I've finished and tested the lovely Elac Miracord 40A record-changer record player, and the sound was quite simply stunning: incredible dynamics, PRaT, bass, very good detail, losing out only on subtleties like imaging when compared with my reference decks. Even a record-changer will easily humble some quite pricey belt-drives, especially in the traditional areas of SLAM, bass and PRaT! I restored it carefully, giving it the Full Treatment, disassembly, cleaning and re-lubing of all bearings including the motor, cleaning and silencing the idler-wheel, packing the ball-race main bearing with new grease to damp down noise. Quite quiet too (Dynamat and getting rid of the suspension would reduce noise some more).
Those who want to sample what I'm talking about have no excuse: you can buy one of these Elacs cheaply and restore it with a minimum of fuss (the Elac mechanism is much simpler and sturdier than the competition's). I also replaced the original tonearm cable with something better but not stellar: a leftover Rega tonearm cable from an RB-300. With a serious cartridge (I mounted a Shure M91ED) this thing will make belt-drive owners go into shock, just like my Garrard SP-25 years ago (but the Elac is better). Wanna kick the ass of a deck like a Rega or a Project for a fraction of the price? Get a record-changer and have some fun!
Moving on up the ladder, my rebuild of a Garrard 301 is giving the Platine Verdier a serious ass-whuppin', and is also ass-whuppin somethin' else, to be reported on later. Let's just say for now the complex low-mass approach is not vindicated, but the simple high-mass appraoch is. Science is about results, not complexity for the sake of complexity, or cost for the sake of cost.
Hi Tsatalia, different cartridges have different sensitivities to hum, as do tonearms (I've found that several re-wires of Rega tonearms stupidly disconnect the grounding of the tonearm-tube itself), wires, and phono stages (some pick up and amplify hum much more than others). Make sure the Garrard or Lenco is grounded, in the case of the Garrard the motor. If a Lenco (or Garrard), then mumetal works as per Mario's recipe.
I'll be back later, perhaps, to talk about the connection between Sasquatches and audio :-)!! But here's a tidbit for the Idler-Wheel War: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer
Those who want to sample what I'm talking about have no excuse: you can buy one of these Elacs cheaply and restore it with a minimum of fuss (the Elac mechanism is much simpler and sturdier than the competition's). I also replaced the original tonearm cable with something better but not stellar: a leftover Rega tonearm cable from an RB-300. With a serious cartridge (I mounted a Shure M91ED) this thing will make belt-drive owners go into shock, just like my Garrard SP-25 years ago (but the Elac is better). Wanna kick the ass of a deck like a Rega or a Project for a fraction of the price? Get a record-changer and have some fun!
Moving on up the ladder, my rebuild of a Garrard 301 is giving the Platine Verdier a serious ass-whuppin', and is also ass-whuppin somethin' else, to be reported on later. Let's just say for now the complex low-mass approach is not vindicated, but the simple high-mass appraoch is. Science is about results, not complexity for the sake of complexity, or cost for the sake of cost.
Hi Tsatalia, different cartridges have different sensitivities to hum, as do tonearms (I've found that several re-wires of Rega tonearms stupidly disconnect the grounding of the tonearm-tube itself), wires, and phono stages (some pick up and amplify hum much more than others). Make sure the Garrard or Lenco is grounded, in the case of the Garrard the motor. If a Lenco (or Garrard), then mumetal works as per Mario's recipe.
I'll be back later, perhaps, to talk about the connection between Sasquatches and audio :-)!! But here's a tidbit for the Idler-Wheel War: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” Arthur Schopenhauer