Early L70

[bluetomgold]

Built a new plinth today with the help of the kids... probably the quickest build in Lenco Heaven history.



Initial impressions are that the three baked bean tins had the edge sonically, but at least now the kids and the cleaner can't get at the live electrics...safety first! It still sounds great, anyway.

Merry Christmas everybody!

[sagitta333]

[Marra]

I bet you were bricking it in case it didn't sound good

Merry Christmas.

[dominique-tanguy]

You should post on Legoheaven! 

Dominique T

[bluetomgold]

Hehe. Not sure if it's a Lego Lenco or just a Duplo Deck.

Anyway, compared to the bean tins it rumbles more and sounds...(mid)bassy and edgy. Not awful but the no-plinth setup was definitely better, this is more like a cheap chipboard box plinth - quite powerful but a bit lo-fi. Might try placing some sorbothane or something between the Duplo and the top plate... I don't think it'll stay this way for long but I'm enjoying the music and the look nonetheless.

[rfgumby]

That's very funny Tom.      

[mred]

You should post on Legoheaven! 

Dominique T

funny for sure

Very cool and creative even it does not "stack up" to expectations.  )

[bluetomgold]

Yesterday I received the plinth I ordered from Carl (carlsworkshop). It took a little longer than hoped but I have to say it is a work of art. Fabulous fit and finish, no way I could achieve this sort of quality myself, and very reasonably priced.

I gave the plinth a couple of coats of beeswax this afternoon and it's come out really nice. To say I'm pleased is an understatement. I can't get over how nice it looks, I kind of feel like I don't deserve such a pretty deck! Somehow it's even nicer in the flesh, but here you go:



I have serviced the bearing again with a new thrust pad and as the oilites are worn I'm trying grease instead of oil. Seems to work well. Sonically initial impressions are good - it sounds very different to what I've been using recently and I'm having to readjust my ears. It's running very quiet, and sounding very sweet and smooth.

Still a few jobs on the to-do list (aren't there always?) but for the time being I'm happy to just enjoy the music.

[ropie]

Very nice, Tom.  I like the cork arm holder too - you could actually make that into a permanent feature, stood on its end with a notch cut in the top!

[bluetomgold]

Very nice, Tom.  I like the cork arm holder too - you could actually make that into a permanent feature, stood on its end with a notch cut in the top!

Thanks Piero, the cork was semi-permanent - I just cut one side flat, so it was pretty stable and actually very nice to use. I was thinking about sticking it down but I've just reinstated the original arm lift (also works as an arm rest) - it was bent but hitting it with a hammer straightened it out OK. Works well with the AT arm but could do with something grippy on the top.

[stratokaster83]

Very nice! I bet it also sounds excellent with that sexy AT arm 

[mred]

Looks great Tom
I may have an arm holder I could post to you.

[itskeith]

Hi Tom,

Good looking arm you have there  and L70.

A standrad armrest from a GL75 fits a treat with this arm 

[bluetomgold]

Thanks guys. I have to say it's sounding mega, mounting it in Carl's plinth has made real improvements over using it "naked", although it did require a little tweaking (feet) to get it to sound right in the first place. With my wall shelf it seems the turntable needs a degree of decoupling, Sorbothane has done the trick for the time being, funnily enough these helped the sound of the naked deck too...

Previously it sounded really good with an old AT31E but now it's in the plinth (and sounding cleaner) I'm finding the additional "magic" of the Supex SD900 is required to get it to really sing - the AT sounds a little bland now, but with the Supex it sounds pretty wonderful. Also sounds really nice with the GE in the picture - overall for old mono I'm preferring this to the Supex, if for no other reason than surface noise is lower. Actually the balance and presentation is not dissimilar, although I haven't felt any great urge to make A-B comparisons as both sound good!

I'm still using a glass and a felt mat in combination. Before I had the plinth I listened to quite a selection of mats and settled on these as being the best compromise. I haven't compared since adding the plinth because it basically sounds good, but I might experiment further at some point.



Next up on the to do list is to sort out the bias weight/thread (I have one from Werner but I need to shorten the thread), and also to replace the bearing thrust pad as the current one is a little tall, so I'm not able to use the bearing retaining screw. It's running in general purpose automotive grease at the moment - functionally this seems to work well in my somewhat worn bearing - start up is fast and spin down slow, and it's taken the play out of it. But if I'm taking it apart I might try it in oil again to see if there's a subjective effect on sound quality either way.

As for the arm rest, well thanks guys but I think I'm OK on that score. I've reinstated the original L70 cueing platform, which works fine, although I need to find some rubber or something to stick to it to stop the arm from sliding around. The champagne cork remains as a secondary rest - in use I actually prefer this to a conventional arm rest, and to be honest I'm not keen on drilling holes in the top plate if I can avoid it.

[pde2000]

If you stick a little self adhesive spot of something (i've got craft foam from the kids) on the underneath of the arm where it meets the rest that works well, rather than covering the lift with rubber.

I have a couple of empty bearings (no spare spindles) with decent oilites in, if you want one.  I could swap the oilites for ptfe is you fancied trying that, but they need using with one of Jolley's collars to act as an oil well to keep the top bush immersed.  The ptfe works dry but sounds nicer wet.