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Taica silicone mushrooms for LP12

J

Jazzer

pfm Member
I have a 1988 pre cirkus LP12 with an Ittok LV11/AT540 and a modified Hercules PSU.
For some time now, I have been following the various threads reporting the effects of removing the springs and fitting silicone mushrooms, at least partly because I am clumsy and find the suspension annoying to say the least.
I almost bought some last year but I heard that the original ones from John R were no longer available, so i parked the idea.
I should also mention that my ‘bounce’ has never been great.
It is fairly pistonic but dies out rapidly and seems over damped for some reason.
Despite that, the deck sounds great, to me and to others that have heard it.

We moved house in January and it took a while but I got my LP12 set up on a light table in the lounge instead of the HifI rack that it used to be on.
It sounded just fine.👍

The new place has a huge and insulated garage so I set up my old Axis out there with a Denon amp that I bought off eBay and my old Epos ES11s.
When I unboxed the axis, I realised that the suspension had broken and as no parts are available, I decided to try it without any rather than breaking it for parts.
The top plate now rests on 6 tiny rubber stick on feet and the base on four slightly larger ones.
The weight of the plate and Akito arm is all that holds it down but feels good and solid to use.
It also sounds great…..😳
I have had it since new in 1990 and I don’t remember it ever sounding as good as it does now.

This inspired me again to try the mushrooms again so I bought the Taico ones from R/S after reading a promising review from another PF member, Seyles.
They look like they were made for the job and are very easy to fit, it was incredibly easy to level the arm board etc .
So, I had the player set up in the garage with the same ancillaries pretty much that I used to have at my old home.
The ES11s mentioned above and my nice old Denon PMA 355UK But using my home made phono stage as I always do.

I played 6 of my favourite tracks and was happy that I hadn’t done any harm to the sound.
I thought it might have a tad more clarity in the mid range but it wasn’t a massive change to my ears.
I then compared two of the tracks to a CD that I had recorded just before moving house on my pioneer CD recorder, which always makes copies that are indistinguishable to the originals, to me.
I have made countless vinyl rips and I know that the CD is as near to the original recording as I can determine.
This confirmed the very slight increase in clarity in the middle but i could discern no other differences.🤔
This doesn’t mean there weren’t any, it just means that I couldn’t hear them and I am happy to stick with the silicone mushrooms unless I feel dissatisfied in the long term.
I do love how the deck feels now though.
So much better for my clumsy old hands….lol

So if you are thinking about giving it a go, it’s easy and it cost me around 40 pounds inc postage, for some very nicely made inserts, plus I used thumbscrews, as did Seyles, to make it easier to adjust.👍
It is easily reversible too.

I have pics but never have managed to show any on here.
 
Jazzer said:
I have a 1988 pre cirkus LP12 with an Ittok LV11/AT540 and a modified Hercules PSU.
For some time now, I have been following the various threads reporting the effects of removing the springs and fitting silicone mushrooms, at least partly because I am clumsy and find the suspension annoying to say the least.
I almost bought some last year but I heard that the original ones from John R were no longer available, so i parked the idea.
I should also mention that my ‘bounce’ has never been great.
It is fairly pistonic but dies out rapidly and seems over damped for some reason.
Despite that, the deck sounds great, to me and to others that have heard it.

We moved house in January and it took a while but I got my LP12 set up on a light table in the lounge instead of the HifI rack that it used to be on.
It sounded just fine.👍

The new place has a huge and insulated garage so I set up my old Axis out there with a Denon amp that I bought off eBay and my old Epos ES11s.
When I unboxed the axis, I realised that the suspension had broken and as no parts are available, I decided to try it without any rather than breaking it for parts.
The top plate now rests on 6 tiny rubber stick on feet and the base on four slightly larger ones.
The weight of the plate and Akito arm is all that holds it down but feels good and solid to use.
It also sounds great…..😳
I have had it since new in 1990 and I don’t remember it ever sounding as good as it does now.

