Technics SL-1200 mods

A couple drops of whale oil makes the platter spin and spin and spin.

brass pipe cap vs aux weight from KAB

The weight of the 103 was so heavy with the Sumiko headshell and ebony or Panzerholtz that I needed to add the brass to the counterweight.

SCOTTRT suggestion: heat shrink. 5/8 to 3/4 inch size, which will slip easily over the headshell collar. This added a better sense of a tactile, snappy.

Swapped in a MG5 tonearm w/ oxygen free copper and used Canare leads /w Eichmann bullets. Nice improvement. Not sure if it just the Canare or the addition of the tonearm wire but it is clean, clear, open, smooth, etc. There was a thickness to the sound which is now gone entirely.

Resource: http://www.djresource.eu/Topics/story/109/SL-1200-1210-Opening-the-Hood/

Rega RB-250 on deck

SoundSupports armboard
carbon fiber bicycle shim for VTA; Mitchel finger nut to secure arm
a pocketful of nickels on the Tehcnoweight for balance
along with the TWL mod

Two 3 gram weights at headshell along with the added Panzerholtz weight*
makes it over 16 grams effective mass.
Re-wired the arm /w Cardas from nice rhodium plated clips to Eichmann RCAs
Heatshirink on the finger lift.

* Original 103 = 1.6g.
Panzerholz 103 = 5.4g.

Went back to the MG5 arm. It is livelier, more detailed, that VTA thing, swap carts easier, better.
The RB250 was kind of dull.

Hooked the arm up with KABs RCA jack.
Nice and secure. I can swap cables. More fun.

Added KABs fluid damper. This thing exceeded expectations.
More tone & palpable texture, trailing transients, damn.

silicone nitride ball bearing + mirror polished thrust plate on epoxy base (juiced with whale oil)
sound is elevated to the beautiful
Kevin from KAB tells me that stock bearing has rundown = 14 seconds. This bearing rundown = 24 seconds.
work done by Jim Howard - email him to get one

10.1.2009