Just made new post to make accommodating the larger bearing simpler. So I went from a went from a 4mm diam brass hook rod to a 5mm and modified the new post to hold the rod horizontally rather than at an angle. Using an eyelet to fix the hoist to the bearing I like a lot. I used 2 separate hoists for left & right sides, but the other thing I am pleased about is because the hoist is not twisting, I can use a metal braid as used in bracelets & necklaces as the hoist. In fact, I attached the hoists to the hook eyelet using crimp tubes, not knots, then sleeving with heat shrink so all looks very professional! Hoist material seems supple enough to work with & wind around the tuning pegs:
Advantages for me are mainly with the UH arm where I dont have to contend with the torsional forces. Also, the metal braided hoists are re-assuring regarding strength & fraying which was always at the back of my mind. I stated in a previous post I didnt think there was any point using a bearing for the stock Supa arm. Maybe just to have an even antiskate across the record, but Richard has sorted this.
Will test now to see if I hear any resonances from the bearing or metal hoist.
Cheers
Vic
Vic,
This looks impressive!! And Adelmo seems about to finalise something equally innovative and impressive.
My question for both of you is: which sonic benefits have you found upon the introduction of the bearing?
I am asking because, I have eventually got around to implement a variable antiskating mechanism on my rudimentary Supatra clone and:
1) I found that the benefits of the variable antiskate over a fix hanging weight are huge - in fact, I am bit puzzled by how big an impact the variable antiskate has had
2) Having heard my same Lyra cartridges in all sorts of arms - not just in my system and with the 4-5 tonearms I have used in recent times - I cannot think how their sound could be further improved
Finally, let me share my experience with CARTRIDGE DECOUPLING.
Inserting a compliant £27 Origin Live's Cartridge Enabler (
https://www.originlive.com/shop/cartridge-enabler.html) between headshell and cartridge, and loosening the cartridge screws almost to the bare minimum required to prevent movement of the cartridge when the stylus guard is applied/removed, does wonders to the sound: the image grows in all 3 dimensions, instrument positioning and separation increases, bass becomes deeper and more textured, highs are more airy and extened, and so on...
I am aware that such a large impact from a cartridge decoupler means that I am putting a plaster over an uncured problem that lies elsewhere. Somehow my tonearm is not 100% mechanically isolalated and is picking up mechanical vibrations (*) that transfer onto the cartridge.
However, I bet that others may suffer from a similar lack of complete isolation from external vibrations in their tonearm and may equally benefit from decoupling cartridge and headshell.
I have tried making my own decouplers using balsa and carbon fibre-reinforced polimer shims. The balsa ones, which are compliant, have some positive effect on sound quality, but is not as good as the OL decoupler.
(*) I guess mechanical vibrations can either come from the mount or be airborne vibrations. I think I suffer from the latter.
My tonearm is not in direct contact with the turntable plinth, from which is decoupled by a sequence of multiple materials (balsa, plywoodm metal , rubber). The rack on which everthing, included the tonearm sit, could still be a souce of vibrations picked up from the floor. However, being located close to a corner, my turntable sits in a region of high acoustic energy in the room. Hence, I believe that the tonearm's stimulation is likely to be airborne - classic acoustic feedback