This inspired me again to try the mushrooms again so I bought the Taico ones from R/S after reading a promising review from another PF member, Seyles.
They look like they were made for the job and are very easy to fit, it was incredibly easy to level the arm board etc .
So, I had the player set up in the garage with the same ancillaries pretty much that I used to have at my old home.
The ES11s mentioned above and my nice old Denon PMA 355UK But using my home made phono stage as I always do.

I played 6 of my favourite tracks and was happy that I hadn’t done any harm to the sound.
I thought it might have a tad more clarity in the mid range but it wasn’t a massive change to my ears.
I then compared two of the tracks to a CD that I had recorded just before moving house on my pioneer CD recorder, which always makes copies that are indistinguishable to the originals, to me.
I have made countless vinyl rips and I know that the CD is as near to the original recording as I can determine.
This confirmed the very slight increase in clarity in the middle but i could discern no other differences.🤔
This doesn’t mean there weren’t any, it just means that I couldn’t hear them and I am happy to stick with the silicone mushrooms unless I feel dissatisfied in the long term.
I do love how the deck feels now though.
So much better for my clumsy old hands….lol

So if you are thinking about giving it a go, it’s easy and it cost me around 40 pounds inc postage, for some very nicely made inserts, plus I used thumbscrews, as did Seyles, to make it easier to adjust.👍
It is easily reversible too.

I have pics but never have managed to show any on here.
Click to expand...
Where did you obtain the thumbscrews?
I think I'll take a punt, nothing to lose, I can always revert back if I don't like what I'm hearing.
Thanks for your review.
 
Isobarik said:
Where did you obtain the thumbscrews?
I think I'll take a punt, nothing to lose, I can always revert back if I don't like what I'm hearing.
Thanks for your review.
Click to expand...
I bought the thumscrews off eBay, cheap as chips from several suppliers.
They were described as knurled thumb nuts.
Steve
 
Jazzer said:
I bought the thumscrews off eBay, cheap as chips from several suppliers.
They were described as knurled thumb nuts.
Steve
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting these details Steve. Very much appreciated.
Is is possible you could post a couple of links to the parts you bought? I'm just prone to getting this stuff wrong.
 
Darren said:
Thanks for posting these details Steve. Very much appreciated.
Is is possible you could post a couple of links to the parts you bought? I'm just prone to getting this stuff wrong.
Click to expand...
Sorry Darren, I am crap with this stuff. 🤷‍🙄
If you look at Seyles post about LP12 refurbishment, he posts a link to RS near the end and he has photographs too.👍
The parts from RS really feel and look like they were made for the job.
You have to push out the brass ferrule, easy to do with fingers and separate the two halves of the mushroom thing but it’s pretty obvious what goes where when you do.
Like Seyles, I reused the Linn Washers.
See his pics….
Steve
 
IMG_8092.jpg

Here’s the picture from my DIY thread.
My M5 thumbscrews came from eBay too, mild steel and about a pound each delivered.
 
Has anyone compared the Taica item with JohnR's (RIP) Insoles and can comment which is more pliable?
 
Just for possible interest’s sake, I have Insoles and their positive effect just sort of crept up on me and I first noticed it in the bass after a week or so. Of course it’s quite probable that my DIY Linn set-up skills, these past 40 odd years, have always been less than perfect- indeed it was the lingering doubts regarding my prowess that pushed me towards going springless - Even I can level the armboard with the plinth. and I was useless at trying to twist the upper grommets with just my fingertips and pulling down at the same time. From memory since last year, when I fitted my Insoles, to last week, when I fitted some mushrooms for a mate, I would say the the Insoles are a fair bit less pliable and jelly like than the Taicas. Whether or not this is preferable, no idea but JohnR did say it had taken him a few tests involving differing degrees of softnesses before he decided which grade polymer or whatever the material was called, he preferred, plus of course, he used a Sole and not a Cirkus. Anyway, I am now happily satisfied with my TT although it could also have something to do with my 73 years of age and declining need to fidget and scratch an itch.
 
