Homebrew slate DD turntable for sale.
Due to the impending arrival of my new Heybrook TT2 I'm selling my home-built DD turntable, which has been giving me sterling service for the last three years.
The turntable consists of a base plate of 20mm slate standing on three spikes, with mounts for the motor plate and arm board, both also 20mm slate, each also standing on three spikes. The direct drive motor, platter and control electronics are lifted from a Dual 701. There is a 20mm thick oak frame that sits around the base plate with a panel which holds the power/speed switch (33/45), the two speed trim pots and the viewing port for the under-platter strobe light. The arm-board is drilled for a Rega-dimension arm, but since the hole is slightly over-size, it accommodates my Formula IV quite happily. Although the turntable is primarily intended to stand on its spikes, I have been using it sitting on four coil springs due to the crap construction of the shelf I’ve been standing it on. I’ll chuck the springs in with it if desired.
This is a home-made turntable. It works well, and has done for two years without a hiccup. It sounds brilliant (better than the TT2!), and the motor is of very high repute. However, whilst being perfectly acceptable domestically, don’t expect Yamaha standards of finish or construction. It’s offered as a complete going concern, but a really competent DIYer could take it to an even higher level.
Sound quality? Well, about seven years ago I grew tired of my old TT2 and donated it to my nephew. I then put together a multi-layer plywood idler-drive monster from bits of an old Akai 4000DS, which shocked me with it's drive and energy but rumbled like a Cheiftain tank on a Bailey bridge. I rebuilt that in slate which refined it a bit, enabling it to create huge sound stages whilst retaining the drive, energy and general all-round PRAT. Sadly, it also retained the rumble, so I scratched my head, thought a bit and bought a very nice Dual 701 with totally knackered arm. (It was OK when it left the seller, but destroyed by the time it got to me!). Fortunately the motor and ancilliaries were in brilliant condition, so I junked the idler gubbins and inserted the 701 motor into the slate creation. Result? A very slight loss of sound-stage dimension, compensated by a smoothing of the rough edges of the idler sound, so still loads of PRAT, but also a new level of detail retreival. Oh, and the Cheiftain tank had disappeared into an inky silence. All in all, very satisfactory. So why am I selling it? Pride, really. Although the TT2 probably isn't as good, it's my baby, so life isn't complete without one. The house is too small for two turntables, so the slate creation has to go.
I’m looking for £100 to cover the cost of the bits and about 1/100th of the hours that went into it. Collection from South Devon or possibly from Bristol would be ideal, but I could probably arrange delivery. Bearing in mind that the all-up weight is in excess of 20kg, you'd be looking at about £20.
The picture below shows the turntable in situ yesterday with my Formula IV mounted. The arm is NOT included in the sale, and there is no lid. The second picture shows the component parts laid out. Assembly is dead simple. Once the arm is mounted on the arm-board, all the major components just stand on the base board. The motor connects to the controls via two multi-way plugs and the LEDs that illuminate the underside of the platter for the strobe connect via two push-on connectors.
There’s a whole load more pictures here: http://www.thepippin.plus.com/SDD/
http://www.thepippin.plus.com/SDD/DSCF0674s.jpg
http://www.thepippin.plus.com/SDD/DSCF0685s.jpg
