-edible zone-
Jochen's comments and photos:
Hello everybody,
before I start the story of my DIY-Turntable
Projekt, I want to tell something about my past.
I always was
working on my turntables – it started in 72 or 73 when i got my first
Dual.
It was the old one of my parents and the Idler weel was
broken.
So my father and I fixed it and T.REX /Led Zeppelin were
rocking again in 33,3.
Many Players followed in the next 25 years
– from Direct drivers to Belt driven turntables, but I always opened the
cabinet and fixed, tuned or did "something" in this way (changing arms
motors etc.)
I know meanwhile many folks who do the same (after
all: it’s a great thing to tune up turntables!)
So I started 5
years ago to create my own turntable. The Idea was to built an open
System, so it was no problem to change things "here and there".
Let’s start with the Platter:
It’s massive Aluminium / Weight
around 20kg. Diameter 310mm.
High: 60mm.
In the middle of
the Platter, there is a phase for a belt. So there’s the option a belt
can run in the phase or on the normal surface of the platter.
The bearing is link in this picture:
The Cabinet of the player is a block of solid Multiplex Plywood.
The whole cabinet is standing on a combinaton of 4 brass / rubber
feet.
On the right side there’s a plate of solid steel fixed on
the Cabinet.
On this plate several bases for different Tonearms
can be changed quickly.
On the Picture you see a 10" selfbuild
arm.
*The angle construction is from an old Elac Arm, some Telefunken
Parts and the rest is DIY.
The base plate of this arm is also
solid steel.
In combination with this arm I use Grados and
Ortofon moving - magnet pickups, but also a Denon dl103 sounds very
good.
The motor section:
As a base I used a block of solid
beech. It’ a good "vibration-killer".
The whole base is standing
on small felt-feet.
On top, the motor is housed in a solid-steel
case.
The motors are always changing: Sometimes Maxon or like on
the picture a motor from an old marantz tape-deck.
Power-suply:
For a power supply, I use a 12v/6.5 Ah accumulator.
*In the past I used different regulated power-supplies, but the
accumulator is the most noiseless solution.
In the beginning I
talked about the string.
A Nylon string of 0.2mm diameter works
very well. I tried thicker rubber belts,
but after all
experiments I landed by the nylon solution.
The platter is
turning so easily, that there are no problems with wow and flutter.
Second Arm – Plate:
On the left side of the turntable,
there’s a wooden plate for a second Arm.
It’s still in
construction and at the end it will carry an old Lenco-Arm (9") from the
70’s.
I tried many materials like brass, solid-steel etc. but
arms like this one
work (for my taste) the best way on a wooden
base.
So if you have any questions, please feel free to send me
an e-mail:
jochen.straceny@t-online.de
Photos and text by
Jochen Straceny