How to Connect an External Dc Supply to the SL-1200/1210

[chris@panteg]

G'day Chris, Has Richard of Vantage Audio actually lived with a 12XX sampling the various PSUs available, viz: KAB, Timestep standard and HE, Paul Hynes SR3 and SR5, and what others that are available? No way am I having a go at Richard, I don't know him but from reputation I would make use of his experience and service, but a thought does come to my mind that you can only base a finding on actual hands on experience over time. Even a quality pickup cartridge changes from virginal new to better performance over a period of time bedding in (no pun therefore, one must live with a piece of equipment in a known and familiar context for a period of time before arriving at a conclusion which boils down to either (a) Yup, this is good and it stays, or (b) I'm not convinced and its not for me? The Matsushita engineers have produced a marvellous TT as anyone who has delved into its innards will verify so the original PSU will be a good'un whether in situ or satelite. From my personal experience my TS HE PSU has improved my 1210 as has my MN bearing. The 1210 tone arm
is not as bad as its made out to be but could do with a little fettling and it will do until funds permit a premier league arm if so wished. A Jelco 750D is not mind numbing expensive and punches way above its price band.

Hats off to those good bods out there that have taken the 12XX beyond what was conceived by the audiophile 20 or 30 years ago, respect

Ron

Hi Ron

Well Richard has disclosed to me a huge amount of information on his own work and modifications on the SL1200/1210 series and indeed a fair few other's in the range , he is not saying changing to PH or TS will not be any better than the stock psu ' but by simply and safely ! removing the oem verson you already have a significant upgrade for minimal cost .

As for his own mods for the SL1200 , unless he is being less than truthful, which i doubt very much ! He has quite literally experimented the hell out of this venerable classic DD , several different and varying in mass platter's numerous bearing's and so on , he tells me he has heard some of the alternative aftermaket psu's and bearing's and again why should i doubt him ?

Whenever i ask Richard a straight question , he always comes back to me with a detailed and informative answer , perhaps at times information overload which could confuse a stupid person like me .

I would urge you to email Richard directly and ask him these question's , i'm pretty certain he will reply and its quite refreshing to get a straight answer instead of something vague and ambiguous .

[sonddek]

It would certainly be an interesting comparison to carry out sometime. If you're coming to the Scalford Hall show, maybe bring your PSU with you and we can try swapping them on my T/T to see what happens?

Probably won't make it to Scalford I'm afraid. Swapping them is a five minute job as making the stock PS into a satellite means keeping the regulator in circuit, so it's definitely not a question of just swapping power supplies on the same cable. I'm sure you knew that.

I agree with the comments that you need to live with a change for a while to really know if it's working for you. We are talking about subtle differences in presentation here, despite what everyone says. Even if you have three decks side by side for comparison, variation between setups and cartridges of the same model can lead you astray. It's very hard to apply proper scientific method to these issues.

My Mike New bearing is installed and I'm running it in with a nice bit of Elgar at the moment. This one fits perfectly, unlike the one I bought from DC in the summer and had to return. I don't want to share my initial impressions as running in seems to be important.

[MartinT]

Richard - keep it spinning at 45 overnight. That seems to do the trick fairly quickly.

[sonddek]

Richard - keep it spinning at 45 overnight. That seems to do the trick fairly quickly.

Have done. Still not out of the woods. Will start to assess after 100 hours.

[JazzBones]

I am one of those who likes the power switch to work so have kept it in the circuit. In my case it was the brown and blue wires at bottom of the power pcb that went to and from the power switch - the third wire (in my case red not light blue) was not involved. The photo shows the wiring - heat shrink keeps the joins tidy and I then used a dab of hot glue to keep the wires in place (not shown).
IMHO I could not detect any degradation in sound with the switch in or out of the circuit.

