The Official SOTA Turntable Thread

That is the power supply. Some have the Pump which has the power supply built in with the pump I think.

Athanasios
 
The other night me, and the SOTA reflex clamp went at it once more. I spent almost the entire evening trying to get that clamp to stay in contact with the record once the platter and vacuum was turned on. The only way I could get it to work was to push down 20 Lbs. on the clamp, which is a big no-no. When I got to work the next day, I sent my audio-shop guy a scathing email. "I've had it with this clamp, and after 6 weeks I am unable to make it work consistently, and I want something different"! I wanted to take it back Friday on my way home form work, but I had a doctor's appointment, so I figured I would do it Saturday when he opens his shop.

Saturday morning before his shop opens, I had an idea. Why don't I try the extra washer my guy gave me. Perhaps the clamp would work with three washers. When I went to put on the third washer I discovered the second washer was not on the platter. It has a tendency to stick to the record. That means that the other night when I had all the difficulties, the washer was not in place on the platter but stuck on some record! So now I feel pretty stupid. But you can see from the photo below that the platter has a washer glued in place, and the second washer on top of this looks pretty much the same, which is why I failed to notice the second washer was missing.

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So my idea was to cut a new washer that would be the same size as the bottom seal of the clamp. This makes more sense to me anyway because it is the seal at the bottom of the clamp that I want to stay in contact with the record. So I cut a piece out of some neoprene (sp) that I have. Here that is.

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So far it has worked perfect every time I have tried it, using only 10 Lbs of force. I think I got this down now. This washer ain't coming off with the record without me noticing it. Here we are now hard at work, and SOTA life is good again.

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I didn't want to give up on this clamp because it sounds so much better with this clamp, and now I believe I have a way to make it work for me.
Happy again
Gary
 

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Added a little addition to the SOTA today.

A much needed tonearm auto lifter. Found a good spot on the arm board and with the supplied White Putty Tack I put that under the base and the top adjustable portion had a small
ring adhesive to it. The adhesive ring is of the foam type. So it gives a little when you press the lift arm down to reset it. I wish it was firmly adhered to the base, I can change that if it ever comes free.
But for now after a few albums its working fine. A couple of revolutions after it hits the ball and wire and it slowly lifts the arm off the record quietly.
Not bad for $ 57 shipped !!!

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Athanasios
 
Fantastic! Ive been wanting one! Which brand did you get and where? Pls message me if a link is not allowed . Thank you
 
Did a bit of repair to my Star this morning. I managed to break my power switch last week, was able to buy a replacement from SOTA. Contrary to what some think, they will sell commodity (non proprietary) parts. I looked for hours on various electronics supply sites for the correct switch and finally just called Donna. Pretty easy replacement, removal of the platter and motor plate was required but was a simple 2-wire de-solder/re-solder job. Total repair time was about 45 minutes including a break to get some coffee :music:
 
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