sAAOSwkNZUdA1S
It's what I use and works fine. You can thin it if need be, to suit whatever paddle you have. Saves forking out for tiny quantities of 'bespoke' silicone fluids at daft prices.

The Technics EPC cartridges tended to be very decent and yours could be well worth finding a new stylus for depending on which one it is.

The general rule with the 774 arm is if your cartridge is of medium to low compliance, try damping. If it's a high compliance one, you probably won't need damping. The Sumiko BP2 is on the lowish side, so fluid damping should help its performance.






.

[simon e]

Geoff, you're completely right resonance frequency is 12Hz, I wrote the post from memory.

I think the epc is a 205mk4. It belongs to my dad and is now fitted with a new jico sas stylus maybe I'll have to try and borrow it again. I'm pretty sure it's still sat in the box.

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[paul(555)]

Yep it's still in the box awaiting that distant moment when I find the time to restore either the 301 or Lenco. Perhaps I'll bring it over next time we visit.

[simon e]

Yep it's still in the box awaiting that distant moment when I find the time to restore either the 301 or Lenco. Perhaps I'll bring it over next time we visit.Maybe I'll have to borrow it again when we're over after Christmas

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