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"New" Thorens 124 sounds great, but...

I have a "new" (completely refurbished by STS classic turntables). I know that there is a very heavy lower platter, and it looks like it is made of iron. There is a top platter that seems like it is made of aluminum. On top of that, I have a turntable mat that is made from carbon fiber and cork. I use a Funk Firm FX-R tonearm, and a Benz Ruby Z low output moving coil cartridge.

My tonearm is acting weird. When I lift up the cueing mechanism at the end of the record, it wants to quickly run back to the armrest. Scary fast - as if the table wasn't level, or the armboard wasn't level. But both are perfectly level. I took this tonearm and cartridge combo off of my Linn LP 12, where it acted perfectly normal. Again, it sounds great - no break up on any channel. And the down force is consistent at all points of the record.

Is there any chance that there is a magnetic force at play here? No amount of playing with the anti skate seems to matter. Curious what you folks who have this table, or others like it may think.

David
torc
br3098
660 posts
 
Classic "sticktion" problem.  You have a few choices:
1- change your cartridge to a MM or MI/Mc (Moving CROSS) type.

2- increase the distance between the cartridge engine and the magnetic under-platter.  This can be done by using a thicker mat or pad; I have seen leather mats that worked well.  I have tried a copper mat (Micro Seiki Cu180) myself and it worked well.

3- replace the magnetic sub-platter with a non-magnetic alternative.  I am not a fan of the TD-124 MkII style alloy platter.  Stainless steel is a great alternative.  Many manufacturers of these; some re-use the aluminum top platter and some don't.  Pay attention to the strobe disk on the bottom.  Some SS platter manufacturers use a stencil which is OK but they stretch easily and often are stretched or warped on mounting which is not a good thing.  The best bet IMO is the black-is-beautiful Schopper non-magnetic platter.  It's expensive but it's worth it.

pani
1,049 posts
 
Are you possibly using a lot of anti-skate ? Just lower the anti-skate or remove it if it is a string type. Then see if this anomaly continues. 
torc OP
2 posts
 
Thank you all for thinking with me. In terms of leveling and anti skate, I am confident that those are not the issues. When I replaced my Benz with a Hana SL, and none of those problems were present. In fact, it was utterly predictable. Likewise with a good quality MM. But when I put the Benz back on, the quirkiness returned. And so did the glorious sound.

BUT, I have compensated for the added downforce, and am careful when using the cue lever. And this is by far the best analog has ever sounded in my life. I am using the same tonearm/cartridge that I had on my last good turntable, so, I am comparing apples to apples. And to my ears, this is simply wonderful. So, I guess I will learn to live with the way that the Benz interacts with the platter (I do use a cabon fiber/cork platter mat to try to get some distance, and it doesn't do much - at least with the Benz). 

I'm actually very pleased, and I just hope this increased magnetism doesn't hurt the Benz Ruby Z long term.
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