KS Musicmaster "point one five"

[MikeS 0]

Old school Japanese Rek-oKut wannabe with a Velvet Touch tonearm, a Japanese clone of a gray tonearm.

It uses a Pickering/Stanton 380 cartridge, it's a stereo cart.

I've been cocking with the turntable for a day now......it really suprised me how good it sounds connected to a SS integrated amp.

It ain't perfect, and has some small issues with hum I need to address.

Wish I had tube phono pre-amp. I suppose I better breadboard something up that's simple. I wanna hear it through tube amplifiers, not some weedy assed sounding vintage SS integrated. My LaScalas reject mediocre tier SS vintage amplifiers/receivers.

KS Musicmaster

Mike

Edited April 27, 2008 by MikeS

[JimJ 11]

Very interesting So it's an idler drive, too? Never messed around with one of those before...

As for the phono stage, something 6DJ8-based would be cool, I love what Bottlehead did with their Seduction pre...

[MikeS 0]

Yes, it is a idler drive. I never messed with one before either, I'm pretty ingnorant to turntables. I have a couple Dual TT's, one is a belt drive that needs a belt, the other uses a idler wheel or something.

This Musicmaster sounds way better than the cheap Dual TT's.

I got it all tore apart now......the thing is real simple so I should be able to put it back together no problem.

I need to figure out how to get the motor tight to the base, they didn't have it mounted right. I need to get creative and figure out how to mount it correctly, and still have it itself isolated from the base. When directly coupled to the base, you hear motor noise.

I cleaned the plinth up a bit, or really the big wood box it sits on. I tore the arm apart and cleaned it up. I need some sort of Silicone oil or grease for the unipivot. I got dumb and set the TT on it's side, and the oil leaked out. The oil helps damp the tonearm, and helps for slow cueing.

Then rewire the tonearm mess, and figure out how to get things grounded proper.

Then I can ponder out some phono pre-amp circuits.

[MikeS 0]

Got it all put back together. I still need to get a stylus and some silicone grease for the unipivot.

It's a tanker with a boat anchor on a pivot, but you get the right record and dialed-in, and it sounds rather nice.

I'm just wondering if I should try a more modern tonearm tonearm and cartridge with this table....

[MikeS 0]

I got cute and scounged up a Shure 800E and weaseled it on the tonearm. Took all the headshell weights plus a penny on top of the tonearm to get the VTA right. Plus a lot of cocking around with cartridge adjustment, and overhang.

I doubt if the VTA and SRA is correct, it looks kinda close.....

The old Stanton/Pickering 380 cart sounded rolled off on top, but had real nice midrange. The Shure has less surface noise, and more top end. Bass between both is about the same.

This TT look's like a dinosuar that eats records, but it's starting to sound rather nice. Through the LaScalas wih a POS vintage integrated JVC SS amplifier, the combination doesn't sound bad at all.

[///M5 2,833]

Cool.

[MikeS 0]

I scrounged up a Sylvania 6DJ8, and also have a couple of Philips branded Mullard produced E88CC's. I know I have more 6DJ8's around here as well......

This looks rather simple to try for a breadboard circuit.......I have a HV DC tube power supply so all I have to do is cobble up the phono circuit. If I can dig up the right value parts around here.

I'll see what kind of sonic mess I can come up with.

http://vinylsa.co.za/pdf/A%20Simple%20Phon...C88%20Tubes.pdf

Edited May 15, 2008 by MikeS

[MikeS 0]

Edited June 15, 2008 by MikeS