DIY Armboard

[Oldpinkman]

It's a Helius Orion. I heard one on a Voyd many years ago and it was a very special sound. I've not seen it yet, as it's still in transit, but it's meant to be mint and it apparently has the more expensive cable option.

I'm pretty clueless about the arm other than liking the sound when I heard it. I think it's meant to be good on a Pink too.

Good on a Pink? Good on a Pink? It was my absolute favourite first choice on a Pink. Tell me you have a Technics U205 to go with it and you have my original dream set up. Along with an unused Integral, turns out AK has one on a shelf. I would have twisted his arm off for it, but the new FX is so good its more of a nostalgia thing. That is NOT to say that the Orion is any less of an arm. What deck are you putting it on? It's a heavy bugger. I could check with AK but my feeling is aerolam is going to be good on this one - certainly on a PT.

[Andrew]

You won't believe this but I recently missed out on the technics cart thanks to slow wifi delaying my bid. One went for fifty quid just the other week

I am unsure about suitable cartridges for the Orion, so I may choose something else, but I currently have a DL103R (which I like a lot, but perhaps isn't the right choice here) an AT33 and a brand new AT32e II

I'm totally clueless about the ATs I'm afraid. They could be useless, but they were cheap. The brand new AT32 was only £32 so I figured I had nothing to lose.

As for decks, I must confess that I really messed up on buying the Helius. I "knew" the Orion was SME mount, but I had no idea it was different orientation and mount distance due to the extra length. I have a Xerxes which is cut for SME. My wife has nicked it for her system and I've been without a turntable for about 3 years. The idea in buying the Helius was to pinch the Origin Live arm and DL103R off her deck for my new Turntable and fit the Orion with another cart on the Xerxes for her.

Now I'm having to make the armboards to try the arm on a Townshend Rock and a new TT from Analogue Works, which borrows heavily from the Tom Fletcher decks. The Townshend will be OK to make an armboard for, but the Analogue Works is a circular armboard, which will be harder to cut neatly. It's a far better deck than the Rock IMO though, so. I figure it's worth the effort.

I'm buying a PT Export too, so I could try the Orion on it as well. It comes with an RB300 which I can easily use on the other Turntables. I've always had great respect for the design of PTs but previous ones have never stayed with me long term. The detail and clarity are as good as anything I've tried, but I've never got the bass to be convincing enough so far. I'm still curious enough about the good elements to try it again though. I'm sure I can get more out of the PT than I've done previously. I have lots of experience with Linn and Rojjsan decks, but I'm a novice with pinks and I'm sure there's more to wring out of them than I have the knowledge or skill to achieve.

Playing around with vinyl again has reminded me just how fab it is compared to CD. It's also a pleasure to play records.

[jammy395]

Playing around with vinyl again has reminded me just how fab it is compared to CD. It's also a pleasure to play records.(Andrew)

Analogue, fun Innit...... :D

Quite a system yer building up there Andrew. Nice one.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

"You won't believe this but I recently missed out on the technics cart thanks to slow wifi delaying my bid. One went for fifty quid just the other week"

I have their most famed one the EPC205c mk3 with 207c stylus not being used I could be persuaded to sell.

[Andrew]

My knowledge of these carts is paper thin. This was the one I missed. Is it one of the desirable ones?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Technics-205- ... true&rt=nc

I'd be interested, Doc, although saying that, I've no idea what they are actually worth. My hifi knowledge doesn't extend very far beyond the stuff that featured in the 80s and 90s hifi mags, so there's a whole world of great kit out there that I'm pretty much oblivious to. As little as a year ago, I'd have told anyone who asked me, to bin any cartridge made by technics. Embarrassing but true.

[zebbo]

I'm buying a PT Export too, so I could try the Orion on it as well. It comes with an RB300 which I can easily use on the other Turntables. I've always had great respect for the design of PTs but previous ones have never stayed with me long term. The detail and clarity are as good as anything I've tried, but I've never got the bass to be convincing enough so far. I'm still curious enough about the good elements to try it again though. I'm sure I can get more out of the PT than I've done previously. I have lots of experience with Linn and Rojjsan decks, but I'm a novice with pinks and I'm sure there's more to wring out of them than I have the knowledge or skill to achieve.

The Export is a nice deck is it a GTi ? Just bin the "grey" RB300 and it'll be great. Then, of course, there is the Anniversary !

Routing a circular armboard is easy - just get a bit of stout ply or MDF about 18" square or so, screw the router base to the centre of the board, now, bridging the ply across the open jaws of a workmate, (or on a couple of blocks), start the router and plunge it through the board and clamp it in that position. Turn the board over so you can see the cutter sticking through the ply and mount it securely. Next measure out from the outer edge of the cutter the exact radius of the armboard you want and drill a small pilot hole. Then take your square armboard and drill a small hole through it the radius measurement from one edge. Fix the armboard to the ply with a screw into your pilot hole so the edge of the board is "just" touching the router cutter. Now, while holding the armboard still, start the router and slowly turn the armboard AGAINST the rotation of the cutter until it completes the cut and the job's a good-un!
Sounds a lot worse than it is when it's written down but it's really very straight forward.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

It was the cart designed by Technics to match their very high end TT in the late 80's. It is supposed to have the lowest distortion and flattest frequency response of any cart made. It requires high mass tone arm and is built into a headshell so needs arm with detachable headshell. Very few sold in the UK so they are rare here but quite common in the US and Germany. US ones seem to go for around $500 if you look on ebay.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=techn ... e&ie=UTF-8

[Andrew]

I've just read Zebbo's post and I can honestly say that if I was given a month to come up with the best way to do this, I'd never have managed to think of that idea. It's pretty clever, Zebbo! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thanks also for writing it up. That in itself isn't an easy task.

I think it's just a standard Export, although I'm not sure what the differences are. I hadn't intended to get more than one deck, but a few cropped up at the same time and I figured I could try them and keep the one I like best. If any one of them beats the Analogue Works TT, I'll be very surprised, but I may as well try them and be sure.

The duo side is that playing and listening to CDs or computer audio now seems to hold no attraction whatsoever for me. Stil, there's plenty vinyl out there :D

[Andrew]

I've not got any arms with detachable headshells, but presumably the 205c mk2 would still be good? That one seems to come as normal without attached headshell. Sounds like I may have missed a. Real bargain at 50 Euros!

[zebbo]

I've just read Zebbo's post and I can honestly say that if I was given a month to come up with the best way to do this, I'd never have managed to think of that idea. It's pretty clever, Zebbo! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and thanks also for writing it up. That in itself isn't an easy task.

I think it's just a standard Export, although I'm not sure what the differences are. I hadn't intended to get more than one deck, but a few cropped up at the same time and I figured I could try them and keep the one I like best. If any one of them beats the Analogue Works TT, I'll be very surprised, but I may as well try them and be sure.

The duo side is that playing and listening to CDs or computer audio now seems to hold no attraction whatsoever for me. Stil, there's plenty vinyl out there :D

No problem.
The Export GTi had an uprated power supply and dished platter with small screw on puck.