Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Jimbo]

Tonights tweaking is centred around altering the tension on the grub screws holding my arm pillar from moving. I was recently reading an article that was reviewing a tonearm and it mentioned altering the tension on tonearm pillar grub screws and the effect it had on SQ.

I am finding that easing off and just nipping up the grub screws gives the most satisfying presentation. Tightening very tight does seem to have a negative effect in that there seems to be a very slight hardening to the sound and the music is a tiny bit more forward and not as easy going.

Anyone else evaluated this little explored area of tonearm tweaking?

[Barry]

Tonights tweaking is centred around altering the tension on the grub screws holding my arm pillar from moving. I was recently reading an article that was reviewing a tonearm and it mentioned altering the tension on tonearm pillar grub screws and the effect it had on SQ.

I am finding that easing off and just nipping up the grub screws gives the most satisfying presentation. Tightening very tight does seem to have a negative effect in that there seems to be a very slight hardening to the sound and the music is a tiny bit more forward and not as easy going.

Anyone else evaluated this little explored area of tonearm tweaking?

I would have thought any effect would also depend on how the arm base is attached to the turntable arm board.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Tonights tweaking is centred around altering the tension on the grub screws holding my arm pillar from moving. I was recently reading an article that was reviewing a tonearm and it mentioned altering the tension on tonearm pillar grub screws and the effect it had on SQ.

I am finding that easing off and just nipping up the grub screws gives the most satisfying presentation. Tightening very tight does seem to have a negative effect in that there seems to be a very slight hardening to the sound and the music is a tiny bit more forward and not as easy going.

Anyone else evaluated this little explored area of tonearm tweaking?

Never tried it. I would suspect that the most important thing is keeping the tonearm vertical and held under tension. I should imagine the tonearm pillar could effect VTA and rake angle if not held vertically. Otherwise, knock yourself out! I expect a 10,000 word essay before tomorrow with respects yo your findings, and it must be fully referenced

[Jimbo]

Never tried it. I would suspect that the most important thing is keeping the tonearm vertical and held under tension. I should imagine the tonearm pillar could effect VTA and rake angle if not held vertically. Otherwise, knock yourself out! I expect a 10,000 word essay before tomorrow with respects yo your findings, and it must be fully referenced

HAHA don't tempt me!

The arm pillar is on a screw thread that raises and lowers VTA but this is locked when you tighten up the arm pillar grub screws. The whole pillar is held in a collar that is attached to the top of the plinth so the this becomes the armboard I suppose. So if there is any vibration on the plinth this can be transferred to the collar and thus the tonearm pillar. The grub screws tighten and lock this all up and its all connected so vibration either from the tonearm down the pillar into the plinth or vice versa could have an effect.

I could go on........

315F3B70-E786-4053-B317-5C1ED58D5FBF by , on Flickr

[Wakefield Turntables]

I would have thought any effect would also depend on how the arm base is attached to the turntable arm board.

Good call Barry, I attach my SME 3012 tonearm base to a Panzerholz SME cutout that I made to try and damp any vibrations getting into the 3012 tonearm. This is fully attached to my birch ply plinth. The whole thing then sits of spiked feet which sit on a Townshend Seismic plinth, located on a bamboo shelf!

[Pigmy Pony]

Does that wire that you have with JMW tonearms not have some bearing on the arm's performance? Did I read that somewhere or did I dream it?

[Wakefield Turntables]

HAHA don't tempt me!

The arm pillar is on a screw thread that raises and lowers VTA but this is locked when you tighten up the arm pillar grub screws. The whole pillar is held in a collar that is attached to the top of the plinth so the this becomes the armboard I suppose. So if there is any vibration on the plinth this can be transferred to the collar and thus the tonearm pillar. The grub screws tighten and lock this all up and its all connected so vibration either from the tonearm down the pillar into the plinth or vice versa could have an effect.

I could go on........

315F3B70-E786-4053-B317-5C1ED58D5FBF by , on Flickr

You could try my solution which is to create a tonearm mount under the tonearm itself, mines Panzerholz. You can't really do not much with the brub screws apart from maybe using an extremely small rubber collar around them?? You could damp directly under where the tonearm lives with silent coat on your TT (be a bugger to get off). You've also got to think about the tonearm cable going into your tonearm, this will transmit vibration from the croft into your TT. The list goes on....

[Jimbo]

Does that wire that you have with JMW tonearms not have some bearing on the arm's performance? Did I read that somewhere or did I dream it?

Yes Steve the wire coming out the top is the tonearm cable (Discovery brand on these early Scout TT) It can be twisted slightly to give you a small amount of anti skate and can therefore physically affect the sound. It is quite sensitive as the tonearm is a unipivot and it doesn't take much to knock its performance one way way or another.

[Pigmy Pony]

I always thought that cable was part of what made the turntable look cool, but then I'm a bit strange that way

[Jimbo]

I always thought that cable was part of what made the turntable look cool, but then I'm a bit strange that way