I have been bitten by the 'how much better can I make this arm sound' bug...
I bought (accidentally) this Logic Datum II tonearm and unfortunately had problems with the pillar bearings. The arm would start skipping once it was 3/4 of the way through a side. (see: http://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,26083.msg338079.html)
I took the bottom part of the arm off with a little bit of head-scratching and physical effort (old loctite in there). Sure enough the one pillar bearing was shot and the other was rough. Trekking up Voortrekker Rd in Maitland I found a place with the right bearings and bought two. I was not entirely happy with them as they still felt 'notchy' to me (once fitted into the holder). Obviously much better than the bearings that were removed but not as smooth as the pillar bearings on a SME 3009 SII that I have taken apart before... I managed to get two other bearings from another place that felt much better.
I fitted the new bearings and was 99% done with getting the arm back together to play when I picked up a continuity error on earth. I disassembled the bottom again and on trying to investigate where earth had gone wrong I pulled all the wires out the pillar (from the headshell side) :walled: This left me with no option but to completely disassemble the arm to rerun the wires. After a bit more head-scratching I got the arm apart (quite easily actually).
Since I had the arm apart and I had some nice silk wrapped tonearm wire 'in stock' I decided to rewire the arm (I did consider a continuous run but settled in the end for a 'vanilla' cartridge to pillar plug run only)...
I put the arm back together and after a few niggles it is now playing. I still have a few 'issues' such as the antiskate that is not holding and the lifter lever that drops too far (making a 'bridge' between the 'floating' sub-chassis and the turntable chassis).
But.
For all the niggles this arm sounds AWESOME! It is by the far the best arm I have owned (which is not saying too much since most of what I have owned has not been too exotic and firmly planted in the R1000 to R2500 price range). Everything in the frequency range sounds better - particularly treble that is super clean and detailed with no sign of 'spittiness'.
But. here is the rub: I am wondering how much better the arm could be if I actually went to the effort and imported rated bearings (and also replaced the vertical bearings). I am also wondering if a full cartridge to RCA run of wire would yield more improvements...
What do you reckon? Am I chasing dragons by contemplating taking the arm further or should I 'stick' and enjoy the way it sounds now.
What would this thread be without pictures:
I bought (accidentally) this Logic Datum II tonearm and unfortunately had problems with the pillar bearings. The arm would start skipping once it was 3/4 of the way through a side. (see: http://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,26083.msg338079.html)
I took the bottom part of the arm off with a little bit of head-scratching and physical effort (old loctite in there). Sure enough the one pillar bearing was shot and the other was rough. Trekking up Voortrekker Rd in Maitland I found a place with the right bearings and bought two. I was not entirely happy with them as they still felt 'notchy' to me (once fitted into the holder). Obviously much better than the bearings that were removed but not as smooth as the pillar bearings on a SME 3009 SII that I have taken apart before... I managed to get two other bearings from another place that felt much better.
I fitted the new bearings and was 99% done with getting the arm back together to play when I picked up a continuity error on earth. I disassembled the bottom again and on trying to investigate where earth had gone wrong I pulled all the wires out the pillar (from the headshell side) :walled: This left me with no option but to completely disassemble the arm to rerun the wires. After a bit more head-scratching I got the arm apart (quite easily actually).
Since I had the arm apart and I had some nice silk wrapped tonearm wire 'in stock' I decided to rewire the arm (I did consider a continuous run but settled in the end for a 'vanilla' cartridge to pillar plug run only)...
I put the arm back together and after a few niggles it is now playing. I still have a few 'issues' such as the antiskate that is not holding and the lifter lever that drops too far (making a 'bridge' between the 'floating' sub-chassis and the turntable chassis).
But.
For all the niggles this arm sounds AWESOME! It is by the far the best arm I have owned (which is not saying too much since most of what I have owned has not been too exotic and firmly planted in the R1000 to R2500 price range). Everything in the frequency range sounds better - particularly treble that is super clean and detailed with no sign of 'spittiness'.
But. here is the rub: I am wondering how much better the arm could be if I actually went to the effort and imported rated bearings (and also replaced the vertical bearings). I am also wondering if a full cartridge to RCA run of wire would yield more improvements...
What do you reckon? Am I chasing dragons by contemplating taking the arm further or should I 'stick' and enjoy the way it sounds now.
What would this thread be without pictures:
