If I'm hearing a warble...

Fishfood

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...on sax and trumpet being played through my new turntable/tonearm combination, would that be considered a tracking issue? Never heard this before. It's only on the horns.
 

ddk

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...on sax and trumpet being played through my new turntable/tonearm combination, would that be considered a tracking issue? Never heard this before. It's only on the horns.
Could be but more than likely warble is a bearing issue.

david
 

Fishfood

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Interesting given that it's a brand new rebuild. Not sure if he touched the bearing though. Thanks David!
 

ddk

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Interesting given that it's a brand new rebuild. Not sure if he touched the bearing though. Thanks David!
It's something you need to check by yourself, could be the ball bearing, the strike pad or the shaft and whoever you got it from or did the rebuild could have missed it if they listen for it.

david
 

Fishfood

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Ugh. I think it's the Schröder arm. I swapped in the Bokrand and no warble. I can't mount the 3012R because the RCA jacks are on the side and the armboard slot is too narrow for an IC to fit. If I want to keep it, I'll guess I'll send it to Alfred Kayser for a rewire out to RCA connectors.
 

djsina2

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Fishfood

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Thank you! I was wondering about something like that but couldn't figure out where to buy one.
 

Fishfood

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So I think I figured it out. The turntable is sitting on a wall shelf and it’s just not massive enough so the torque of the motor is making the stylus vibrate in the groove. I’m not getting warble with the Bokrand arm but I am getting distortion that I was never getting before with lighter tables. This hobby is killing me right now and by my hobby, I mean my life‘s obsession.
 

Fishfood

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Problem confirmed. Put the table on the hearth and no warble with the Schröder and no distortion with the Bokrand. Trying to see if I can bulk up the wall shelf now and I'll remove the big thick spike that support the shelf and replace them with blocks of wood so there's even less chance for micro movements.
 
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Fishfood

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Just in case anyone can use the information, the warble has been solved. It was not the wall shelf- not sure why it went away temporarily when I put the table on the hearth. It was the polarity. I spoke with the rebuilder and he said to swap the wires on the power cord leads and voila! problem solved. He saved the day because I was about the pack up the 401 and put it away until we moved in a couple years.
 
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Fishfood

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Thanks Peter. Honestly, I didn't hear a difference between the Bokrand AB309 Banana and the 3012R on a couple different tables so rather than mess with it I just sold it to someone who I heard was looking for a near NOS one like the one I had (a collector who said it's going in his display case, never to be used, if you can believe that!)

I'm now running a SPU Royal N in an ebony wood headshell that I bought from Germany that eliminates the adapter Royal N adapter plate. It's giving the SL15 a run for it's money... which is great because our housekeeper broke the stylus off the SL15 last week. Waiting for another to arrive. I also like the aesthetic of the banana arm... which makes it sound better :)

IMG_0798.jpeg
 
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bonzo75

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Thanks Peter. Honestly, I didn't hear a difference between the Bokrand AB309 Banana and the 3012R on a couple different tables so rather than mess with it I just sold it to someone who I heard was looking for a near NOS one like the one I had (a collector who said it's going in his display case, never to be used, if you can believe that!)

I'm now running a SPU Royal N in an ebony wood headshell that I bought from Germany that eliminates the adapter Royal N adapter plate. It's giving the SL15 a run for it's money... which is great because our housekeeper broke the stylus off the SL15 last week. Waiting for another to arrive. I also like the aesthetic of the banana arm... which makes it sound better :)

View attachment 101478

what’s the difference you are hearing between the Bokrand and the Schroeder
 

Fishfood

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what’s the difference you are hearing between the Bokrand and the Schroeder
Bass. But it's not with the same cartridge so it's probably not a fair comparison. The Schröder with the AnaMighty DL103r (just rebuilt) sounds thin compared to the Bokrand with the Royal N. I'm sure at some point soon I'll put the Royal N on the Schröder to check it out and I'll report back.

This is the only SPU I've ever heard but now I'm super excited to try others.
 

Robert Young

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Hey Fishfood....

Matching arms and carts is the most fun of all!! If you look at my avatar pic, you'll see a Schroeder Reference to the left, and a bit of a Bokrand to the right: the Schroeder just loves an Allaerts, and the Bokrand and the Ortofon SPU need to get a room...(all on a Lenco L75/PTP6 on slate). I tried the Allaerts on the Bokrand once. Not a good idea...But once these arms find their mate, then there's no stopping listening. (right now I'm being gobsmacked by an un-modified DL 103r on a Gray 108 magnesium. Ridiculously good.)
 
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Fishfood

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Totally. I just got a Groovemaster III arm to try out with the AnaMighty (which is technically rebuilt as Sculpture A .4 now). Just need to figure out the armboard situation because the GM is taller than the Bokrand and the 401 is mounted flush. Should have thought about that when I ordered the plinth.
 
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Fishfood

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Hey Fishfood....

Matching arms and carts is the most fun of all!! If you look at my avatar pic, you'll see a Schroeder Reference to the left, and a bit of a Bokrand to the right: the Schroeder just loves an Allaerts, and the Bokrand and the Ortofon SPU need to get a room...(all on a Lenco L75/PTP6 on slate). I tried the Allaerts on the Bokrand once. Not a good idea...But once these arms find their mate, then there's no stopping listening. (right now I'm being gobsmacked by an un-modified DL 103r on a Gray 108 magnesium. Ridiculously good.)
You are right about the matching. The SPU Royal N loves the Bokrand. Dull on the GrooveMaster. A.4 better on GM, not so much on the Bokrand. Overall the Bokrand/Royal N in the heavy Fidelity Research headshell is what I'm listening to most right now. There's probably a two arm plinth in my future.
 
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