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Calling all REVOX Linatrack users!

radkrisdoc said:
To me it looks like the right hand side is higher than the left, as I had not fully leveled the springs as I knew I was going to pack it up anyway. Maybe Revox foresaw this issue and designed it so the motor could be shimmed.

When I had the TT I had major modification plans for it which of course never happened. One of them included separating the tonearm and the motor in two separate mounts; maybe you could think about modifying the table, which will likely upgrade it to a whole new level. There's an Empire diecast baseplate on the bay right now....

OTOH, please do pm me and let me know if you really are satisfied with the purchase. I will work with you to resolve any issues you have.
Click to expand...

First thing, I am very satisfied and grateful for you affording me the opportunity to acquire and study this TT, Thank You!!

The primary parallism and distance adjustments were made with varied thickness shim washers under the motor plate at the factory, I reordered /shuffled them to relevel the platter. There is a limited # of washers and screw length as well as clearance at the platter well that will limit the degree of correction without relieving the baseplate platter well and adding more washers and longer screws in extreme examples. I shimmed the underside of the platter on the rotor to make up for the subsidance tho' 4 additional washer shims of the same thickness evenly applied would have done nicely. Re further mods, this is a work in progress, we shall see.
BTW, is that the Empire 208 baseplate?
 
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This has never even occurred to me as a possibility...

I will have to check levelling and parallelism...:worried:

You are definitely a sadist :whip: - you know what happens when you tell an OCD turntable tweaker that his system might be out just a smidge don't you!?!?:yikes:

Hourse, no, days of agonising, measurements, more agonising, verification.... regardless of whether there is anything wrong or not!
 
I'm Aspergers myself on top of all the rest, have fun!:D

Use a small spirit level on the naked platter, the gantry rear guide rail, and the baseplate in various spots to check relative alignment. When starting over, first "neutralize" the bias on the gantry rails (if necessary) by making them parallel according to the spirit level placed on the end plates by loosening the rail screws, twisting the inner endplate slightly to put the rails back to perfectly parallel, and and then retightening the security screws ensuring that the gantry cover still fits properly as the endplate can move in during the process.
 
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I'm working out a procedure to correct this problem by comp'ing the inward/downward tilt of both the platter and gantry mount for the inward sinking of the composite baseplate under the weight of the platter against the suspension over time. This seems to solve the platter clearance difficulty of comp-tilting only the motor plate to the plane of the gantry and should allow proper platter/gantry clearance. What I'm doing is taking the level-averaged plane of the warped baseplate via a straight edge and spirit level as the 'standard' and leveling both the motor and gantry to that. Hopefully it'll put all the other prerequisites back into acceptable range.
 
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I have 2 B791s, but they have the cast alloy baseplates, so are perfectly parallel to the platter and gantry of the TA. I wasn't aware some models went to a thick plastic.

On a different note, has anyone come up with a good solution for eliminating the sound of the 2 grounding springs scraping on the underside of the baseplate whenever the base moves? Quite annoying.
 
There are 2 holes under the baseplate that are supposed to receive the grounding stabilizers, if they are not in the holes that will happen.
I've been informed that the diecast metal baseplates were standard on the B791 and the composite for the B795, I would like to find a plate from a 791 parter.
 
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Good to know that you are having fun with this "project"! I would take an extremely flat rigid template made of metal, drill holes corresponding to the transport screw holes. Once you find a way to tighten the plastic plate to the rigid flat template with three screws going into the transport screw holes, you could let it sit for a week or so and then go about trying to find if the plate has become level with the bubble level.

Of course, make sure you use appropriate rubber washers when you tighten the screws in so the plate does not get damaged. I never even thought of this happening when I had the TT, I set it up for the 41 mm distance at the inner groove and did not think of measuring the distance at another point. From what you are saying though, it looks like the dishwarping is of millimeter magnitude as you have tried to correct it with shims, so taking the baseplate to a rigid template could fix the issue.

Or...just clamp the plastic baseplate to a flat surface and let sit.
 
