Anyone ever build a turntable?

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  • Kevin_McC
    Member
    • Jan 2003
    • 65

    Anyone ever build a turntable?

    Just curious if anyone here has ever built a turntable? What kind of advice would you give someone that was considering the idea? I've sort of look around and I'm guessing I'd have to buy a decent arm and motor (type?), but I would think everything else could be built using common wood working tools? Is there any designs that are better than others?
  • Pete
    Junior Member
    • Feb 2002
    • 9

    #2
    There's a company here in Colorado that sales kits or parts for DIY.
    -Pete

    TeresAudio

    Comment

    • Kevin_McC
      Member
      • Jan 2003
      • 65

      #3
      Pete,

      I've looked at their website. They make some good looking DIY parts and turntables. They are one of the few websites that I've been able to find.

      I guess there isn't very many people out there that want to go through the trouble of building a turntable?

      Comment

      • Burke Strickland
        Moderator
        • Sep 2001
        • 3161

        #4
        I guess there isn't very many people out there that want to go through the trouble of building a turntable?
        There aren't many people these days who even want to go through the trouble of USING a turntable, much less BUILDING one. While I know there is a special satisfaction from DIY, I have been content having let Rega do the work of building mine, and just put up with the "hassle" of manually lifting the tone arm (with a lever), swinging it over to the record and lowering the stylus into the groove. At least that gives me some sense of participation in the process. :>)

        Good luck in coming up with a design and finding the materials you need for your project.

        Burke

        What you DON'T say may be held against you...

        Comment

        • Kevin_McC
          Member
          • Jan 2003
          • 65

          #5
          Burke,

          I've considered getting a Rega P3 or maybe a Music Hall MMF-7, but I thought I'd explore the DIY option first to see what others think.

          It seems a lot of the tables I see people using are no longer in their original stock form. Whether it be an upgraded tonearm, new motor, wiring, platter, etc.. I guess that's what made me think about trying the DIY route.

          I enjoy doing DIY stuff and thought maybe it would be a nice project to try.

          In the end your probably right it would be just as easy to buy a table and be done with it.

          Comment

          • Burke Strickland
            Moderator
            • Sep 2001
            • 3161

            #6
            It seems a lot of the tables I see people using are no longer in their original stock form.
            Technically, that includes my own Rega Planar 3 -- it's been upgraded with the P3 motor/motor mount factory kit. (That wasn't DIY either, though. I let the dealer's technician do the honors.)

            Burke

            What you DON'T say may be held against you...

            Comment

            • Brandon B
              Super Senior Member
              • Jun 2001
              • 2193

              #7
              I'm actually addinng this to my list of projects I wish I had time to work on. I will likely buy a motor, tonearm and cartridge and do the rest myself. I've got a 4'x8' sheet of one inch acrylic I am going to make my plinth and platter out of.

              BB

              Comment

              • Kevin_McC
                Member
                • Jan 2003
                • 65

                #8
                Burke,

                Why did you upgrade your motor and were you able to tell the difference after the switch?

                Brandon,

                Where did you get a sheet of acrylic from and do you have any vendors in mind for your motor and bearing?

                Comment

                • Burke Strickland
                  Moderator
                  • Sep 2001
                  • 3161

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Kevin_McC
                  Why did you upgrade your motor...
                  My dealer suggested the upgrade to get the latest performance improvements of the Rega line without having to buy a whole new turntable. Here's the official blurb from the Rega site:
                  Originally posted by Rega
                  Over the past few years Rega has pioneered through cost effective and sophisticated electronic circuitry - the advanced fine-tuning of our already superbly quite motor. Our electronic expertise has allowed us to take this technology in a passive form down to our budget turntable. The new P3 motor upgrade uses no active electronic trimming devices and combines remarkable cost-effective engineering producing extremely low vibration. This has enabled us to re-design one of the most classic features of the original Planar design. As our new motor assembly has virtually no vibration, It can be directly coupled to the turntable plinth using the latest in adhesive pad technology commonly found in the automotive and aerospace Industry. Being able to directly mount the motor to the plinth provides a highly effective drive train from the motor pulley through the drive belt to the sub platter. This process will directly reduce both wow and particularly flutter that the turntable produces. This will demonstrate itself in sound quality as having more control accuracy and detail.
                  http://www.rega.co.uk/html/upgrade_kits.htm If you click on "P2/3 Upgrade kit instructions" I think you'll see why I let the dealer do it. (Applying too much pressure to the acrylic mounting pad will crack it, rendering it useless, but not applying enough pressure means the motor won't stay put.)

                  Originally posted by Kevin_McC
                  ... and were you able to tell the difference after the switch?
                  It was as if a veil had been lifted and sounds that had been slightly muffled were now transparent and crystal clear, plus there was a thrilling increase in resolution and detail accompanied by a heart-stopping quickening of pace (oh wait, the belt was on the wrong pulley...) -- IOW "no". :>)

                  Actually, I have noticed that the bass is cleaner, probably due to a slight decrease in "rumble" (spurious bass). Also, the older motor had a reputation for running at slightly faster than rated speed, which does affect the pitch. So if you were to measure the pitch of the music or compare it to test tones, it is probably more accurate now after the upgrade. But it sounded great before, and it sounds great now. I noticed a much bigger improvement stepping up to a Lehmann Black Cube phono stage.

                  Burke

                  What you DON'T say may be held against you...

                  Comment

                  • Hank
                    Super Senior Member
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 1345

                    #10
                    Kevin, a local HT bud, Jonathan, has been studying building his own turntable from scratch. We talked about it recently and he was in sticker shock over just the critical bearing needed. He has just concluded that buying a Teres kit will cost the same as building from scratch, and it will look a lot nicer. Just a thought.

                    Comment

                    • Brandon B
                      Super Senior Member
                      • Jun 2001
                      • 2193

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Kevin_McC
                      Brandon,

                      Where did you get a sheet of acrylic from and do you have any vendors in mind for your motor and bearing?
                      From a neighbor. As to the rest, haven't gotten that far yet. I was thinking in terms of buying Rega upgrade parts as the Teres is a little to $$ for me at the moment.

                      BB

                      Comment

                      • Kevin_McC
                        Member
                        • Jan 2003
                        • 65

                        #12
                        Thanks for all the replies. I'm thinking I'd be better off just buying a MMF-7 or Rega 3 and be done with it.

                        Comment

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