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I have a Greenstreet sub on my LP12, which has been Insoled for several months. My first impression was much better pitch stability but I thought bass also sounded slightly leaner - when compared with the sprung setup. There isn't much 'give' with the Insoles, and wondered if the Taicas might strike a better compromise. There is only one way to find out, I suppose.
 
Well,just listened to both sides of Gaucho which I hadn’t listened to for a while. I was struck by the ease with which I can follow all the twists of the bass line, make more sense of the lyrics and especially , not that I knowwhat I’m talking about, the sheer beauty of tone of the piano on Glamour Profession. What I would imagine to be a perfectly tuned analogue instrument in a perfect acoustic and not some sort of keyboard thingy. Either my insoles let the Dan’s mics shine or my hearing is having a good day. Let me dream.
 
James said:
I have a Greenstreet sub on my LP12, which has been Insoled for several months. My first impression was much better pitch stability but I thought bass also sounded slightly leaner - when compared with the sprung setup. There isn't much 'give' with the Insoles, and wondered if the Taicas might strike a better compromise. There is only one way to find out, I suppose.
Click to expand...
A trio of Taica B.1s have now turned up. They do feel squisher than InSoles. I intend to install them over the weekend, but I'm in two minds about combining them with the InSoles or letting them do their thing on their own.
 
Once fitted, there is hardly any movement with the Taica silicone mounts.

it would be interesting to hear the results between the insoles and the Taicas and a combination of both.
 
I agree with Seyles here, once fitted and levelled there is just a slight sensation of a non rigid coupling between the platter/arm board and the plinth/top plate.
I haven’t pushed too hard on it though. No point in rocking the boat. lol

I am still very pleased with mine and can’t get over how nice it is to use the deck. 👍
It sounds good too, but then again, it always did.
I can’t imagine that I would go back to springs now.
 
Jazzer said:
I am still very pleased with mine and can’t get over how nice it is to use the deck. 👍
Click to expand...

For me, this is another benefit, it's much nicer and less stressful to use compared to the springs;

Getting the Ittok out of it's arm rest would always result in lots of wobbling and the potential for the platter to bottom out and hit the top plate on the left hand side.

I ended up running the springs tighter so the arm-board sat higher in the plinth to overcome this risk.

Nice and level now, with no anxiety when cueing.
 
I, for one, won’t be going back to the springs. I’m very, very happy with my insoles because I am beginning to realise that I no longer need to up the volume to follow how much work is involved being a bass player. The poor sods, maybe because the lead and singers get all the groupies , assuming they still exist, I have always loved my If1 lp for how tight it always sounded and the seemingly perfect harnessing of the sax and flute withthe lead singer but after just playing it at, say, 65dB average, the bass has really come clean and said “follow me, this is the way”. It just sounds so “together”, well for me anyway. If someone now crops up and tells me it’s all smoke and mirrors in the production, I don’t care. 70s Brit Jazz-Rock/Blues/Prog Rules in my little corner.
I do have a set of Taicas, too but just can’t be arsed.
I wonder if anyone here had correspondence with JohnR at the time he was sorting his Insoles’s squidginess and could illuminate us.
 
Well, blow me down with a feather. I prefer the Taica gel mushrooms. The only downside with the InSoles, in my setup, was what I perceived to be a leaner bass when compared to the OEM springs. Not quite a going from 'Briks to Kans change, but there was a perceptible reduction in mid-bass gravitas. I reported this here when I first installed them, but must have gotten used to it. Otherwise, I really liked the much improved pitch stability and no bounciness.

The Taica mushrooms have restored the tonal balance of springs, and none of their disadvantages. What's not to like?
 
I think I'll leave my mushrooms in their bag and stick with my insoles a bit longer then as you are describing exactly what I heard when I went from springs to insoles. Maybe your Karousel is the difference or my acrylic subchassis.
 
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