Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Jimbo]

The turntable oiling session continues with some Audio origami Oil. I don't think I have had this before. I have a feeling I used some Origin Live Oil previously. As you can see the Audio Origami Oil is a menacing green potion. I am just letting the platter spin for a few thousand revolutions before I have a listen. interestingly the platter spins freely for a very long time compared to the 5W-30 synthetic engine oil. Obviously viscosity and friction lower but does this sound better...?


2605DA3E-4731-4E2F-AB9F-D716561679BC by J , on Flickr

[brian2957]

[Jimbo]

I have had a fair few hours and run through a wide range of vinyl with the Audio Origami oil in situ. So how did this green elixir perform in the VPI bearing? Well before I reveal my listening experience I was just thinking about turntable bearings and motors, belt driven turntables, idlers and direct drive and I know from experience and reading countless articles the whole point of the turntable bearing apart from its functionality is to try and remove any sonic trace that it may impart to the turntable.

Direct Drive turntables have gone to many lengths to reduce cogging or any transfer of noise from the drive systems into the bearing. Belt driven turntables obviously don’t have this issue as their whole design removes any motor interference from the drive / bearing. Idlers are in my opinion a half way house but obviously great attention and care is needed to stop any interference of the system getting into the platter.

The whole beauty of belt driven turntables is the lack of inherent noise from the motor/drive but they still do need to have a very quiet bearing and therefore the better machined and designed the bearing the less noise transferred to the platter.

Because noise can be such an issue I can see why turntable manufacturers have gone to great lengths to try and mitigate bearing noise. But it seems incredible to me that noise and vibration can be further reduced with the type of oil used on the bearing.

For some time now I have been considering oils and their potential especially as there are manufacturers now concentrating on all aspects of an oils performance and not simply lubrication. I have found this recently with a company called Park Tool who manufacture a range of lubricants for bikes and they have proven better oils can indeed reduce friction and therefore result in less effort being used to ride. This adds up over a long ride in the amount of watts/energy needed to be expended.

Going back to the Audio Origami oil I was reminded of this once I lubed up the bearing and simply spun the platter. It took forever to slow down and just kept spinning. I thought this looked promising. Friction was obviously reduced compared to the engine oil but how did this translate into performance and more importantly could I hear a difference?

Well I certainly could hear the difference straight off the bat. Immediately there was a much lower noise floor and blacker background to the sound. Transparency to the recording was significantly better and strangely the dynamic nature to the sound was far more evident. It was if some grunge had been removed from the system and a greater sense of clarity and openness allowed the sound in the room to become that bit more detached from the speakers. On a few track I was not aware I was listening to a mechanically / electrically produced sound wave! The sound seem to just float there in front of me.

Obviously this sounds quite profound but that is what I heard and to tell you the truth I was astonished that the Audio Origami oil allowed my turntable to perform so differently. I do not understand what and how it works but there must be some physics behind it probably to do with reducing the impact of the bearing on the stylus ability to pick up background sound / noise or maybe the fluidity of the ultra smooth much reduced friction just translates into a better performance/ sound?

Whatever the reason I am totally amazed at the transformation and up lift in sound quality.

[Pigmy Pony]

It sounds like you've hit the spot with the Audio Origami oil, well done James. For somebody as cloth-eared as me, the platter taking longer to come to a stop would be all the 'proof' I'd need that friction has been reduced.

[Jimbo]

It sounds like you've hit the spot with the Audio Origami oil, well done James. For somebody as cloth-eared as me, the platter taking longer to come to a stop would be all the 'proof' I'd need that friction has been reduced.

There are such a wide range of oils out there aimed at turntable bearings, you just need to avoid the ones that are derived from snakes!

[brian2957]

Good post James. I recently bought a second hand Rega Planar 3 and listened for a few days. I wasn't sure if it needed a service so changed the oil in the bearing using gear oil, which seems to be the recommended replacement. On listening I thought I had lost some 'air' from the sound and wasn't entirely happy. I did have some Audio Origami oil left from a previous project so decided to try that instead. TBH I was a bit worried that it might affect the speed stability of the T/T. However, my concern appears to have been unfounded and my experience seems to mirror yours. Yes, I'm a bit surprised that different oils could have such a profound effect on SQ like you, but remember this is hifi after all

[Jimbo]

Good post James. I recently bought a second hand Rega Planar 3 and listened for a few days. I wasn't sure if it needed a service so changed the oil in the bearing using gear oil, which seems to be the recommended replacement. On listening I thought I had lost some 'air' from the sound and wasn't entirely happy. I did have some Audio Origami oil left from a previous project so decided to try that instead. TBH I was a bit worried that it might affect the speed stability of the T/T. However, my concern appears to have been unfounded and my experience seems to mirror yours. Yes, I'm a bit surprised that different oils could have such a profound effect on SQ like you, but remember this is hifi after all

It is such a strange hobby this with unexpected avenues to travel. Who would have thought Oil would make such a difference. It never crossed my mind in the past to investigate this "part" of my system set up as I thought it was just something that was needed like a plug and could not make much difference. But as I have found out in the past even plugs can make a difference.


Its the old maxim "Everything Matters"!

[Jimbo]

Listened to Gerry Mulligan and Johnny Hodges last night, nice bit of mellow saxophone Jazz from the Classic era. The album is on the Verve record label and is very well recorded in the sense that you get the absolute differences between Gerrys sax and Johnnys and all the huge nuances a saxophone has in its sonic character. If you like hearing the full spectrum from the rasp of lips on the mouth piece through to the full honk of a big tenor sax this is the recording for you. Great mellow swing sound but unfortunately the recording is panned from extreme left and right with Gerry in the left speakers and Johnny in the right and all the percussion either left or right. There seems to be a hole in the middle!


Anyhow the reason I write all this is to give a bit of background to the whole sound of the recording and I must say with the new oil lubricating there was once again that floaty transparent feeling to the sound. Nothing missing but total luxurious lush analogue sound. But after a while I started to wonder had the soundstage now become too extreme, too vast certainly in width. I dunno. But it went way beyond the reaches of the room and was a little disconcerting.

Have to have another listen and think about that one. On all other material the soundstage does sound a wee bit enlarged but totally convincing. Maybe its just those weird 60s -70s recording that were panned to the extreme that sound a bit odd and the oil has accentuated this?

I have another recording that I use as a killer system analyser It is Ry Cooder - 13 question method. This is up there with my very top Audiophile recordings and I play it only to test the system and evaluate new gear. This track was used ultimately when I was evaluating a Neurochrome 686 against my humble Croft 7 power amp and it told me everything I needed to know about both amps and hence why I never went for a 686 even though it was a very good amp. I felt the Croft sounded more flesh and blood where as the 686 sounded more bone and sinew.

Listening last night with the Audio Origami oil everything I love about this recording was there. Massive dynamic range, totally convincing 3D vocals and a guitar that is recorded so well it is in the room! My partner is sick to death of it but I marvel at this recording every time I play it. The new bearing oil just lowered the noise floor and allowed a spine tingling very vivid performance. Crazy stuff!

[CageyH]

I am glad you have got your oil sorted. One less thing to worry about.

[Jimbo]

I am glad you have got your oil sorted. One less thing to worry about.

Yeah I don't think I need to go any further with the oil as the TT sounds so good now. In fact probably performing better than at any time since I bought it!