Finished Controllers

[nigel]

That's what I like to see!    Excellent work, Carlo, perfect build 

[floppybootstomp]

A very nice build Carlo - congrats 

[regaplanet]

Thank you Tony (and Nigel, of course).
I hope to receive the new hertz-meter soon, to be able to post the definitive pics!

[regaplanet]

Now it's really "finished"! 

I modified lettering: now .... a little bit more serious (IMHO).

[ZZMoko]

Hi Carlo that looks great...how did you do the lettering it looks very professional?

[regaplanet]

Thank you ZZMoko!
The lettering is not so professional: thin plastic profile, spray satin black paint for plastic surfaces, a common PC printer, invisible adhesive tape, double sided tape, cutter, ruler. Anyway, outcome is satisfactory.
Tomorrow I'll try to explain better, with some pics.

Regards

[nigel]

Very nice, Carlo 

I'm hoping that you don't actually run the motor at 42.3Hz .... that's way too low and risks overheating the motor 
I'm assuming you just had it set that way for the photo 

I guess I'm a little disappointed that you labelled it in English. I would like to know "Turntable motor speed controller" in Italian! 

[regaplanet]

Hi Nigel,
tomorrow (thank God it's friday) I will set the controller. Yesterday I just took some pictures.

In italian ... it is too long: "Regolatore di velocità del motore per giradischi" or "Controllo di velocità del motore per giradischi".

[regaplanet]

About lettering:

Material.
- Thin plastic profiles.
- Spray satin black paint for plastic surfaces (sorry for the melded label but, to be able to paint "outside" in january, I had to submerge the spray tank in hot water. North italian winter is not so temperate, like someone thinks!  )
Fist steps: cut the profiles at your needed lenght. Paint plastic profiles.



Remaining material.
- Print, with a common printer and normal paper, your lettering (white on black background). Some attempt are needed to have the right distances/dimensions.
- Cover your lettering with invisible tape. With your finger, smooth the surface of the tape, untill it is totally transparent.
- With cutter and rule, cut the lettering-stripe.
- Glue (with a lot of careful) the lettering-stripe on the plastic profiles. Use a removable glue stick.
- Attach a side of the double-sided tape on the back of the plastic profile.
- Remove the excess of double-sided tape with a precision cutter.
- Attach the profile on the front panel.





It's hard to explain, but easy to do.
For a good result, time and effort are absolutely essential!

[regaplanet]

Hi Nigel and everybody,
I need to know your opinion.
When I decided to build the NSP, I didn't have hight hopes in terms of "sound"! I built it only because I thought my PTP6 deserved it.

Well, the problem is that my NSC has effect on sound and .... I don't understand "why"!

I start by saying, I can listen differences when NSC is tuned to 220 volts and 200 volts! (??). When it is setted to 200 volts, I listen a "little" (be clear!)  increase of low frequencies and a "little" decrease of hight frequencies. It's like a "very little" variation of RPM.
Indeed, I thought to have a problem or that "this thing" were a "normal" effect.  But my stroboscope disc (and my mobile app) says otherwise: the "exact" same RPM!

I'm not an "audiophile believer", in fact I'm a DIY man!
Am I losing my mind here????
Oh my God! I'm getting like the guys who can listen differencies between different "colours" of "feet" under loudspeakers!  

I've done a bit of tests, with different LPs, but the outcome is this. Why??? It makes no sense!  

So .... at the time, my favourite set (for 33,33 rpm) is this:

[nigel]

Hi Carlo,

well, I didn't design the NSC to improve sound and I've never claimed that it did. 

When I was using one with my Lenco, the reduction in motor noise as I turned down the voltage was very obvious. I also found 200V to be a good compromise. Less noise implies less vibration .... does that equate to an improvement in sound? Maybe. 

[regaplanet]

Thanks for the reassuring words, Nigel.

Well, I'm not going insane. Maybe! 

[Dr Pan K]

The motor controller makes a measurable difference in sound. Using an Audio Precision rig we found that it lowered the distortion from 2.7 to less than 2% on the mains power.  By using the Feickert suit (with all its limitations) I also measured Wow and it is significantly lower on my Garrard 401 (which is a NOS unit, had no issues whatsoever but still, wow got better). The differences can be observed in pin point imaging (similar to low jitter on the digital domain).

For the record, I ended up with a setting closer to 210V as best compromise.

[regaplanet]

Thank you Panagiotis,
this is very interesting (and reassuring  ).

One thing is certain: I'm very happy that I built the NSC and I'm very happy to use (listen) it.

I repeat: I built the NSC only for a question of comfort and convenience (and to have some fun). 
I wasn't expecting any improvement of "sound".
But ... I have it!

And thank you Nigel, again. Very "valuable" project.

[Alexandro]

One more finished NSC.
I do not know why but this one works much better than all the controllers I had before. It runs cooler, also there are no deviations in the RPM...Just rock steady operation.