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Linn LP12 power supply advice

I changed my Valhalla for a S/H Lingo 1 around two years ago (1982 vintage deck, pre-cirkus bearing, original(?) motor). OK it enabled me to play my small collection of 12" 45's (for some reason, the Valhalla would never run with the "official" 45rpm adaptor fitted).

On that basis alone I would suggest that any upgrade to the Valhalla would please you. Which particular variant of Lingo/Radikal/Hercules/Other is up to you.

I also discovered when I took the beast apart, that after twenty plus years, the big resistors were "well scorched", as indeed was the baseboard! :D
 
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Ah, the proverbial hi-fi noise floor. Always makes me chuckle.
If a Valhalla makes the motor noisy, a service is indeed the order of the day, as you clearly depicted.
 
Really? That's a bit of engineering when you have a synchronous motor. How does it work?

I don't exactly know how they do it but my understanding is that they synthesize the 50hz using a crystal. I live in the US and deal with LP12s on almost a daily basis and can assure you that the new Majik LP12 motor uses a smaller pulley as the one used in older Valhalla-based models.
 
If a Valhalla makes the motor noisy, a service is indeed the order of the day, as you clearly depicted.

A recap will take care of that, and you can further improve it by lowering the output voltage to around 75V - 70V by adjusting the only on board potentiometer. Just need enough voltage to spin up the platter.
 
Valhallah to huerculese 2 is cost effective and a huge upgrade

Herc to mose herc is cheap and just as big an improvement

Others are expensive!
 
Valhalla to Hercules 2 is cost effective and a huge upgrade!
How could it be a huge improvement when the circuit is the same I wonder.
Or the old Valhalla was defective, perhaps.
Huge is a strong word, and is always overused in hi-fi circles!
 
I don't exactly know how they do it but my understanding is that they synthesize the 50hz using a crystal. I live in the US and deal with LP12s on almost a daily basis and can assure you that the new Majik LP12 motor uses a smaller pulley as the one used in older Valhalla-based models.
I looked it up, you are right. They use a crystal oscillator to generate a 50/60 Hz square wave that they then smooth to an approximat ion of a sine wave. This does explain why a simple trafo and phase shift a la Geddon improves on it,and also how they run it on a 60Hz supply and still use the 50Hz pulley.
 
How could it be a huge improvement when the circuit is the same I wonder.
Or the old Valhalla was defective, perhaps.
Huge is a strong word, and is always overused in hi-fi circles!
It sounded a LOT clearer and more musical ie hugely better for a small sum. Differences lower down the price line are much bigger for each pound spent
 
i would go mober dc unless money was no object then radikal

i had a lingo 4 and loved the upgrade - then went radikal which was better again.

Thats why mober dc (cheaper and similar priciples to radikal)
 
How could it be a huge improvement when the circuit is the same I wonder.
Or the old Valhalla was defective, perhaps.
Huge is a strong word, and is always overused in hi-fi circles!
Huge is over used, and over used here, the difference between a Valhalla and a Hercules II is really only Hercules II offers 45 RPM and runs at a lower voltage which makes the motor a touch quieter. Audible difference, not huge. Stick it in a Mose to move it outboard and you get another audible improvement, not huge either. However the combination of adding 45 RPM, and two audible improvements for one of the cheaper alternative PSUs is great value if such a thing exists in this end of HiFi. Particularly if you can sell your Valhalla second hand and make back a chunk of the outlay. Well that is what I did a good few years ago and don't regret it at all.
 
I have recently replaced my Hercules II with an offboard mounted Zeus motor controller, a group buy from DIY audio. This controller not only generates perfect sine waves for 33.33 and 45 rpm and variable phase angle between both phases, it also has optical speed feedback for closed loop speed control.
The performance uplift is quite remarkable.
The Herc is getting a bit long in the tooth and probably would benefit from re-capping, but I don't remember my LP12 sounding this good before.
 
How much use feedback speed control is on an AC motor I am not sure. Saves setting the speed with the ugly tilt mechanism though I guess? How is the speed control done?

Getting the PSU off board is a Good Idea(TM) it seems to me, as is the ability to adjust the phase offset to minimise noise, sounds like a nice set up to me.
 


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