A New Vinyl User for an Undergrad Engineering Capstone Project

[Lauryn_leslie23]

Hi all,
My name is Lauryn, and I am very *NEW* to the vinyl world and was looking for some wisdom. I am an undergraduate senior at a small private college on a (four-student) senior capstone team whose objective is to optimize, rebuild, and add to a record player throughout the year. Unfortunately we have an old Crosley CR79, which I have read horrendous things about and is presently inoperative. Our objective is to buy new individual components (amp, pre-amp, ect.) and, within the six weeks, get the record player to start working. My team is wanting to establish baseline performance specs (expected noise levels ect.) and purchase/upgrade some components since the quality of the record player is so poor. For example, my team wanted me to go out and upgrade the tonearm from the generic one that comes with the Crosley CR79. I have several questions regarding this. First, while I have a technical mind, I am very unexperienced with record player anatomy and customizability. (If anyone knows of good educational resources, please share!) I grew up working on classic cars with my dad and know that if you are doing a resto-mod, there are some aftermarket parts that work while others don't. Also, depending on the car, there is purely some things you can or can't do depending on what you're working with. With that said, the forums I have read advised me that it's often more productive to replace a whole turntable rather than just the tonearm. Replacing the tonearm will often not make a difference with a poor system. Secondly, given that the Crosley CR79 is such a poor system, does it make sense to scrap it and buy another record player. My team would be looking for a system that is less than $300 USD and is highly customizable, given we will be buying and replacing individual parts, as stated before. Ultimately, we want to create our own audio filtering, as well, since digital signal processing is a core part of our curriculum as senior electrical engineers. Thanks so much for reading this post and being willing to share your thoughts! Lauryn

 

[Lee]

Lauryn,

It’s difficult to do a whole system for $300…but you can get a Fluance or U-Turn Orbit 2 turntable. You can search Goodwill stores for the rest of the system.

 

[Lee]

This may be helpful. https://www.vinylengine.com/

 

[JackD201]

Hi Lauryn,

The turntable system with the most after market parts available is the Technics SL-1200 Mk2. You should be able to get your hands on an old horse for 300 bucks. Like Lee says vinylengine.com is a great resource and you'll find tips on the 1200 there too.

Areas immediately addressable with aftermarket mods are:

Mat or slip mats
suspension feet
clamps
head shells
arms some specialists have grafted arms such the venerated FR-66 on to them
the captive cables
grounding

As far as speed speed stability is concerned, unless the quartz lock is damaged, there might be little to no improvement there. Choice of mat material is something many have played with given that the table has adjustable vertical tracking angle. You can go skinny or thick within the range allowed and the cartridge height. You can run with the rest after you take your baseline measurements. Good luck and enjoy!!!!

 

[Lauryn_leslie23]

This may be helpful. https://www.vinylengine.com/

Sounds good, thank you so much for sharing and I will check this out!

 

[Zuman]

Lauryn, I have a Rega P1 plinth, tonearm, platter, subplatter, motor, and (I think) drive belt in a disassembled state. I'm not sure if I have the ball bearing that sits between the subplatter shaft and the bearing well. I'm pretty sure I have the original Carbon cartridge, too.
Your team can have these parts if you want, but it would be about three weeks until I could get them to you.
PM me here if you want them.
There are IOS apps available that measure speed accuracy, wow and flutter. The design of the Rega makes mods relatively easy, so you could establish a baseline for the turntable, then look for ways to improve that. Also, you could try to improve the plinth's transmission of vibrations to the tonearm/cartridge and vice-versa.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Welcome to WBF, Lauryn!

 

[JackD201]

Lauryn, I have a Rega P1 plinth, tonearm, platter, subplatter, motor, and (I think) drive belt in a disassembled state. I'm not sure if I have the ball bearing that sits between the subplatter shaft and the bearing well. I'm pretty sure I have the original Carbon cartridge, too.
Your team can have these parts if you want, but it would be about three weeks until I could get them to you.
PM me here if you want them.
There are IOS apps available that measure speed accuracy, wow and flutter. The design of the Rega makes mods relatively easy, so you could establish a baseline for the turntable, then look for ways to improve that. Also, you could try to improve the plinth's transmission of vibrations to the tonearm/cartridge and vice-versa.

Very generous and a great option! They could make an external speed controller for its motor!

 

[Lee]

Lauryn, I have a Rega P1 plinth, tonearm, platter, subplatter, motor, and (I think) drive belt in a disassembled state. I'm not sure if I have the ball bearing that sits between the subplatter shaft and the bearing well. I'm pretty sure I have the original Carbon cartridge, too.
Your team can have these parts if you want, but it would be about three weeks until I could get them to you.
PM me here if you want them.
There are IOS apps available that measure speed accuracy, wow and flutter. The design of the Rega makes mods relatively easy, so you could establish a baseline for the turntable, then look for ways to improve that. Also, you could try to improve the plinth's transmission of vibrations to the tonearm/cartridge and vice-versa.

Well done sir!

 

[Lauryn_leslie23]

Hi Lauryn,

The turntable system with the most after market parts available is the Technics SL-1200 Mk2. You should be able to get your hands on an old horse for 300 bucks. Like Lee says vinylengine.com is a great resource and you'll find tips on the 1200 there too.

Areas immediately addressable with aftermarket mods are:

Mat or slip mats
suspension feet
clamps
head shells
arms some specialists have grafted arms such the venerated FR-66 on to them
the captive cables
grounding

As far as speed speed stability is concerned, unless the quartz lock is damaged, there might be little to no improvement there. Choice of mat material is something many have played with given that the table has adjustable vertical tracking angle. You can go skinny or thick within the range allowed and the cartridge height. You can run with the rest after you take your baseline measurements. Good luck and enjoy!!!!

Thank you!!

Lauryn, I have a Rega P1 plinth, tonearm, platter, subplatter, motor, and (I think) drive belt in a disassembled state. I'm not sure if I have the ball bearing that sits between the subplatter shaft and the bearing well. I'm pretty sure I have the original Carbon cartridge, too.
Your team can have these parts if you want, but it would be about three weeks until I could get them to you.
PM me here if you want them.
There are IOS apps available that measure speed accuracy, wow and flutter. The design of the Rega makes mods relatively easy, so you could establish a baseline for the turntable, then look for ways to improve that. Also, you could try to improve the plinth's transmission of vibrations to the tonearm/cartridge and vice-versa.

Thank you so much, I PM'd you regarding the parts!!