Steve

Coming back to this past post of yours Steve as I intend to re-install the on/off power switch on my 1210Mk2 using a TS HE psu. Have got fed up with pulling the 13amp mains plug out of play when a listening 'sheshun' had finished although the plug pins where kept clean by the friction of making and breaking electrical contact. Wanting life to be a bit easier I referred back to your pictorial post of old and I have but one question: I notice you have routed and connected the -ve DC from the psu to the top right corner of the main circuit board a la Dave Cawley? I did this at first following his basic intructions to the letter. At a later date it was concluded (on this forum) that this connection should actually be made at the bottom left earth screw, diagonally opposite on the pcb, this being the best connecting point... this I have done. I'm assuming this can be done when I re-activate my on/off switch thus deviating slightly from what you have shown/done? Those who know more than me about these things please correct me or confirm that the connection (-ve DC from psu/blue wire) is the way to go... I await with trembling soldering iron in hand

Loads of thanks
Ron

[JazzBones]

Probably won't make it to Scalford I'm afraid. Swapping them is a five minute job as making the stock PS into a satellite means keeping the regulator in circuit, so it's definitely not a question of just swapping power supplies on the same cable. I'm sure you knew that.

I agree with the comments that you need to live with a change for a while to really know if it's working for you. We are talking about subtle differences in presentation here, despite what everyone says. Even if you have three decks side by side for comparison, variation between setups and cartridges of the same model can lead you astray. It's very hard to apply proper scientific method to these issues.

My Mike New bearing is installed and I'm running it in with a nice bit of Elgar at the moment. summer and had to return.This one fits perfectly, unlike the one I bought from DC in the I don't want to share my initial impressions as running in seems to be important.

Hi Richard, I bought my Mike New bearing from Dave Cawley when he loved it and said it was worthy of a £10K turntable. At the time of the MN/DC fall out, well documented here in AoS I kept my MN bearing (sold by DC remember) when others where being scared shitless into getting rid of theirs. I also posted on AoS that my MN bearing, insitu, had nearly ten days of non stop running in at both 33 and 45 rpm mode... I was trying to see if there was a fault, under load, (no there wasn't!) and test to distruction!!! I'm still using this very same bearing today with absolutely no probs whatsoever... one of my better buys in audio related matters. Apparently, the bearing was reported not to be happy in hot climes, huh ? but I had no intentions of using my vinyl on the salt flats of Ethiopia

By the way, I'm assuming that you trimmed/snipped off the 18 component wires that poke through the solder side of the pcb board in the area of the circular body of the new bearing housing as these could foul?

You'll get there mate, welcome to the agonies and joy of Tech 1210 enhancement society

Cheers
Ron

[MartinT]

My on/off switch is wired to turn the red strobe light on and off. Since my MN platter has no strobe markings, using the light is pretty much worthless

[JazzBones]

My on/off switch is wired to turn the red strobe light on and off. Since my MN platter has no strobe markings, using the light is pretty much worthless

Hi Martin, is your switch purely to switch off the red strobe light or, more importantly, does it also turn the electrical mains power off from the deck?
I know that when you had the TS psu you left this fired up 24/7 but was your deck left powered too? I think that the Paul Hynes psu has its own switch on the back of the unit which will cut mains power to the deck. As I intend leaving my TS HE psu on 24/7 I now need to re-install the on/off switch as the TS (as you probably know) does not have a switch on the unit itself thus leaving this unit on means that the deck itself is powered up as well, strobe light and all.
Regards the platter, I am doing my own experiments on strength bonding the existing platter as a first step. By the way what has happened to Arthur K's acrylic/delrin platter which I would also like to try out bonded to his Acromat (white 5mm thick), I reckon it would look rather fetching? I guess David Brooks (Mains Cable R Us) has given up on his version of a platter?

Ron

[MartinT]

Ron - it only switches off the strobe light. The deck remains powered from the 21V supply (you didn't mean mains, did you). I also leave the PH power supply permanently switched on.

[worrasf]

At a later date it was concluded (on this forum) that this connection should actually be made at the bottom left earth screw, diagonally opposite on the pcb, this being the best connecting point... this I have done. I'm assuming this can be done when I re-activate my on/off switch thus deviating slightly from what you have shown/done?
Ron

Hi Ron, yes no problem. I also have now moved the connector to the bottom left - just needs a slightly longer length of wire. IMHO moving the connector has not made an difference to the sound but theoretically at least it's where it should be.

For what it's worth, I have just sent my PCB to Vantage Audio for an electrolytic upgrade and earth path re-working. I will then use their PSU instead of the TimeStep. I have been massively impressed by the improvement the Vantage Audio bearing and platter upgrades have produced so am hoping to be similarly pleased after this (?final) one.

Steve