Talk to me about these counterweights. What difference do they make compared to the one supplied by VPI? I'm interested to learn more as I have a VPI Super Prime Scout myself.
The concept is pretty simple...the half-moon extends some of the mass on the horizontal plane, giving the counterweight a "wider stance" which should help in stabilizing the unipivot much the same way as the long pole does for a tight-rope walker. VPI has side weights of various sizes attached to the bell housings of the unipivot to effect a similar result. The counterweight being machined from brass adds a dissimilar material resonance to the stainless / aluminum armwand...and it looks cool! Mr. Sign (above) is correct that the half-moon also has a lower center of gravity compared to a concentric counterweight. A relatively inexpensive tweak, and completely reversible so I can't think of a reason not to try one.
I'm interested in trying one of these on my Prime Signature. Do you have a link to where they can be purchased?
Thanks. The plinth and the top plate are the only thing left over from when the deck was new in 1982! I have always babied this table.
Some time ago had this physics curiosity pass by on my shelf: Essence in levitation Sonically it does not stand a chance against my SL-1200G but I got to admit it's a the most unique optical effect of a turntable one can imagine though. (shot on an analog 5x7" (13x18cm) monochrome sheet film)
Stiff is a wrong word to be used on a magnetically levitating device since everything is flying literally (no mechanical connection for "stiffness"). Platter itself is stiff but what matters is how it handles those warped records on levitation. This depends on microchip (electrically-) controlled magnetical dynamics interacting between the chassis and platter side - this is how the whole thing works - speeds up/down, keeps the speed and handles external disturbance. I'd say pretty good, I don't have extremely warped records but some are fair enough warped and it had no problem. I can hit it with a finger a bit and the platter starts to wobble of course, but recovers in 10 seconds or so.
IMO, electronic stability control isn’t that special in these days of powerful processors, but it always amazes me that those strong magnets don’t interfere with the cartridge magnets...
One of the reasons I sold it since I prefer MC carts over MMs in most cases. Platter itself acts as a magnetic shield for the cartridge above it. But it the magnetic fields are so strong with this model (ML1 that get's platter to levitate so high accordingly) that it does not work with most MC carts - too much EM noise is induced. So you're limited to MM carts with this table. They had another model that levitates near the chassis, with this you could use MC carts since the magnetic fields arent that strong so the platter can elliminate most of them. Still, a bit too slow to operate for my liking, since I've been grown up with 1200 decks that are the easiest to use lightning fast decks.
A swifter duster is all one needs to keep these acrylic covers crystal clean and scratch free in my experience.
Understood. I use a clean micro cloth to get any fingerprints off mine, though I rarely get them with day to day use.
The added benefit of the C of G being off centre from the armtube (wether half-moon or VPI oval) is it can be rotated slightly left to right around the armtube to easily adjust the azimuth angle of the Stylus.
I do the same thing. I have two JMW 9 tonearms one with Ortofon Black 2M for Jazz / Classical the other with Clearaudio Maesto V2 for Vocal/ Rock/ Pop. One thing I've worried about is wear and tear on the Liemo connector between the arm wand wire and interconnect interface box. Have you ever had to replace either ?
That Liemo stuff is pretty top-notch, I imagine you can find a specification that will provide guidance for the # of cycles you can put them through. But it has got to be a lot.
This is my Garrard 6300. It is not my primary turntable, but it is certainly my most beautiful one. Sounds very good too! I am never gonna give this up.
Yeah, still very reliable, I have a friend that uses it for really insanely high-end instrumentation.
It doesn't stand a chance against any serious TT, but this is more of a lifestyle product with different target audience.