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I had considered a reinforcing plate, both permanent or as a reflex press amongst other possible remedies. I am quite pleased with the result I got with reshimming both the motor plate and gantry base. The gantry base is most sensitive to shim correction, only required for the single inside screw point. The coarse platter-to-gantry distance correction is best made here with the fine tweaking of leveling and distance corrections done at the motor plate. Side-to-side shimming is far more critical than fore-aft on the motor plate but best to get both as close to level-correct as possible.
If this phase of the project helps the multitude of B795 owner/users then it's been well worth it beyond finding a simple workable fix for this example.
 
A few observations on the Linatrack TT;
First, German engineering, while usually meticulous even if in a tunnelvision solution sense tends to be 'tecnhically' rigorous if not "elegant". First, a Teutonic tunnelvision solution approach that dictates "never use 2 parts when 5 can do the job almost as well (Walther semi-autoloaders F.I.)". 2nd, questionable ergonomics and a blame-the-customer attitude (vintage BMW motorcycles, F.I.) "the product is fine, the users are the problem".
The Linatrack is neither. First, the ergonomics are just astonishingly user-friendly, everything from auto-start to the automatic stylus brushing at end-of-play is foolproof and utterly reliable. The proportional no-thump response of the tracking servo system is exceptionally effective. The engineering that accomplishes all this is both elegant and robust, total long-term repeatability/stability of parameters except as noted in this thread's topic.

I'd commented in another relevant thread that the thing looked like a TT designed by master tape transport engineers that didn't fully understand the nature of LP playback, particularly the requirement for stable VTA/SRA. While this may still be valid I must give credit to their patented magnetically stabilized unipivot linear tracking system of cartridge management. It is uniquely and cleverly extremely low in friction, drag and inertia, creating a dream-world ideal set-up for very low-mass/high compliance stylii as with the best free pivot examples from ADC and Ortofon F.I. I can only speculate on the best of the Micro Acoustics piezo carts in this set-up. Other carts are reputed to work well in it as well but not for most MCs and the like. The downside is that cart set-up can be a major PITA, a collection of 'P' mounts with permanently mounted adapter would be highly recommended if not otherwise a single life-time cart with an easily replaceable stylus (absolutely NOT Grado!!!) be fitted and left in place.
The result with the right carts is a depth of micro-detailing and micro-dynamics out of carts that might have been considered OK but not exceptional, and a potential to extract at least a bit more out of the best suitable carts than other good low-mass friendly arms IMO if the set-up is spot-on.
 
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Pio1980 said:
A few observations on the Linatrack TT;
First, German engineering (BLASPHEMOUS TEXT AGAINST GERMAN ENGINEERING REMOVED) The engineering that accomplishes all this is both elegant and robust, total long-term repeatability/stability of parameters except as noted in this thread's topic.
Click to expand...

Fixed that for you :banana:

Pio1980 said:
I'd commented in another relevant thread that the thing looked like a TT designed by master tape transport engineers that didn't fully understand the nature of LP playback, particularly the requirement for stable VTA/SRA. While this may still be valid I must give credit to their magnetically stabilized unipivot linear tracking system of cartridge management. It is uniquely and cleverly extremely low in friction, drag and inertia, creating a dream-world ideal set-up for very low-mass/high compliance stylii as with the best free pivot examples from ADC and Ortofon F.I. I can only speculate on the best of the Micro Acoustics piezo carts in this set-up. Other carts are reputed to work well in it as well but not for most MCs and the like. The downside is that cart set-up can be a major PITA, a collection of 'P' mounts with permanently mounted adapter would be highly recommended if not otherwise a single life-time cart with an easily replaceable stylus (absolutely NOT Grado!!!) be fitted and left in place.
The result with the right carts is a depth of micro-detailing and micro-dynamics out of carts that might have been considered OK but not exceptional, and a potential to extract at least a bit more out of the best suitable carts than other good low-mass friendly arms IMO if the set-up is spot-on.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review. I will then give a 2nd thought to purchasing the Revox Linatrack TT i was offered 2 weeks ago. I avoided it because it is a direct drive TT with what it looks a 'standard' DD motor, not a sophisticated multi-pole type. Also, the platter is light for my tastes (2.0Kg, 1.2Kg on the first model).

