What turntables do you use? Pictures would be nice as well :-)

Direct Drive

Well-Known Member
Sep 16, 2020
148
141
115
East Anglia, UK
Derek who is the man behind HMF is true a vetren of the uk audio game one of the first to work very closely with Ricardo and highly knowledgable so am truly supprised. Derek was one of the first truly high end dealers back in the day the first to purchase the likes of counterpoint air tangent krill apogee goldmund etc. I know it all seems normal now but not at that Time when a goldmund reference was the same price of a house in north London lol. Together with the with me he was thehan first to invest in a rockport turntable which was more than a house in London nw2 in 1995.

At least they did the correct thing and tested it prior to you purchasing it and sorted it out, how many times in my 35 years have I seen good just sent out.
I didn't speak to a Derek. The person I dealt with was a chap called Ian, who I understood to be the boss, based out of Chelsea though for technical answers he had me phone someone (can't recall his name) located south of the river. He was very knowledgeable and had been in audio a long time though a little sketchy on this particular TT.
 
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Steve Jones

New Member
Oct 17, 2022
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66
Mine is a Frankenstein-style creation.

The Plinth is a 16x24x3 inch walnut butcher block with a matrix of 3/4" holes drilles about 2 inches deep on the underside filled with silicone acoustic dampening elastomer. The bearing is one I rescued from a Rega Planar. The subplatter is the Groovetracer rega aftermarket part with the Groovetracer acrylic Rega replacement platter. All this is driven by an Origin Live DC motor and speed controller. The tonearm is a Jelco SA-750L that I spotted years ago on Ebay that needed overhaul of the bearings, hence obtained for a shockingly low price even considering the repair needed to restore the bearing to full specification. I make my own cables, the one used with this table is constructed from Mogami 2534 which is exceptional for interconnect cables, in general and works really well in this application. The SUT is a Bob's Devices Cinemag based unit. My favorite cartridge is out for retipping, a Denon DL-S1 with a Soundsmith aftermarket upgrade to ruby cantilever and fine line stylus. My back up is an Orfofon 2M Blue.

I had a bespoke acrylic cover made for it.

Do not be fooled, although not a beautiful object d'art, this is contraption is a really wonderful sounding turntable and arm.
 

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Walter66

Active Member
Aug 22, 2022
190
205
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Mine is a Frankenstein-style creation.

The Plinth is a 16x24x3 inch walnut butcher block with a matrix of 3/4" holes drilles about 2 inches deep on the underside filled with silicone acoustic dampening elastomer. The bearing is one I rescued from a Rega Planar. The subplatter is the Groovetracer rega aftermarket part with the Groovetracer acrylic Rega replacement platter. All this is driven by an Origin Live DC motor and speed controller. The tonearm is a Jelco SA-750L that I spotted years ago on Ebay that needed overhaul of the bearings, hence obtained for a shockingly low price even considering the repair needed to restore the bearing to full specification. I make my own cables, the one used with this table is constructed from Mogami 2534 which is exceptional for interconnect cables, in general and works really well in this application. The SUT is a Bob's Devices Cinemag based unit. My favorite cartridge is out for retipping, a Denon DL-S1 with a Soundsmith aftermarket upgrade to ruby cantilever and fine line stylus. My back up is an Orfofon 2M Blue.

I had a bespoke acrylic cover made for it.

Do not be fooled, although not a beautiful object d'art, this is contraption is a really wonderful sounding turntable and arm.
Sorry, it's just that I don't like the sound of acrylic platters anymore. Compared to a good designed aluminum one, their sound have a plastic like character.
 
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Steve Jones

New Member
Oct 17, 2022
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To each, his own. I offered my DIY turntable design to the thread for interest of the members of the forum. It's a very good, functional design but surely not the state of the art.
 

The Knife

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2020
141
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115
Stockholm, Sweden

Kjetil

Well-Known Member
Oct 28, 2022
200
264
70
58
Hamar, Norway
I've only got one!







Thorens TD 125 mk. II. Platter stamped April 1973. Cabinet stiffened inside with baltic birch ply. Fat sorbothane feet. Original bottom plate and feet in storage.
SME 3009 Series II Improved (fixed headshell). 1 € cent blutaced to the underside of the headshell to increase weight and calm resonances.
Denon DL-301II cartridge with Origin Live Cartridge Enabler. More resonance calming.
Konne Design corian arm board. No rubber grommets on the SME base.
Andyjay control board for 33, 45 and 78 rpm.
Original bathtub type dust cover without hinges.

Waiting on an Alfred Bokrand AS-230 J-bend to replace the SME.
 
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Don_Camillo

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2022
158
194
50
Vienna
tempo333.blogspot.com
Very cool!

I love the Konne Design stuff. He'll make custom armboards. Corian has been the best material I've tried on multiple turntables.
I´ve ordered some pre drilled tonearm boards but none of the holes were set correctly. Drillings were about 2 mil off. :eek:
 

Kjetil

Well-Known Member
Oct 28, 2022
200
264
70
58
Hamar, Norway
Oh. Mine was perfect.
 

Don_Camillo

Well-Known Member
Jun 26, 2022
158
194
50
Vienna
tempo333.blogspot.com
With an armboard for sme, you don't even notice that, because it doesn't require any dimensional accuracy for the mounting distance. Any errors in the drilling will be compensated by Tte sliding baseitself.
 
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Kjetil

Well-Known Member
Oct 28, 2022
200
264
70
58
Hamar, Norway
Still, those four holes (w/countersunk nuts) for mounting the armbase must be correctly positioned.
 

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