Technics Bearing Mod

[Alex_UK]

^^^^^ post #10 or 15 Marco! ^^^^^

[Marco]

Hahahaha... Therein lays the problem of returning to old threads (at the latest post) where you've forgotten what has been discussed further back!

Marco.

[MartinT]

Form an orderly queue................

Yes please! When do you want an order?

[REM]

One for me please....

[Marco]

I think I'll let you chaps be the 'guinea pig', for a change, on this one. Let's hear all about the effects when one of you has done it

Marco.

[Dave Cawley]

As predicted, its here now! See http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=4475 and http://www.sl-1200-mk2.com/

Dave

[Marco]

Hi Dave,

The photo is fine, but what exactly are we supposed to be looking at? It might be self-explanatory to you, but remember, we're not all techies or engineers!

Why are there three 'thingies' shown in the photograph (what are the differences between all three?), and where exactly have the modifications been carried out? Is the bearing shown at the end the finished article that you're selling?

Also, what sonic improvements is one likely to obtain with this modification - have you carried out an A/B comparison between one deck with the standard bearing and another with the modified one? If so, what did you hear? These are precisely the things potential customers will be interested in.



Marco.

[Dave Cawley]

The link tells all, you did click on it??

Dave

[Marco]

Yes, but this doesn't tell me the thing that I'm most interested in........

The standard bearing on the left cannot keep the oil in place. Instead a high viscosity "anti-fling" oil must be used. The centre Timestep bearing has the spindle as a solid single piece of polished 303 Stainless Steel with a much larges base diameter and the bearing is polished PB102 Phosphor Bronze. A ceramic ball and PTFE thrust pad are fitted. The whole assembly is in a captive oil bath so that you can use more suitable thin oil, or any oil of your choice. The right hand bearing is by Mike New which is precision ground and would not be out of place in a £12K turntable. Mikes bearing includes a Silicon nitride ball, carbide pad, brass for housings and a 35mm long top grade sintered bronze bearing.

What sonic improvements the new bearing brings about! Remember you're dealing with audiophiles/hi-fi enthusiasts here, not engineers

I presume you've listened and compared?

The Mike New bearing is the one I'd be interested in (were I not going to buy an SP10 from you), and £400 is quite a lot of money to shell out on a 'speculative' improvement, from a sonic point of view. It certainly looks nice, though!

Marco.

[Dave Cawley]

Oh yes!! I believe we actually have quite a few engineers here!! All bearings were brand new and run in for 10 hours, expect greater things after 30+ hours.

As StanleyB always says "I let my customers do the talking"

But yes have auditioned all three on the same deck in the space of 90 minutes. On my bearing the bass is even more solid in a dry, articulate and faster sort of way, as you may expect; the timing/smearing is slightly improved and long piano notes are even smoother. This all comes about because of the better bearing, and especially because there is about twice the surface area, so the platter only does what it should. Mikes bearing is arguably better than the SP-10 and it shows, it is like mine only even more so, relentless electric music from Kraftwerk has metronome timing and classical music on direct cut Sheffield Labs is sublime, musical notes hold their own as if you were in the front row.

But this is subjective. Engineering is not, and that is why we have quoted specifications and materials. I expect customers to comment soon?

Regards

Dave