-edible zone-
(hint: click thumbnail for full size image)
Garrard 401 / Dennesen tonearm.
Above: New plinth in Maple. The Dennesen tonearm now sports an Ebony arm wand.
Above 4 photos: same 401 in previous plinth
Above: 2 photos: Garrard 401 with SME IV Vi and Denon cartridge
Above: Garrard 301 / Odyssey RP1 tonearm / Denon DL-103R with Uwe Clavelin wood body.
above two photos: with Fidelity Research FR-24 and an mc-201
cartridge, with Odyssey RP1 mounted to the second position.
Rodney's comments about the 301 pictured:
With regards to the
sound of the arm, it seems to sound better with medium to low compliance
carts. I've only heard it long enough with Koetsu and Denon 103 but I
have tried it briefly with some Zyx cartridges. Effective Mass of the
arm is 17 and it just balances the 12 gm Uwe bodied Denon. Cartridge wt.
range is 4-12gms. Fine tuning and set-up is not as easy as modern
tonearms so I tend to avoid using it with finer styli. Mounting holes
for the armboard are the same as SME.
The plinth is basically 3
layers of Marine plywood (Birch ply is quite expensive and rarely
available here). (clip) I Placed a layer of 12mm black acrylic on top
(clip). The plinth core sits on spikes to decouple it from the wood
frame. I may use bearings in the future. Metal base is mass or sand
filled.
I'm still experimenting on tonearm decoupling. I know
some advocates would frown at this way of thinking and prefer the
integral plinth -arm mounting. The armboard uses Michell's ( of Gyrodeck
fame) decoupling kit. I had positive results using this kit on my
SME-Gyrodeck combo and wanted to see how it goes with the Garrard. The
arm and the armboard actually is like being on stilts, or tip toeing
over the right end corner of the 301 base to avoid touching it. It also
places the arm where I want it. As you know with Garrards, when using
some 9 inch arms, you end up either placing them at the 1 o'clock or 3
o'clock position. The extra height gained by the armboard on spacers is
compensated by the extra height of the Uwe body.
As for the sound
of the whole rig, It Definitely sounds more quiet and with a blacker
background though a bit dry compared to the classic layered plywood
plinth. This controlled nature of the sound is somewhat compensated by
the Clavelin wood body which provides openness and resolution from
midrange and upwards.
Here's my layered plywood plinth which is the basis for my comparison of
sound