What can you tell us about it's speed smoothness?
 
My example is as smooth and steady as I could want. Just re-listened to an original RCA pressing of the Richter/Leinsdorf Brahms 2nd piano concerto (THE definitive performance of this work IMO) and the pitch-integrity was impeccable. The lower-powered planar motor combined with the momentum of the 5 lb platter and the FG/quartz PLL circuit on the B795 does the job as well as could be desired.
 
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Ohhh, never thought to try my MA2002e or 540mp in one of my B791s. The P-mount V15V with a jico SAS is awesome. My other one has the stock Shure Tracer....hmmmm.
 
perryinva said:
Ohhh, never thought to try my MA2002e or 540mp in one of my B791s. The P-mount V15V with a jico SAS is awesome. My other one has the stock Shure Tracer....hmmmm.
Click to expand...

The V15Vp/SAS combo is what i am currently running in mine.

The SAS run at around 22cu, and is a little too low compliance for the arm (!)

Measured resonance was above 12Hz (from memory without pulling out the measurements!)

The original V15V's were I believe up around 27 to 35cu - which would match much better!

The AT cartridges (mostly between 18 and 21cu) therefore are not a great match, but the Digitrac 300SE is excellent, (35cu) as are early generation high compliance OM series ... the current OM replacement styli are down around 25cu are still a reasonable match but not as good as the early ones and the Digitrac.

I would assume that the ADC XLM series would match beautifully - although as I am currently running my Linatrack as a p-mount setup (for the reasons mentioned previously!) - I have not tried it. (40cu compliance)

Yes the Revox is a great home for VERY high compliance cartridges...

bye for now

David
 
perryinva-"On a different note, has anyone come up with a good solution for eliminating the sound of the 2 grounding springs scraping on the underside of the baseplate whenever the base moves? Quite annoying. "

Pio1980 said:
There are 2 holes under the baseplate that are supposed to receive the grounding stabilizers, if they are not in the holes that will happen.
I've been informed that the diecast metal baseplates were standard on the B791 and the composite for the B795, I would like to find a plate from a 791 parter.
Click to expand...

I just found another pic of a B795 that doesn't show those springs with the prong ends to go into the baseplate as do mine to act as sway stabilizers, so I don't know how yours was done. Apparently a running production change of some sort.
 
Pio1980 said:
perryinva-"On a different note, has anyone come up with a good solution for eliminating the sound of the 2 grounding springs scraping on the underside of the baseplate whenever the base moves? Quite annoying. "
Click to expand...

I put rubber tubing over the springy wires where they contact the motor-board; and earth the motor-board by another piece of flexible wire.
 
Yes, the springs on the B791 are not designed to go into any hole, but are hooked shaped to ride in a grooved like area. I, of course, assumed they were for static discharge or ground of the metal baseplate. They are not critically designed, so I doubt it is a mechanical stabilizing. So you ran in to the same exact thing, Steerpike? Did you find you HAD to add the grounding wire, or did you do it "just in case"? What bothers me, is I don't recall either of my TTs making the scraping noise before I took them apart to recap and clean the Nextel finish, so I wondered if I put something together wrong.
 
perryinva said:
So you ran in to the same exact thing, Steerpike? Did you find you HAD to add the grounding wire, or did you do it "just in case"?
Click to expand...

I always thought they were to stop front-to-back rocking of the motor boad, rather than anything electrical. But the bottom end of one of them is tied to earth, so just to be certain, I added an extra ground wire. I haven't checked the wiring diagram, but I'm about 90% sure the top and bottom are linked via other electrical connections anyway.

Both my B795s made a kind of creaking sound if the cabinets on which they stand are bumped.
(It is a sound that is SO reminiscent of the Garrard autochanger, whose supensions springs also creaked, each time a record dropped.)
 
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