sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Thanks, and this is a fair observation, but I think better separation, acoustics, dynamic impact and tracking of hot grooves are audible even on modest systems.
Sideways Uni-Pivot Arm, SUPATRAC Blackbird, formerly "Ekos Killer (Price?)"
- Thread starter sonddek
- Start date
Thanks, and this is a fair observation, but I think better separation, acoustics, dynamic impact and tracking of hot grooves are audible even on modest systems.
I agree. Linn used to argue that the best turntable you could afford would still justify itself when used with modest amplifier and speakers and I think they were largly correct. Ok, there are limits but yes, you are going to hear what a better front end is improving even on modest kit.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Some interesting questions are being asked of me here:
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/373427-diy-tonearm-project-commercial-6.html
In particular an answer to the question about flexibility of arm wiring options, mainly explained by this 3D view of the pillar, wiring conduit and alternative through-wire clamp:
...and here is the prototype graveyard:
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/vendor-s-bazaar/373427-diy-tonearm-project-commercial-6.html
In particular an answer to the question about flexibility of arm wiring options, mainly explained by this 3D view of the pillar, wiring conduit and alternative through-wire clamp:
...and here is the prototype graveyard:
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Orders being taken and arms being shipped now.
Updated manual here:
http://www.supasound.com/manual.pdf
New 'death star' style thrust box, designed to go well with Sondek fluted plinths:
Updated manual here:
http://www.supasound.com/manual.pdf
New 'death star' style thrust box, designed to go well with Sondek fluted plinths:
graystoke4
pfm Member
Im loving this thread, no linn's anymore, but great to see someone designing something , hopefully it will work, keep it up ,
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Thank you! I've just delivered the first Death Star Blackbird to a customer who will install it when he fettles his Sondek in August. More ordered arms scheduled to go out next week. Resting tomorrow but will try to find time to upload pictures of Death Star Blackbird on my afro fluted Sondek.
Any thoughts on an Aro fit yet? Have a nice rest!
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Yes, I've made some progress in cad. I'll share when it's a little more complete.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Yes. I designed the arm for full Sondek compatibility. You don't even need to adjust the springs when you drop it into a Linn arm collar and attach the T-kable.
There is one fly in the ointment: if you like to play records with the lid closed, and you use the string lifter, not the supplied rigid lifter, you may need to nudge the wick sideways/downwards after cuing so that it doesn't contact the lid and affect downforce or bias.
rn82497
pfm Member
Sondek - thanks for the delivery of my 003 Blackbird (DeathStar variant). Above & beyond customer service!
Looks awesome! Is that my arm in your photo?
It will be end of August / early September before Blackbird is singing on my rebuilt LP12 - but I'll be sure to post then!
Hope you enjoyed the local countryside
Best Wishes
Richard
Looks awesome! Is that my arm in your photo?
It will be end of August / early September before Blackbird is singing on my rebuilt LP12 - but I'll be sure to post then!
Hope you enjoyed the local countryside
Best Wishes
Richard
Thanks.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
Sondek - thanks for the delivery of my 003 Blackbird (DeathStar variant). Above & beyond customer service!
Looks awesome! Is that my arm in your photo?
It will be end of August / early September before Blackbird is singing on my rebuilt LP12 - but I'll be sure to post then!
Hope you enjoyed the local countryside
Best Wishes
Richard
Yes, that is your arm. It's currently the only death star Blackbird in existence, until tomorrow. As I mentioned, at this stage I think it's important that each arm I make is mounted on a deck and actually listened to before a customer receives it. It's a new product and I don't want QC to mar it's reputation. The best way to make sure everything is just so is to set it up, put on a record, and rock.
I had a very nice pint of chilled pale ale at the Bent, a relief to get out of the workshop and out of London for a few hours after months of narrow horizons.
I look forward to hearing what you make of it!
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
I've just weighed my Ekos 2 and a Blackbird and find to my surprise that I'm wrong about this, so please accept my apologies. My Ekos weighs more than I thought it did at 607g (with a Shure M97xE attached), whereas the 9 inch Blackbird weighs about 440g, so for optimal results you may need to lower the springs a little, especially the rear right one. I don't know if there are reasons to disfavour a lighter arm on a Sondek, but adding weight is never difficult. A strip of roofing lead stapled to the underside of the arm board should do the trick! ;-)
In practical terms I expect the deck with Blackbird to sound better even without adjusting the suspension, as Adam at hifiaf.com has found, but YMMV.
Keep in mind that the Project arm which Linn has supplied on the Majik LP12 probably weighs less than 400g, and issues with arm compatibility due to weight in the past have generally arisen because arms are too heavy for the suspension, not too light.
sonddek
Trade: SUPATRAC
RichShortland
pfm Member
Hi Richard,
Since I last took a look I've read the (very good) manual and now have a much better understanding of the detail around the hoist / sideways unipivot and how that works which is really nicely done.
Couple of questions:
- the foam filling of (half) of the arm tube. Was this for damping or to increase / manage the effective mass? The reason I ask is that my WT copy has an aluminium/carbon arrow as an arm tube and it is unfilled (and very light) at present, whereas the WT arm is filled with sand or foam I think... wondering if I should do some sort of fill, but it is very difficult to undo!
- if I've understood the the hoist wires correctly, they are there to support the 'thrust box' until load is introduced to the side bearing by the stylus drag, and also a job of reducing side to side rolling. There is the risk this design introduces vibration or removes the efficiency of the single point of contact bearing somewhat, so I was wondering if there was any merit in attempting a design which minimised the need for the hoist such as having the pivot angled at say, 45 degrees instead of 90, taking 'some' of the vertical load..? How valuable is the lack of side to side yaw vs the impact of the hoist wires do you think?
Thanks very much. And for what it's worth I love the idea of the string finger lift. I'm going to give that a try in my WT clone as I hate cueing the thing manually using a rigid finger lift at present as it has such a low effective mass...